berescga
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AB CANADA
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Date: 10/20/12 12:41 PM I was gifted a length of camel colored wool gabardine that I plan on making a sheath dress out of. However, I have never sewn wool fabric before.
So, I found some info online that said to try and steam press a piece of the fabric. If there were puckers around where the iron was it needed to be steam pressed by the drycleaners. My fabric had (slight) puckers.
I'd really rather not have to pay the drycleaners for this. Is there something I can do at home to pre treat/shrink the fabric before I sew it up?
Thanks!
Christine |
Elona
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Date: 10/20/12 12:59 PM There are many ways to pre-shrink wool. I usually just lay mine out on a bunch of towels on the bed, and very slooooowly go over it with my steam iron on full, holding the iron about an inch above the fabric. This takes quite a while, and then I let it air dry for a day.
However, here's an example of how a professional does hers (scroll down to the Sept. 7 entry). |
Nancy K
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Date: 10/20/12 7:03 PM You can put it in the dryer with wet towels for about 20 minutes and that will shrink it.
Wool gabardine is not the most forgiving of fabrics. Only press on the right side with a press cloth (I like silk organza) Press all seams over a seam roll or with strips of brown paper under the seam edges so that they don't impress on the right side. It doesn't ease well so if you have sleeves make sure that you remove some of the ease. ------
www.nancyksews.blogspot.com |
Patti B
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OR USA
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Date: 10/21/12 11:14 AM What a nice gift! I love wool gabardine but Nancy is right that it doesn't always cooperate with easing. I found that I had better luck with using a dry iron amd a silk organza pressing cloth to press. YMMV of course. ------
Patti
R-r-r-ripping my way to fitting success
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berescga
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AB CANADA
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Date: 10/27/12 10:22 AM Thank you for the tips! I was going to make a princess seamed sheath dress with pleated sleeves (so no easing of the seam cap). I'll consider your comments carefully before I make a final decision.
Christine |
NancyZL
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NJ USA
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Date: 10/27/12 9:29 PM If it's a good
quality wool it should not shrink so I would not go with any dry cleaning.
Although the trend here is to pre- treat most fabrics I've rarely done it & have not had any dire results.
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PattyE
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MI
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Date: 10/27/12 9:56 PM I made a pair of pants recently from some black wool gabardine I bought at EOS...definately good quality. I did the hovering steam iron pre-treat and it worked fine...didn't take long.
Congrats on your gift! Hope to see your review. |
Nancy K
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Date: 10/28/12 9:15 PM Actually the side panel probably needs some easing at the bust into the center panel. Walk your seams to see if and how much. ------
www.nancyksews.blogspot.com |
Nancy K
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Date: 10/28/12 9:18 PM Except for wool crepe, which does shrink quite a bit, I never used to shrink wool either but I do like to preshrink anything I'm going to use a lot of steam in a tailored project. ------
www.nancyksews.blogspot.com |
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