# Fulling a shawl??



## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

I don't knit or spin like most of you do but I do have a 7ft tri-loom that I weave on. The other day I was reading on a site that someone had made a shawl on their tri-loom and they were going to full it. Most of the people on that site do their own spinning and make their yarn. I don't, of course. I use Lion Brand Homespun Yarn to make my shawls.

So I read a little bit about fulling, by hand and using the washing machine. So I guess my question is, should I be fulling my shawls? I showed my shawls last month, for the first time, at one of our shows and sold one. Was supposed to be at another show this weekend and one next month but as I was just diagnosed with cancer and have had 5 biopsies (4 this week) I am not up to it. 

So I have time to experiment for next year. Any thoughts on whether I should be fulling my shawls? By hand or washing machine, pros/cons?


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Woo-Hoo! Another weaver! :thumb:
Billie, I believe it depends on how you want the final product to look, and likely, the fiber used. I'm a newbie at weaving, but from the little I've learned, yes, fulling or wet finishing of some sort is recommended for everything. 
Laura Fry is a professional weaver who has a couple of books, one 'Magic in the water' and "Wet finishing for weavers"..... Her tag line is 'cloth isn't finished until it's wet finished'. She recommends wet finishing everything to some degree. The fibers move around, seat and lock into place in water. The fibers swell and the patterns come to life. There are several different types of wet finishing, but I'm sure a shawl would fall into one of those categories. And there is always a notable difference between 'right off the loom' and 'after wet finishing'. Again, the fiber is the key. But anything from a light tussle in cool water to a full machine cycle with soap, water makes a difference in a finished weaving. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0840o2IgnB8[/ame]
I would look over a lot of weaving blogs to see what other folks are doing too. There's a lot of info out there. Keep on weavin'!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Welcome to The Fold Billie in Mo!

I believe you only full woven items that are made from wool and other fibers that are fullable. Meaning that they are so be slightly shrunk. Lion Brand Homespun is a synthetic yarn and will not "full" it the true sense of the word. You can always wash it and that will give you a finished shawl that will look finished. You can either machine wash or hand wash it.

All you weavers if I'm wrong about "fulling" please feel free to correct me


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I weave on a 7 foot tri. I full in the washer. It does not go thru the full cycle tho. I fill let it slosh for a few min. then move the nob over to spin, then the same with rinse. I do use a bit of soap,in cold water. Makes a huge diffrence, with natural fibers, I do not know how it would work with synthetic, but try it.


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

Marchwind is right. Synthitic fibers do not "full". 

Fulling refers to the process of wool, and to a slightly lesser extent alpaca and a few other animal fibers (although alpaca fulls a lot like wool I don't have enough experience to know if it fulls to the same degree), expanding and thickening to make a thicker, more dense and/or impenetrable cloth - depending on the amount of agitation of the cloth.

Here's the actual definition of Fulling from Wikipedia:

*Fulling* or *tucking* or *walking* ("waulking" in Scotland) is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a *fuller*, *tucker*, or *walker*.[1] The Welsh word for a fulling mill is _pandy_, which appears in many place-names.

and a link to the full page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling

Wool fulls because the fibers have small scales on the edges. As they move and lock together during the agitation process they make a more solid piece of cloth. I don't think I explained that well. There are others here that can explain it much better. Maybe one will jump in here 

Here's a link to an interesting article about Wet Felting and Fulling

http://members.peak.org/~spark/felting-fulling.html

Wet finishing is the process of making the cloth do whatever that particular fiber is supposed to do by washing and pressing after being woven. All items woven with natural fibers should be wet finished so the fiber can settle in where it wants to be and your finished cloth will be "finished".

I do not know if synthetic fiber goods need to be wet finished but it can't hurt.


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

Thanks for the info. I think I will at least try it on the first shawl that I made. Of course, I kept it for myself. I had saw a little something about synthetic fibers and wondered if it would work. I may read elsewhere about things BUT I come here to you guys to ask my questions!!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Billie I hope we were able to help. Please post more often, I would love to see pictures of your shawls. I have a Tri-loom but I haven't used it as much as I had hope I would. My house is super small and it is put away, so out of sight out of mind


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

There is a shawl in one of the books I have the looks like it was woven on a tri loom and it's just beautiful. I think a tri loom would be cool to have.

