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Pennsic Class
FABRIC INFO
fabric pages:
Silk
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(includes cotton, rayon,
and man-made fibers)
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& Floss
16/2
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About Class Act Fabrics
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Fabric Writing 1
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contact me at:
Linda Learn
Class Act Fabrics
PO Box 307
Tunkhannock,PA
18657-0307
(570) 836-2318
email me at
Linda (at)
classactfabrics (dot) com
Here's a neat color site.
I think the colors are
truest of all the color
lists out there:
www.ibdguy.com/colors.shtml
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Class Act Fabrics .....Wools...
Fabricmonger to
the Crowns of the West Kingdom, SCA
PENNSIC WAR
TIME IS APPROACHING!
This means
that, starting July 16th, I will be loading things in my trailer and getting
ready to haul them out to Coopers Campground to my little brown Slavic fabric
store on wheels.
This year I will be closing down
Class Act Fabrics on July 20th and will be re-opening it on Aug 20th. Pennsic is
a week earlier starting this year and I'm getting slower ;) I will not be
near a computer during this time so I won't be able to answer emails. Please
wait until after Aug 15th to email me.
If you are going to the Pennsic
War and want me to bring something specific for you, please email me before July
20th or as soon as possible so I can have it packed for you.
Pure wool
fabric is getting harder to come by. And fabrics labeled 100% wool, or 100%
cotton, or 100% linen nowadays sometimes have a smidgen of lycra in them. sigh.
I do my best to get 'unadulterated' fabrics for my historical costumers but the
costs of those, when I can find them, are getting very, very high. And
some wools are just so beautiful even though they have 5-15% nylon or polyester
in them. Unless you are going to be entering a '100% wool contest', or be in a
juried encampment, or are an extreme authenticity police person, well....
sometimes that little bit of nylon or poly doesn't hurt. Actually, nylon is used
in most coatings now for stability: elbows budge less, knees don't sag, coats
hold their shape longer....and 'usually' (watch that disclaimer) the wool
doesn't shrink or doesn't shrink more than 3-4% if you don't put it in the
dryer. (always test before you sew, and pre-treat it the way you will be
cleaning it afterwards because the surface will sure as shootin' change)
So, if isn't really mandatory that you use 100% pure wool,
check out the blends.
Medieval textiles in London excavations have been found with
thread counts comparable to today's wools: coarse cloth at 7 warp threads/8 weft threads
per centimeter, fine cloth with 25 warp/36 weft per cm, comparable to merino, and
everything in between; twill and tabby weaves, and checked, solid, striped and barred
(rays) patterns created by both color and weave structure; mixed cloth of
different fibers........just like what's on the market now!
One thing that will always stymie the re-enactor is the
difference in finishing fabrics between 'now' and 'then'. Since the last quarter
of the 1800s, fleece wool has been treated to a carbonization process to get rid
of the plant debris. This involves dipping in acid. The surface of the wool
fiber is affected as well as the plant material and the care and timing of the
process determines how much it is affected.
(You can get yarn, and I think fabric, too, that hasn't
been carbonized at special stores on the internet. I think you must search for
'natural wool'. )
Another thing that is a real pain is that fabrics
weaves go out of style and come back with a different name. Or the same name is
stuck on a different fabric. So the bengaline of yesteryear (silk warp,
wool weft) has become a pure silk fabric today. The linen/wool fabric today is
more likely to have the linen and wool blended together in one thread than to
have the pure linen warp and pure woolen weft.
The fibers have all been cut to 'machine manageable' lengths so there are no
long fiber worsteds comparable to those of the hand-spun industry. sigh.
That's not all but I think I'll save that for an information page later...when I
get "a round toit".
I've done my best with the colors but it appears that
there are colors seen by the eye that don't exist in reality. sigh.
All fabric is 100% wool unless otherwise labeled.
click on fabric picture to enlarge for details (colors show best when enlarged)
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PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURES
to enlarge and see the textures and colors better |
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#109
60" 97% worsted wool 3% lycra fine worsted twill suiting.
a shade of gray called
Mineral Sage
$7.00/yd
only 3 yards left
$7.00/yd |

#1112
60" woolen coating
A magnificent, luscious, soft wool that you want to pet forever. I haven't
had a chance to test it or ask my jobber about the content because he sent
it to me in the middle of War (I love my jobber;-) This is a
medium tending to heavy weight but quite warm coating.
warm Brown
$14.25/yd |
I had this one at Pennsic but no sample washed.

#1106
58" 100% woolen
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful wool. I haven't washed a piece in cold water yet but check
the shrinkage rates of the other Carleton woolens and you can get an idea.
Camel
$13.45/yd |

#1039B
60" 100%
worsted wool
very fine twill satin-weave .....almost a sateen or satinette
brown and off-white stripe
$10.00/yd |

#1050
59" Alpaca
thick, plush and wonderfully soft!
This
fulls in hot water and agitation (approximately 31% shrinkage in the warp and 23% in
the weft.) so dry cleaning is the best idea. (the fulled wool makes wonderful
slippers and insoles ;-)
MINT on one side, PALE MINT on other side
$18.00/yd |
I had this one at Pennsic too but no sample washed.

