DIY Wool Covers and Felting Q

Smallllmin · December 2014

Hi all.
I've never used wool before, but I'm becoming increasingly more curious about it.
I was thinking about making some underwoolies/shorties from an wool sweater.
We have fitteds, and I want to try out wool covers for overnight, but I don't want to bite the bullet for Sloomb until I know if I like wool (and everything that comes along with it).

Some people swear by felting the wool before making the pattern, and some people swear by taking care to not felt the wool.
From what I've read, felted wool can be washed in the washing machine. Is that right?
Is felted wool a better barrier? What are the benefits of not felting the wool?

Thanks

courtney8806 · December 2014

I'm really not much help at all on this, but there is an Imagine wool cover that is cheaper than a lot of them that I've seen. Might be a good option if you didn't want to DIY one, but didn't want to make a big investment either. Plus I think you can send them back to Nicki's if you don't like it.

Smallllmin · December 2014

courtney8806 said:

I'm really not much help at all on this, but there is an Imagine wool cover that is cheaper than a lot of them that I've seen. Might be a good option if you didn't want to DIY one, but didn't want to make a big investment either. Plus I think you can send them back to Nicki's if you don't like it.

Oh great, thanks! I'll check it out

freezorburn · December 2014

Chickypoo2468 said:

The thing with wool is that diy covers aren't always comparable to ones you buy. It has to be thick enough/have enough give or you'll hate it.

This is so true. I knit, and yarns can behave strangely when you wash them. One of the first ones I made relaxed so much when I washed it, it didn't have enough thickness to work at the size that it turned out to be. So then I felted it, and it got nice and thick but lost a lot of elasticity. Also it got really short in the rise so it didn't provide full coverage at the waist.

One of my favorite soakers is one that I knit with bluefaced leicester wool. It's almost as soft as merino, and the yarn I got has plenty of twist, so it didn't change much when I washed it.

I have also made a soaker out of a felted cashmere sweater (thanks to DH for trying to help with the laundry!), and that worked out pretty well. The sweater only went through one warm wash and a tumble in the dryer, so the fabric still stretches a bit. I think it could felt further but I don't want it to, because I like that it still retains some of its springiness, so I plan to hand wash it. I sewed in an extra layer in the wetzone to provide some extra thickness there. Here's the pattern I used:

https://katrinassqs.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.html

Unfelted wool will probably felt on its own where you need it the most. A lot of people actually like this. If you read the descriptions/reviews of the Disana wool cover, this comes up. My knit soakers are unfelted, and it's nice that they stretch where they need to (waist and leg openings) and over time they tend to felt a little in the wet zone, which is nice because it just makes the wool thicker and provides a better barrier.

Smallllmin · December 2014

I got a fairly thick wool sweater from the thrift store today. I think it's big enough to make two covers, so maybe I can felt one and leave one unfelted, and see how that goes. It's really just to experiment with anyway.
Maybe I'll post an ISO on the swap board for tomorrow so I can compare the ones I make to something of better quality.

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