Merino wool blanket-suitable outer for hoody ?

[Chiseller]

Good morning all,
I've got a Merino wool blanket, and am unsure of its suitability as an outer layer ?

I'm thinking of a swanni type hoody. Cheers

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[Toddy]

It depends on the drape.
If it's too soft then your shirt will stretch and sag, especially at the elbows and the backside.

If it's firmer, like a blanket, then it should be fine

Merino is lovely stuff, and it's good for clothing that touches the skin since it's so much softer than most wools.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[John Fenna]

I have used a merino blanket to make a Swanni type shirt and to line a body warmer Jerkin ... supurb stuff to wear!

The fabric is soft and cozy to wear but has not sagged at all ... yet

 

[Chiseller]

Thank you both, I've a merino base that I love, just fancied a mid to occasional outer. Oh and John,my blanket is same colour ! Excellent looking handiwork hand sewn or machine ? Can I ask which needle size and style of stitching please ?

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[Toddy]

Those were both excellent uses for the merino

I hand stitched a merino wool medieval gown for me and it was beautiful It got absolutely filthy though and at the end of the season I washed it. I'd used fine wool thread and the entire gown shrank, totally in proportion, to perfectly fit Trishbo's wee five year old :yikes:
I still have five metres of that beautiful blue and grey merino, but I'm beyond wary of using it for anything that'll get manky.

cheers,
M

 

[Chiseller]

Thanks for the warning Mary , good 'elth

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[Toddy]

Check the label. If it says Pure New Wool, it doesn't mean that it's virgin wool (not previously used, unravelled, respun and woven) it means that it's been chemically treated not to shrink or felt.............and you got very lucky

cheers,
M

 

[Chiseller]

Will take a look-see when I get home , thanks

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[John Fenna]

Thank you both, I've a merino base that I love, just fancied a mid to occasional outer. Oh and John,my blanket is same colour ! Excellent looking handiwork hand sewn or machine ? Can I ask which needle size and style of stitching please ?

sent using my sausage thumb

It started off DayGlo Orange!
Thank goodness for Dylon....
I hate hand sewing so it was machined using an overlocker and a modern fancy machine doing a medium straight stitch - I cannot recall the needle size - but it was a fairly strong one and I used polyester thread.
The shoulders of the shirt are canvas lined while the jerkin has a polycotton outer

 

[Chiseller]

Here yer go Mary,

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[Toddy]

Beautiful but it'll shrink and felt into a woolly brick if you're not careful about washing it

Been there, done that, makes a great seat pad

Don't thermal shock it (from cold into hot, or vice versa, water) and if you do wash it bring it slowly up to temperature and don't agitate it much. Soaking it in water with a very little detergent (shampoo will do) or plain soap, will remove any finishing, and rinse really well, before you dye it.
That is if you do want to dye it ?

If you raise the temperature of a reaction by 10degC you cut the time of the reaction in half.....kind of bad description of the science, but the reality is that if you leave it soak longer in cool water the blanket will clean just as well as if you'd done it hot in twenty minutes Overnight, or through the day, in the bath will work fine.

If you want to dye it, you could have a word with Spandit His tea dye is turning out rather well
Basically you need an acid dye for wool, and if you buy a commercial one and it doesn't say, clearly, on the packet that it will dye wool, then it won't.

Interesting to see what you make of it too
I had one of those Bulawayo blankets; really thick and warm, it's now part of the bedroll for a medieval knight

cheers,
Mary

 

[Chiseller]

Gutter what abaht these ??? These for a shirt like johns ....

This brown woven massive curtain for a long hoody ? Not sure if its woven wool or a heavy linen ?

This purple sheet is similar to the lining on my swanni jkt....

Thankyou for the detailed reply. My head is swimming now lol. Think I will just trim the merino wool one to size for a compact hammock top quilt???? But then again I've a down bag I'm thinking of butchering for a quilt......ahhhhh what to do

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[Chiseller]

So to clarify....is it virgin wool I need that will be shrink resistant ? Thanks

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[Toddy]

Ah, beautiful blankets, but if you wash them without care, they'll shrink.
To what degree they'll shrink ....

"Pure New Wool", with that funny wee twist of a coiled knot symbol, is the stuff that won't shrink because it's been chemically treated to remove the surface scales that let the fibres interlock when they curl up together.

New wool or pure wool, just meant virgin wool, or, only made with wool and not mixed fibres, on the label of a blanket or garment.

You can wash the blankets you have, and you can dye them; you just need to take care when you're doing so, and bear in mind that merino is the wool of choice for feltmaking

Seriously, if you want to colour them, look at spandit's thread; brew up the biggest, strongest bucket of tea that you can and soak the blanket in it. Even if it starts to go a bit frothy, so long as you keep moving the blanket gently in the dye liquor it'll slowly absorb the dye. You'll end up with a colour somewhere in the pale fawn to burnt orangey brown range, just from tea If you dissolve some scrap copper in vinegar first for a few days and add that to the liquor it'll help the colour along a bit

cheers,
M

 

[Chiseller]

Cheers again Mary ,

What's your opinion on the brown curtain ? Linen ? It looks and feels very hard wearing. I'm thinking that might best for a swannesque bush shirty thingy ma jig ?

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[Toddy]

Unless there's a label, the only way to tell what it is, is to pull a few fibres and burn them. Depending on the ash/or blob/and smell, you can make a pretty fair guesstimate of what you have.

Thing is that you can make clothing from any material, even carpet if you're desperate but that doesn't mean that it'll be comfortable, safe near fire, hardwearing or not leave you looking, well, commentable upon

My only caveat on that fabric is that the weave looks very open and you'll have a job of stopping it fraying until you get the edges bound. Other than that, if it feels comfortable (curtains, make sure it's not glass fibre !! I know one lady who used old curtains for a dress, and it was a total nightmare beautiful dress to look at right enough, but the itchyest damned thing imaginable) go for it.

Have you seen the thread on the Endicott's bushshirts ? Those heavyweight ones are the kind of thing that the thick blankets you have would be ideal to use.

cheers,
M

 

[Chiseller]

I thank you again , ill be burning it tomorrow lol

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