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?
This is the first time I ever heard of extra sponge. On the other hand, I have difficulty getting woolen fabric, so yeah
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked in a "sweat shop" in the office many years back one of my jobs was to track the "piece goods" back and forth from the spongers. The wools purchased would get shipped direct to the the spongers, "Adams Sponging" in Boston for their treatment. Then they would be shipped to the factories we had. Sponging was big business but at that time so was textile and garment manufacture. That sponging house is long closed and now the Big Dig sits on top of it.
ReplyDeletenope!! never hear of it
ReplyDelete@ Bunny: this is so interesting - I love your story!
ReplyDeleteI've seen sponged wool at Paron for a few years. Why don't you ask them about it? Prudence suggests preshrinking it by wrapping it in a wet towel over night and then pressing it.
ReplyDelete