Felted my wool

[boscopup]

BOY does wool jersey felt!!!! I ran it through two hot washes, and I think one was probably enough! LOL. It started out as 2 yards of 60" fabric. Now it's about 44" by 36", roughly. And it's THICK. Do I really need two layers of this? I think I can only get one 2-layer cover out of it. I wonder if I maybe felted it TOO much? Those with experience with wool jersey, please comment! This really is quite thick... It's as thick as the wool flannel that my Sugar Peas are made out of (each layer, not the whole cover).

I was wanting to make nighttime covers, and hoping to get 2. I was told that 2 yards should do it, but I really really really think I might have felted too much, since I cannot get 2 2-layer covers out of this... No way no how! Maybe if they were newborn size...

[amberthesugarcat]

If it is really thick, couldn't you make 2 one-layer covers? I have made soakers out of thin sweaters that worked overnight as long as they were lanolized. I really don't like covers that are really thick wool, they aren't as soft.

[LeosMama]

Vera, could you do the conditioner and stretch thing to get it to be a bit larger?
and I agree with what Amber said, one layer is probably adequate as long as well-lanolized.

[boscopup]

Correction... This stuff IS as thick as the two layers of flannel in my SugarPeas wool cover. And btw, this was felted without even drying! I did the heavy agitation hot wash with plenty of soap thing, and it really felted quick! It also smelled like burning hair during the process.

I could probably stretch it out with conditioner... I wanted to do 2 layers since that's easy to sew (will hopefully have a serger in a little over a week), but I could do a one layer if I needed to, I suppose. I haven't done one layer covers except the FOE bound type, and obviously I wouldn't do that with wool.

Hmmm... decisions decisions... I think I might try stretching it back out with conditioner... Does it matter what type? I use Pantene. I suppose I need to wash the conditioner out when I'm done?

I still can't believe how THICK this is! It started out as thin jersey (like any other jersey material), and now it's just so thick... If I hadn't seen the process, I wouldn't have believed it!

[LeosMama]

i think people recommend something cheap, b/c you have to use like half a bottle.

And you don't have to use FOE, although I have with my sweater covers. I don't like it just b/c I suck at FOE, getting the stretch right.

Just add a little extra seam allowance and make a casing for the elastic.

[Jes'sBeth]

I'd just make 2 one layer covers. I think if it's thick, I don't think you're going to need 2 layers. I think the conditioner and trying to stretch it out thing will just be a pain. You're not guaranteed that the cover will stretch either...

why so committed to 2 layers when 1 layer is thick enough? I use fairly thin felted sweaters overnight with no problem, not to mention some fairly thin knit wool soakers and they work just fine.

[boscopup]

I was wanting two layers for ease of sewing. No casings or anything.... Just sew the elastic to one layer and serge the edges. It was also for practice with my potential new serger. But oh well.

I think I will go with the one layer. It's definitely thick enough. I still can't believe how well this felted.

So for sewing a one layer... Do ya'll just cut a little extra where the elastic is and fold that over? I haven't tried that before. Is it best to sew the casing after the elastic is in place for this method? I usually sew a casing, then tack down one end of elastic and thread the other end through the casing, tacking it down on the other side. Then I turn everything rightside out and topstitch everything else, but the casings are done. I'm not real good at sewing a casing without catching the elastic.