Heavy Wool
Heavy Wool
Check out this page if you are looking for Heavy Wool
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 WESTERN SADDLE HORSE WOOL SHOW PAD BLANKET PAD LEATHER 100 NEW ZEALAND WOOL US $63.98
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techniques for sewing heavy wool- is there anything special i need to know?
i'm going to do a winter duffel coat from a pattern, and the pattern calls for a medium/light weight material. i want to change it and make it really thick and warm, so i am going to use a heavy duffel or melton. i am worried that the seams might be very thick- i have never sewn anything very heavy weight before. other than using a thick needle, is there anything else i need to take into consideration or change in my technique? thanks!
i thought flat felled seams were for lighter fabrics- will all that fabric fit under the foot?
There is absolutely NO NEED to do a flat felled seam . And you are right - with a decent Melton or other heavy wool, it would be too much for the average domestic sewing machine. Proper Melton cloth doesn't fray (it's fulled and shrunk, and the surface looks like solid felt), so there is no need to do any type of enclosed seam, or even a seam finish. Take a look at this: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Costuming/Phil%27sjackets/insidedetailfront.JPG
See that slightly frayed edge at the bottom? That took TEN YEARS of traipsing round doing Napoleonic war re-enactment, being dragged through the battlefields of Corunna, Badajos, and Waterloo... As I said when I was remaking them, "On the lower front inside you can see just how well the raw edge of the cloth has withstood the rigours of campaign life. Between us, we thought that ten years of re-enactment service was probably equivalent to one year of real campaigning, so long as the chap in the jacket wasn't wounded..." As you see here, I just used a plain flat seam to sew the jackets together: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Costuming/Phil%27sjackets/pressedinside.JPG I doubt your winter coat will get any more wear than these jackets! 
They have already been to Argentina from the UK and back!
This winter coat has similar seams inside the lining, and I've been wearing it regularly for two winters: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Sewing_Projects/Poshfrockgallery/DSCF0052.JPG It's a much looser weave, un-felted Welsh tweed.
You don't need an especially thick needle. A size 80 or possibly a 90 universal will do fine - that's what I used on the Redcoats. Start the project with a new needle and change it as soon as it gets a little dull: blunt needles strain the machine and damage the fabric.
I prefer to use a 75 weight cotton thread for sewing heavier wools. I get mine from Empress Mills.
You might also like to use a walking foot, like this: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Sewing_Projects/Chocolate_velour/walkingfoot.JPG
The way to get the seams to lie flat once sewn is to pound them! Steam them on the INSIDE with plenty of steam, open them up and steam the seam allowances flat. Best to use a damp cloth and a hot dry iron if you don't have a steam generator iron. Even if you do, use a pressing cloth to protect the fabric. And PRESS, don't iron! While the fabric is still hot and damp, pound it with a nice smooth well sanded chunk of 4X4 elm or other hard wood (light coloured not dark: dark woods can mark the fabric, and not pine, it's too resinous). Whack it hard a dozen or so times along the seam. Here is a professional tailor's clapper: http://www.darrellthomas.com/images/products/notions/0301006.jpg
Fabrics like these can be VERY heavy. Take a good look at your machine. A modern light weight job will not cope well. What you need is something with a bit more welly, such as a Bernina 1005-8 series like this: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Sewing_Projects/Boy%20stuuf/Jeans/pocketstitching.JPG), my Husqvarna Lily (here: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Resources/machinegallery/readytosew.JPG), something old and tough like my Viscount 2000 (here: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Resources/machinegallery/viscount.jpg). One of the old black hand cranks would do it too! All these machines are heavy. Enough heavy Melton to make a coat can drag a light weight machine off a table.. BTDT... 
If you have to wind an electric/electronic machine through fabric by hand, it's too tough a job for the machine: STOP! Don't do this! You can strain the mechanics of the machine and wreck the timing. Better to go an borrow Granny's hand crank and have a machine that will stand a little abuse...