All About Boiled Wool

All About Boiled Wool

Posted by Dorte Heaton on

Boiled Wool is a beautiful, natural fabric made from the sheared fleece of live sheep. Wool is a sustainable fabric as sheep can be shorn once or twice a year so it is renewable as well as being biodegradable and recyclable.  The wool fibres are knitted into fabric, then it is washed in hot water and to shrink the fibres.  This process forms a medium weight fabric with a boucle texture, a lovely soft drape and a slight stretch to it.  Because of the density of the fabric, and the lanolin content of the wool fibres, boiled wool is fairly water resistant and water droplets just roll off the surface.

  • 100% pure new wool
  • 136-138cm wide
  • 265 g/ per square metre
  • made in Italy

What can I sew with Boiled Wool?

Boiled Wool makes fantastic autumn and winter garments.  You can also use it for soft furnishings.  It is easy to cut and sew, and the cut edges do not fray, meaning hemming and lining Boiled Wool garments is optional.  Here is a selection of ideal sewing patterns for this fabric:

 

Anni Blazer (PDF) by Dragonfly Fabrics

Chateau Coat and Brando Jacket from The Sewing Workshop

The Named Talvikki Sweater 

The Yates Coat by Grainline and the lovely range of coats and jackets by Tessuti Patterns are perfect for our boiled wool:

 

Tessuti Amara Vest

 

Anni Blazer PDF Sewing Pattern

Boiled Wool Fabric Dragonfly Fabrics—Boiled Wool Cerise and Petrol

Boiled Wool Cerise and Petrol

 

Sewing Tips for Boiled Wool:


Preparation
Boiled Wool doesn’t need pre-washing. Simply steam your fabric all over from the right side, hovering the iron over it, then lay out flat to cool.

This fabric is easy to sew, doesn’t move around when you cut it and it won’t fray.
Boiled wool is ideal for making Autumn and Winter clothing and will also naturally repel water in the same way that a winter woollen coat does, making it perfect for jackets and coats, as well as skirts, dresses and tunics.
It’s advisable to stabilise the shoulders, neckline and armholes beforehand with twill tape or stay tape. This will prevent stretching.

Sewing
Use a ballpoint needle for sewing your boiled wool and use a longer stitch length on your machine. Do check first on a scrap though, as all machines are different.

If you have a walking foot, now’s the time to use it! It will deal with thicker layers admirably and stops them shifting about, especially useful on longer seams.
Alternatively use a medium size 80/12 or thicker needle and a normal straight stitch or a slight zigzag stitch on your machine.

Boiled wool doesn’t fray, so seams don’t need to be finished/ overlocked or zig zagged. However, to cut down on bulk, it may be helpful to topstitch seams down. This is done by sewing the seams as normal, then press them open.Topstitch both sides of the seam, very close to your original seam line. Or you can topstitch ¼” from the seam line for a more obvious topstitching feature.

How do I care for Boiled Wool?

We recommend dry cleaning. However, if you decide to wash your boiled wool, use a small amount of mild detergent then either hand wash or cool machine wash cycle. Lay flat to dry, don’t wring and press on a medium heat iron with steam from the wrong side of the fabric.

You can browse the selection on our website on the link below:

Dragonfly Fabrics Boiled Wool 

 

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