Most of my costuming and fiber arts projects revolved around the periods I enjoy studying historically. Focusing my efforts in that manner actually helps get more done by keeping me on track. For this reason I do not typically do things like card wool. Instead I comb the fiber as that is how it was done in the Viking era. Likewise, I do a gentle wet finishing of a final woven good, and go out of my way to not felt or full the final fabric.
This weekend I chose to play around just a bit with both carding and fulling on extra fabric I had that I wove and the chaff that is left in the combs from the combing process.
This weekend I chose to play around just a bit with both carding and fulling on extra fabric I had that I wove and the chaff that is left in the combs from the combing process.
Detail of a miniature of Gaia Caecilia or Tanaquil, with a loom, and women spinning. By: Giovanni Boccaccio, 1440
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My carded Icelandic leftovers spun into yarn.
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I got wool combs from an auction recently for only $10. I dug out the boxes of wool fluff left from the combing process and decided to give it a try. The white Icelandic spins decently after carding (some of that still has a staple of 2", though most is less than that), the moorit I have is full of lumps and noil (and has an average staple length of 1 inch) and works into a very unappealing yarn. I will likely continue to process both and just save them to be added into a rug weft later. Historically, I think that a Norse woman might have used the left over bits as stuffing for cushions or as insulation inside shoes.
I also took a length of cloth that I have woven on a rigid heddle loom out of leftover rug yarn and decided to full it in the washing machine just to see how it would come out. It shrank over three inches in length, but the wool became exceptionally soft given that it was rug wool. I thought it would compact more, and still be coarse and I had planned for using this as a rug, but now I think I might turn it into a warm hood (lined with linen) for winter camping if there is enough fabric.
For those unfamiliar with the process, fulling wool takes a finished piece of weaving and with hot water and agitation (and often use of detergent, urine or a mineral called Fullers Earth) it locks the wool fibers together, closes the gaps in the weaving and gives the resulting textile a better ability to shed water and insulate against the cold. I merely tossed mine in the washing machine with hot water on the heavy cycle and then dried it in the dryer. Historically the early Norse wove fine dense fabrics, with combed rather than carded fibers, and did not need to finish cloth in this manner before use.
I also took a length of cloth that I have woven on a rigid heddle loom out of leftover rug yarn and decided to full it in the washing machine just to see how it would come out. It shrank over three inches in length, but the wool became exceptionally soft given that it was rug wool. I thought it would compact more, and still be coarse and I had planned for using this as a rug, but now I think I might turn it into a warm hood (lined with linen) for winter camping if there is enough fabric.
For those unfamiliar with the process, fulling wool takes a finished piece of weaving and with hot water and agitation (and often use of detergent, urine or a mineral called Fullers Earth) it locks the wool fibers together, closes the gaps in the weaving and gives the resulting textile a better ability to shed water and insulate against the cold. I merely tossed mine in the washing machine with hot water on the heavy cycle and then dried it in the dryer. Historically the early Norse wove fine dense fabrics, with combed rather than carded fibers, and did not need to finish cloth in this manner before use.
Wool cloth before fulling.
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Wool cloth after fulling.
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Fulled wool fabric.
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