Schph Gochi
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"traveling through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops boy"
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Post by Schph Gochi on Mar 26, 2004 6:22:58 GMT -5
I finally made my last robe out of 100% wool....
At a recent costuming panel, the women on the panel said they always would wash their wool (I think they used a thicker wool than I did) and the washing process would give their wool a better look.
Since I had already sewed mine...and wasn't sure how much washing would shrink it....or make it look better....I decided to experiment....and thought I would share this info with our other Jedi....
I took two left over pieces of wool from my robe project and cut them into two 10" square pieces (I figured 10" would be easier to calculate percentage of shrinkage). I hand washed one 10" piece in cold water with some mild detergent....and the other piece in warm water with the same mild detergent...then I hung the pieces to dry....and re-measured the pieces to check for shrinkage.....they shrank so little that it was barely measureable....
Is this possible? I did not use a dryer....I don't have a dryer....
The other thing was that I didn't think that the washing process did much to change the overall appearance of the wool....
just wanted to share...
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Post by Jedimom/Cor-Al Gelkar on Mar 26, 2004 8:05:36 GMT -5
I think that's pretty right, Schoh. I think its the dryer (the heat) that shrinks the wool, not the washing. That's why I always hang my sweaters out to dry and not put them in the dryer.
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JediKai
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Post by JediKai on Mar 26, 2004 9:53:10 GMT -5
I always prewash all my fabrics....wool, silk and linen.
Shrinking can also occur if you wash in the machine with hot water. That is also when you're most likely to get a change in texture. Now, why would you wash your wool in hot water? If you ARE trying to change the texture. It's an easy way to felt it a little.
It depends on the weave of the wool, though. My Jedi robe is made of 100% wool lightweight gabardine. Even though I washed and dryed it in the machines, I don't think it shrunk much and the texture didn't change.
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Schph Gochi
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"traveling through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops boy"
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Post by Schph Gochi on Mar 26, 2004 10:08:56 GMT -5
...and one of my "fabric friends" told me NOT to wash the wool when I first bought it.....I guess I should have....but it doesn't appear to be a big deal either way...and mine could stand a little shrinking.....lol....the texture of the experiment pieces didn't change much either.....my robe wool is more a lighter weight too....
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JediKai
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Post by JediKai on Mar 27, 2004 0:13:46 GMT -5
It was my costuming guru who told me about washing to felt wool. My friend is a master costumer (costuming Laurel in the SCA).
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Post by Nova Darklighter on Mar 27, 2004 0:52:26 GMT -5
Hot water & dryer heat will both cause felting. Washing wool will not usually harm it, cool water & mild detergent are best. Hang to dry or lay flat. Do not twist or wring as this will cause misshaping to happen. There are a lot of different weaves in wool & even more weights, from tropical wool to super heavy weight. It depends on the weave as well as to whether a wool will shrink, a looser weave has more room to shrink & a tight weave is already pretty much as tight as it can get, so it will shrink less as a result, a looser weave must also be stabelised more at the seams, or they may ravel or shred.
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EchuuShenJon
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"Many truths we cling to, greatly to our own point of view they depend."
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Post by EchuuShenJon on Aug 8, 2004 1:50:48 GMT -5
Ok im having a jedi over robe made and I want to make it look good. So I need to know what the best wool is and were to buy it. Money isnt a problem for the first time  |
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Schph Gochi
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"traveling through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops boy"
Posts: 9,278
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Post by Schph Gochi on Aug 8, 2004 5:15:32 GMT -5
I bought mine on-line as "fashionfabricsclub.com"
it is not 100% what I wanted...but I still like it....
I had been looking at local fabric stores for quite a while...and came up with nothing...
but...shopping on-line is difficult...because you truly can feel the fabric....or see its' true color.....images on the web just do not render true color most of the time....
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Post by Nova Darklighter on Aug 8, 2004 22:40:04 GMT -5
The best wool will depend on the weight that you want. A really good WOOL MELTON is fairly heavy, and has a very good drape for robes or capes. Melton is pretty close to the weight of the wool used in the films, though that is British Army Blanket Weight, it's a bit heavier & a bit denser, and as a result a lot heavier to haul around. If thats to warm for you, the best thing to do is find a good fabric store & feel the wools until you find a weight that you like, if you're an experienced seamer, then, unroll a couple of yards & test the drape, most wools have a nice drape, but not all. if it has a nice drape and you like the colour, go for it. If you're not an experienced seamer, then look on the back of a cape pattern & see if that particular wool weave/type is listed as a good fabric to use, if it's not there, ask the sales person for advice. If you aren't an experienced seamer, try and take someone who is with you when you go shopping. Wool isn't a cheap fabric, so even if money isn't an object at the moment, choosing badly could be a fairly expensive mistake, I use about 8 to 10 yards of fabric for a good robe, the width of the fabric will make a difference on yardage as well as your height. You might want to buy an extra yard or two to allow for changes you might make in the patterns design or in case of mistake disasters. You can always make a nice tunic out of leftover yards, or use it to make another project. I find nothing worse than trying to go back & match the fabric at a later date. I see that you said that you have someone that is going to sew it for you, maybe thay can go for the fabric with you. This is a good time of the year to find wool, as it is being put out for the fall/winter sewing season, so the selection should be good, but it is also at about it's highest price for the season, tho, you might get lucky and hit a preseason sale.
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Schph Gochi
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"traveling through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops boy"
Posts: 9,278
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Post by Schph Gochi on Aug 9, 2004 5:32:46 GMT -5
and....I finally bit the bullet...and washed my wool robe...
it shrank only very little....and now....it is actually the right length!
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Post by Nova Darklighter on Aug 9, 2004 21:56:42 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm thinking of a big fabric washing day, i've got a mess of fabrics that need to get the treatment, khaki linen, nat. muslin, silk noile, brown denim wt. cotton 9left over from lots of custom orders, but all the same stuff & colour, I have enough to make a tunic for me, thinking what kind of tabbards to do, fabric or leathery), likewise navy blue (might do a healer robe) brown wool and cotton lining for a robe, and I'm thinking of getting some osnaberg for tunic & maybe a robe, need to get some lt wt gauze for under tunics as well. Want to finish some of this for Dragon Con, the rest by CIII. And then there's Medieval & Ren garb, but that's another thing all together.
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