Billie, please post pics. We like to see what everyone is working on.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

Hi, Billie! So good to see you here!!!1 :angel: :kiss:

You'll get lots of great info here in regards to your weaving. 

So happy to have you here!


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

Thanks everyone. I will have to have Bill help me with pictures, I just can not get it thru my head how to do it!! One of those things that will not compute for me!!

I forgot but I have one of those little colonial looms (wooden) that kids get at touristy places. I think it is a small rectangle one so I am going to get it out and use the Lion Brand yarn on it (can make a little mug rug or small wall hanging from scraps) and then throw that in the washing machine and see how it does for fulling.

My loom is in my living room. It stays out all the time. Some people hang theirs on a wall but I don't have any walls big enough to hang it on. I want to put it in my sunroom, eventually, but I need to get rid of an organ and rearrange in order to do that.

It has been very calming for me and I have been enjoying it very much.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

I really think I "need" a 7' triangle loom to get me up and stretching and moving around. If I sit too long knitting or spinning, I get stiff. 

yep, I think a loom is just the ticket!


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

WIHH - I so agree! You NEED a loom! It's for your health and flexibility!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I got mine from Carole Leigh my first year here, she comes to the MFF every year, teaches and vends. I also got the easel for mine you need something like her easel so you can vary the height of the loom, either that or have CF build you a scaffold :lookout::facepalm:


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

Most of the time when I start weaving I put some music on, turn the volume up.....and start dancing while I am weaving!!!

We had a friend weld a metal stand for me. Bill did not like the easels so he came up with a different design and a friend made it for us. I can move it up and down as needed. The legs criss cross and the front ones are a bit too long so it took awhile for me to get used to stepping over them. I set a basket on top of them and put my yarn in the basket.


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Being a musician, it's impossible for me to put on music while I'm doing anything else - and *especially* weaving. My mind and ear instantly go to the music - I can't concentrate on anything else at the same time. Strange, cuz I can walk and chew gum at the same time.... Just something about 'tone'. Weird, but when I thread the loom, I treat the _repeats_ as a 'melody' in my mind. It's how I keep track. Yeah I'm strange. I _wish_ I could listen to music, it's just that I'd end up with a weaving that looked like a bad spider web. :sob:


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Orisis I think you need to learn about Saori weaving. Look it up, it would be perfect for you to do WHILE you listen to music. I bet you would create wonderful things


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Marchwind, I've looked into Saori. Truthfully I don't care for all that mish-mash of different fiber together in one glob of woven fabric and calling it 'free-style'. It's never appealed to me since high school - when I walked down the hall in the art wing and saw all those sticks and sea shells and feathers and other household items together in some kind of 'fiber art' project hanging on a wall. It reminds of a voodoo charm! :yuck: 
Sort of like 'whole language' where they let kids 'spell it the way you want'!

I'm a traditionalist. I still like Davison and Dixon, Aherns and Oelsner. I'd rather stick with the traditional methods and styles. Learn the rules before I can break them. Saori is rather new to the craft of weaving - not to down them at all. They're obviously successful. It just doesn't appeal to me. The Japanese do have some FINE weaving too. 

But as far as listening to music, it's just one or the other with me - I can't have both. Former piano tuner too! It's a brain thing ! Clock chimes and rattling heddles are music in their own way! Now I make music with fiber and color!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I get it! I have seen some beautiful SAORI and it wasn't different fibers just different styles or structure of the weaving. I'm not sure I could do it but they always have the SAORI people come and teach classes at the MFF and they fill really fast.

I agree completely about the sounds of heddles being music. Each of my wheels has its own voice, some sing a bit louder than others.


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

Most fibery things seem to get dunked in water before they are officially finished. Sometimes before they are even started! A sheep is shorn, then the fleece is skirted & picked. Sometimes it is spun "in the grease" otherwise it is washed, dried, carded and then spun. Once it's spun, it's washed again to set the twist in the yarn. After it's crocheted or knit, it's washed again and laid flat to shape and dry. With weaving, it's "fulled" to finish it. Which is basically washed and then set out to dry in the right shape.










Before washing it is sort of gauze like and the fibers can still easily shift around.










After washing, it is more fabric like and seems much more coherent. Angora felts pretty well, so that helps hold the fibers in their proper spots.


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Thanks Hotzcatz! I just did an angora blend scarf and was wondering how to finish it and how it would react! Looks nice and soft too!


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