With temperatures dropping, it is more than time to think about winter sewing projects, especially jackets and coats. The clothes we love to wrap ourselves in when going out... those that will accompany us all winter and that we will wear a lot! 

A winter coat or jacket is often a piece dear to my heart because we wear it a lot (every day) and given the scale of the work, we put all our heart into it (and sometimes our purse).

I thought it would be useful to talk about the materials specific to winter clothing. There are many "woollens" such as felted wool, acrylic blends, polyester,... Today, I wanted to talk to you about boiled wool: a wool highly recommended for making very pretty coats.

So let's dive into this beautiful material! 

1. History of boiled wool

The history of man, sheep, and wool is not recent. Already in Roman times, the forerunner of our current boiled wool was found. Indeed, man was looking for warm, sturdy, comfortable fabrics but also easier to assemble to create winter clothes. Thus, they began to seek techniques involving wool to create fabrics.

There were dedicated workshops: the fullonicae where workers beat the soaked wool with their feet. After this treatment, the fabric is cleaned, dried, brushed, then pressed. This produced a wool easier to cut, warmer, and more durable. 

Over the years, techniques evolved and in the Middle Ages, from the thirteenth century, mills gradually replaced manual workers. All over Europe, fulling mills, also called foulons, were found. The device consisted of replacing the feet of the fullers with mechanical cams fixed on the mill’s rotating shaft, located just above the water basin where the wool was soaked. A technical advance that increased both the yield and quality of wool production. Then, with the industrial age, the sector modernized with the arrival of new mechanical machines including looms. 

Today, some regions of the world have specialized in the boiled wool technique. We can mention the Andes mountain range in South America, the Tyrolean Alps in Austria, and the Prato region in Italy. Boiled wool is found worldwide but obviously especially in colder and/or mountainous regions. 

2. Today, how is boiled wool made?

1. Selection of yarn and machine knitting

Here, no warp and weft... we are indeed talking about knitting! Depending on the yarn selection, its fineness, its quality but also the selection of the machine; a very different fabric will be obtained. Indeed, knitting machines vary depending on the fineness of the yarn and the final result desired. The wool is knitted in the round and thus comes out of the machine in the form of tubes (like tubular ribbing). The initial knit must be quite tight for an optimal result. 

2. Fulling

This is the step that gives the wool a felted appearance. The knitted wool pieces are dipped in water to tighten the knit stitch and felt the wool fibre. The longer the wool "felts," the tighter the stitch will appear with a felted look. During the process, the stitch shrinks and traps air bubbles that integrate into the fibre. This process makes the wool lighter, softer, more elastic, and stronger. Moreover, it is also at this stage that the wool becomes more insulating. 

3. Finishing 

To be considered boiled wool, the wool must undergo a few more transformations. 

Dyeing gives the fabric its colour. Then, depending on the type of final result expected, the wool can be pressed using a machine or decatized.  

Circular knitting machine

3. Advantages of boiled wool