Readers, I went to Paron’s today to buy fabric for some red pieces from this months Burda. (Not that I finished my Fall Palette Challenge, but, it’s nice to have everything in place for the next project…) I bought red wool and a couple of other pieces I didn’t plan for (fabric junkie! arghh). So, all the wools I got are apparently extra sponged according to the label.
It was the first time I saw ‘extra-sponged wool’ fabric. Labels at Mood and at many other fabric stores are rather laconic, so I was happy those at Paron’s gave more information. My immediate thought was that “extra-sponged” is GOOD, It must have been pre-treated as in man’s tailoring, where the wool is sponged overnight to pre-shrink the fabric. But I was not sure.
So, tonight, I combed through the web, trying to find more detailed answer, but there was hardly any information available. I started to worry, but a brief article in a 1987 issue of The Telegraph re-assured me explaining that 'sponged-wool' was not a Paron's invention but a real thing.
“sponged wool is wool fabric that has been treated for shrinkage. It’s nice to sew because you don’t need to preshrink the fabric before working with it.”
Well at least something and... no preshrinking IS excellent in fact. And, then, I found this post on Fashion Incubator, which explained the process of preshrinking in more detail. The post also mentioned that sponged wool is about 20% more expensive than regular wool, so I was very very happy since I got it for really decent price at Paron’s.
Book search was also mostly a failure. All I found, was a brief note in the Claire Shaeffer’s fabric bible that wool is sometimes labeled as “needle-ready” or “London-shrunk”, which means that these wools are ready to sew and do not need to be pre-shrunk.
TESTING FOR SHRINKAGE
What I learnt however, is how to test whether your wool fabric will shrink. Claire Shaeffer recommends steaming a fabric corner with a dry press cloth for roughly ten seconds. Allow fabric to dry and examine the area. “If an imprint of the iron shows,” explains the book, “the fabric has shrunk and must be treated before sewing.”
Readers, do you know more about “extra-sponged” wool?
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