Wool

Warm, soft, and beautiful: the ideal clothing fabric

In almost every country, wool is synonymous with warmth. People put on woolen sweaters or socks and wear a woolen hat when it gets colder. Woolen blankets are also popular, especially in winter. In fact, in our culture, it is so common to say "crawling under the wool" when going to bed. But wool does not only bring warmth. The fabric insulates so well that it protects against heat in warm regions. Peoples such as the Tuareg and Bedouins can brave the desert heat thanks to their woolen clothing.

Traditionally, wool is made from sheepskin. However, sheep are not the only animals with a coat suitable for making this fabric. Goats, llamas, alpacas, chinchillas, and camels all have fur that can be made into wool. Different types of wool have different properties, but there are benefits that every type of wool has. For example, the fabric repels a lot of water and can absorb up to forty percent of its own weight in moisture. Furthermore, wool stretches very well on its own. This makes woolen clothing perfectly dimensionally stable and does not impede movement during activity despite its thickness.

Thicker wool types are used for blankets, carpets, and clothing that you put on over other clothes. Finer wool is suitable for clothing that is worn directly on the skin. The finer the wool, the softer it feels. Because the material can absorb dye very well, wool has also been available in many beautiful colors for centuries. In the fashion industry, wool is mainly used for sweaters, vests, socks, and hats, but it is certainly possible to make a beautiful winter dress from it.

What makes wool so special?

Wool is one of the oldest clothing fabrics in the world. Although there are older examples of linen clothing, wool has probably been used to make clothes for about as long as cotton. Remnants of woolen clothing have been found in Iran that are at least 5,000 years old. In Europe, wool has been used for clothing for at least 1,500 years or so before the start of our era. The fact that we still wear clothing made of this fabric today is a testament to how suitable woolen fabrics are for clothing after all those centuries.

What is special about wool is the insulating effect that the fabric has naturally. The fibers of the material are curled, creating small spaces. Air remains stationary in these spaces. This type of air is not good at conducting heat, which means that the heat from your body stays inside woolen clothing, and the cold stays outside. Only when it is windy can you feel the cold in woolen clothing because the fabric is not wind-proof. You can compensate for this by using a lining fabric, such as a lining of wadding between two layers of wool.

We now also see wool in mixed fabrics. For example, rabbit fur is sometimes mixed with sheep wool to make the fabric stronger. But the material is also mixed with other fabrics, such as synthetic fibers. The best-known example of this is the wool blends. These fabrics combine wool fibers with other fibers such as polyester, viscose or Spandex. These mixed materials are mainly used as coat fabrics, although it is possible to make a chic winter coat entirely of wool. Some people find that wool feels itchy or rough. In that case, adding a lining to the coat is a good solution.

Working With and Caring for Wool

If you order a woolen fabric from us, the wool is already knitted into a fabric. You can start working with it right away. Although wool is made from natural fibers, you do not need to wash a wool fabric before making clothing from it. In fact, washing wool with warm or hot water can be harmful to the fibers. Most washing machines nowadays have a wool setting that slowly heats up to 30 degrees and prevents shrinking. However, because wool does not absorb moisture and dirt readily, washing is rarely necessary. The temperature of a dryer is harmful to the fabric, and so is ironing, but wool hardly creases, so ironing is usually unnecessary.

You can easily cut the pattern pieces from the fabric. Use an easily erasable item such as chalk for marking since you don't wash wool. Additionally, we recommend joining the parts together with pins that have large heads. Smaller pins can be difficult to see once they are in the material. The fabric is quite thick but relatively easy to sew. Sew with straight stitches and a universal needle with a thickness of about 80. For coarser wool, we recommend keeping a spare needle on hand as the tip dulls more quickly.

Buying Wool Fabrics Online

There are few fabrics better suited to warm clothing than wool, which has been used for thousands of years. Furthermore, it is a versatile material. At Quality Textiles, you will find a wide selection of woolen fabrics, wool blends, and coat materials that you can use for a large range of clothing items. If you prefer something less warm, such as for the summer months, take a look at our selections of linen, jersey, and chambray.