Making a quilt from thrift store wool suits.
 

I've been collecting wool for a few years now and I'm taking the plunge. I'm going to start assembling/cutting wool for a 100% wool quilt (full size bed). I've hit a few good sales at thrift stores and have managed to get a group of wool suits ready to disassemble. I've also learned you get better sections of useable wool from a pair of slacks then a jacket. I wish I had known that before I got so many jackets, but I'll need more for sure. I'll only purchase wool slacks from now on.

So... I'm asking for TIPS/TRICKS/IDEAS from those of you who've worked with wool before. I've not done any wool projects of any kind. I have been warned to "KISS" it (Keep It Simple Sweetie). No elaborate blocks or the wool bulk overwhelms the seam intersections. I've Google "wool quilts" and most of them are primitive and/or quaint looking - I'm okay with that. I've been told by a local gal who loves to do felted wool projects to wash and dry the wool prior to cutting or it will be a quilt that has to be dry cleaned. So I'm going to wash it and back it with a veeeeeery light interfacing. She told me wool tends to ravel easily so this feather light interfacing is supposed to keep the edges from misbehaving, but... I still want to really pick people's brains who've made 100% wool quilts.

I'm at a complete loss of what to use for the backing and binding. I'm not sure this is a great idea, but I've also saved the leather braided cuff buttons to use as decorations around the edges of the quilt.

I hope some of you can toss me a few great ideas and tips to ease me into this project.

Thanks in advance!

♥

I have very limited experience with wool, but if you wash and dry it, shouldn't it be at least partially felted, making the interfacing unncessary?

I don't know...lol That's why I'm asking. I'm sure each suit coat will react differently, but the one I washed didn't shrink or change much at all from what I can tell. Good point tho'....
Thanks

If you own or have a friend that owns a serger , serge the egdes in place of the interfacing. As for a batting , I would just use flannel ( well pre shrunk) . You can use any backing fabric you like. I have seen many wool quilts that used large wool squares or rectangles sewn scrappy style on the back , then they tied the quilt. They were some of the warmest quilts I ever slept under.

If the wool pieces you are washing tend to bleed a lot I would not use it. If they shrink a lot I would not use it. It does not have to be felted. The old crazy quilts had wool, velvet, and different siikies including ties and ribbons. Most of those were sewed directed onto a piece of light weight muslin or cotton. Some were then high lighted with the various stitches at each seam, helping to hold the seams in place and preventing the unraveling. Check on the board here for some of the Victorian crazy quilts for some ideas with using your wool. I am planning a tie quilt with names of the men in the family and I will have to remove all the inside of the ties before I wash them. I just saw on here a dresden plate with the ties and it was just wonderful. When you take the arms out of the jackets, you should get a good bit on fabric. Have fun and don't worry too much.

Another great tip. The one jacket I already lunched (lol) behaved quite well. It's a deep blue, with a small plaid. But... you're right they didn't fuss over that kind of thing back in the "olden days"...they just anchored the fabrics down with stitching. I'm not sure if I'm going to put machine decorative stitches on it or not. I'm in the early planning phase.

Wool can be washed without any felting-------------if the washer is careful.

I do have serger ....so that's a good tip too. We had a wool quilt when I was little and I remember it very well. Very toasty...and heavy. We also had a few REAL army blankets in drab green (my dad was in the military)...and while itchy they were soo warm.

I remember well the Old army blankets I used to sleep under & how warm they were. Even had holes in them. Wonder what ever happened to them> This is very interesting topic. Will watch it closely. Please let us know how this goes!

This sounds really fascinating to me. Have you considered the technique used by this quilter? http://www.quiltsbycts.com/quilts/wool_quilts.htm

She fulls the wool so it doesn't fray or ravel, cuts the patchwork pieces to **finished size**, abuts the raw edges (no seam allowance), and joins them with the sewing machine (decorative stitch or zigzag). I wish she showed more examples of her quilts.