> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of E House > Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 10:35 AM > To: Historical Costume > Subject: [h-cost] not Perpignan, but... (stretchy wools) > > > Not too long ago I chanced on a very interesting piece of wool fabric. > It's > > 100% wool, but due to the way it's made, it has as much natural stretch as > a lycra/wool blend! (Yes, I'm sure it's 100% wool.) > > It's a slightly loose basket weave, but that alone isn't what makes it so > stretchy; rather, the stretchiness seems to come from the fact that both > warp and weft are VERY tightly twisted. With the slightly loose weave, > both warp and weft sort of crimp up a lot more than you usually see, so when > you pull on it, the threads straighten out temporarily. The tightness of > the spinning keeps the whole thing from shrinking up; the weave stays >slightly loose. (If it shrank at all after I washed it, the amount was too > small for me to measure.) When pulled, it stretches to about 110%-115% of > its original length/width. That may not sound like much, but it's a whole > lot when, say, you're making a supportive gown, or a pair of hose.
Sounds like a wool crepe to me. I used some for a bliaut once, and it molded to my form and refused to form the characteristic wrinkles. -- Cathy Raymond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "You've got to have the proper amount of disrespect for what you do." -- George Mabry _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
