Wool question

[theladyrebecca]

I purchased some wool from the recent Fashion Fabrics Club wool sale, but I'm not entirely pleased. I got black tricotine, and a blue lighter weight wool. Unfortunately, the tricotine has a quite distinctive weave, and the blue is basically tropical weight, and both of them are very smooth. Not exactly kirtle (black) or skating bustle (blue) worthy.

In the past, when I've bought wool that isn't thick and/or fuzzy enough, I've put it in the washer/dryer, and it's gotten softer, thicker, and fuzzier, but none of those wools started quite this smooth. Is that still likely to work with these wools?



Oh, and if the answer is no, is anyone interested in buying some wool off me? ;)

Comments

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

Double check that they even are wool. I stopped buying from Denver Fabrics (which is owned my FFC) last year when I bought a few yards for a Greenland dress and a kirtle only to discover they were acrylic when I got them. It wasn't worth the shipping to return them so I gave the fabric away to someone that didn't care it wasn't natural.

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that's disconcerting. Would you suggest a burn test? Usually if I wet wool, I can tell by the smell.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

Wetting it would probably tell if it's all acrylic vs. mostly wool. If you want to check for 100% wool, the bleach test seems pretty certain. Burn tests can be ambivalent.

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

I'll give that a try tonight. I've never actually done that one before, but if it's wool, it will dissolve entirely, right?

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

It should. I've done burn tests. The chart I use is this one.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

That's the idea! A bit in pure bleach should be gone totally in 24 hours. If there's some fibers left, it was probably an acrylic blend, like 85/15. Pretty common for wools, honestly, and not terribly noticeable unless you're a purist or doing serious tailoring.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

I'm a coward about messing with my fabric, so no advice, but sympathy. :( Does the tricotine have a non-obvious-weave back? Tricotine I've gotten from FFC before (the red Regency and the pink 1780s) has had a plain weave "wrong" side that I used instead.

What color is the blue? If it's bright enough, I may be tempted...

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'll have to check on the back of the tricotine...

And the blue is a little on the muted side. It's like a slightly darker version of all the link text in my LJ theme. But not as dark as the title. I'll take pictures when I'm at home later.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

I hope it's okay! Mine has been great to work with.

Sounds like it might be a bit too muted for me, but I'd still like to see the pictures. Thanks!

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested in seeing pictures of the blue, and depending upon the price, I might be tempted. I do love a tropical weight wool...assuming your bleach test comes out alright.

I can't speak to something that's more of a worsted fulling/felting. I tend to be wanting the smoother, lighter wools to start with.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

I bought a navy wool from FFC a while back to use for a cloak, and it showed up as a lightweight worsted. Threw it in the washer and dryer, and it seemed pretty much completely unaffected! Not sure if that was due to the poly content (20%) or not, but...less than helpful, FFC. Write better descriptions! Sheesh.

[vanessa-lynne.livejournal.com]

I've been burned by them before, mostly due to the quality of their swatch photos & descriptions. :(