Personally, I have never tried to collect byssal threads from mussels, though here's an article showing how to work with them. http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/byssus_howto.html
I don't necessarily believe all the stuff in that article, nor in the links from it. For example, one quotes Herotidus as mentioning lace, and another says that cloth of gold was really byssus fiber fabric.
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