#1110
58" 100% woolen
heavy flannel
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful soft wool. I haven't washed a piece in cold water yet but check
the other Carleton woolens and you can get an idea.
beautiful mixture of grays all blended together.
Gray $13.45/yd |
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I had this soft navy wool at PENNSIC

#1108
58" 100% woolen
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful soft wool. When I washed a piece in cold water and hung it to
dry it had 7% shrinkage in the warp and 6% in the weft. This could be from
the way I hung it to dry.
Navy
$13.45/yd |
I had this soft black wool at PENNSIC
#1107
58" 100% woolen
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful soft wool. When I washed a piece in cold water and hung it to
dry it had 1% shrinkage in the warp and 4% in the weft. This could be from
the way I hung it to dry.
Black
$13.45/yd |
I had this wool at
PENNSIC

#1100
58" 85% wool, 15% poly
tabby flannel
Surface has been
calendared for a crisp and smooth flatness perfect for a structured light jacket.
Cool water wash makes it into a lovely soft flannel (about 3% shrinkage).
The color is spectacular (for best color look at the bottom of the jpg)
heathery
Rose-Pink and Lavender
$9.25/yd |
I had this emerald green at PENNSIC

#1104
58" 100% woolen
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful soft wool. When I washed a piece in cold water and hung it to
dry it had 3% shrinkage in the warp and 14% in the weft. This could be from
the way I hung it to dry.
Emerald green
$13.45/yd |

#184
59" 100% wool
a lovely twill!
made in England for Huddlesfield!
modern known as gabardine,
fits definition of covert cloth
grays
$13.00/yd
about 3 yards left |

#1066
60" 100% wool
fine satin-weave twill suiting.
almost a sateen finish, I'd venture a guess that this could be Venetian
Cloth.
lovely browns with a gray tone
$8.00/yd
about 4 yards left |
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#1081
60" 100% worsted wool
UNIFORM TWILL
I know...there's no such 'name'. But this is the navy blue, heavy twill used
for 'dress blues'. How do I know? The tag attached to it directs it the
Marine Corp Depot and the color number is
"Army Blue 150"
also: 16 oz. type III mothproofed.
(I love my jobber!) heavier than the dress greens I wore in
1980.
Navy Blue
$11.00/yd |
I had this red coating at PENNSIC

#1095
58" 90% wool, 10% nylon
a very nice coating with a lovely hand. Twill weave is visible on one side
while other is a lush fulled surface. Makes great cartridge pleats!
(shrinkage with HOT water about 4% weft, 10% warp) when preshrunk makes a
great Florentine beretto!
deeper Red with a cool blue tone.
$15.00/yd |
I had this cranberry wool at PENNSIC

#1109
58" 100% woolen
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful soft wool. When I washed a piece in cold water and hung it to
dry it had 6% shrinkage in the warp and 11% in the weft. This could be
from the way I hung it.
Cranberry
(this picture is washed out...should be a bit warmer)
$13.45/yd
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#111
60" wool/silk blend twill
a luscious sleek shepherd check wool with grays, blues, browns. I'm sorry to
say there's only about 3.5 yards left and there's a warp thread flaw about
8" in from one selvedge (that makes it a 52" wide fabric). Because of this the price is $8.00/yd or
$25.00 for the piece
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#101
60" worsted wool tabby suiting with lycra .... stretch in both
weft and warp! Tropical weight.
Perfect
for summer suits and slacks..
tan
$7.00/yd |
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#192
29" wide 100% wool
Harris Tweed
from the Isle of Lewis
a window pane check in
dark gray, browns, green
$10.00/yd
3 yards left |

#1027
29" wide 100% wool
Harris Tweed
from the Isle of Lewis herringbone in
grays
$10.00/yd
2-3 yards left |

#1048
58" 100% wool twill plaid
about 10 oz.
black and cream with a white rail
$11.00/yd |
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#1122
59" 100% woolen coating
HEAVY, thick, dense, WONDERFUL! The face of this woolen has a nap that
has been calendared flat; the reverse is a twill that looks like whip cord.
It could keep you warm in a blizzard! The color is a tweedy Charcoal gray
$15.25/yd |
#1121
60" 100% wool twill
Huddlesfield cavalry twill!
A wonderful piece uniform weight twill. A tiny bit lighter than the Marine
uniform twill, in weight and color. I wish someone would compare this to
Civil War uniform twill for me because it looks a lot like the one I saw in
the Everhart Museum several years ago.
Dark Blue
$10.55/yd |
#1120
59" 100% wool twill gabardine from Huddlesfield
a wonderful gabardine, solid medium weight, classic, gorgeous.
This fits the definition of covert cloth also.
Taupe
(that's kind of a cool tan color)
$10.55/yd
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#1103
60" 100% wool
Imported Italian flannel suiting
Beautiful light flannel. This is one I washed in cold water (hung dry)to see
what it would do. Shrinkage was about 3-4% for me. It feels wonderful.
It is a soft subtle color...a
'greeny-gray'
$11.20/yd |
I got this shipped to me at Pennsic during the second week.

#1113
60" 100% wool
Worsted twill light gabardine. (twill on one side and very even on the
other) A perfect weight for slacks, light jacket, tunic, cotehardie, and a
lovely red!
(AEthelmearc red <G>)
Red
$12.50/yd |

#1085
59" 100% wool
Imported Italian wool suiting
a beautiful piece with a light gray satin weave on one side and a darker
gray twill on the other
(from a very exclusive men's suiting company, my jobber said) Gorgeous!
light gray
$10.70/yd |
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#1061
59" 100% superfine worsted
with lycra, tropical weight
tabby weave suiting
tan
$8.00/yd |
#1064
59" 100% superfine worsted
with lycra
tabby weave tropical weight suiting
mixed grays
$8.00/yd |
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#110
60" 100% wool worsted tabby
a superfine suiting from a top men's suiting company. Understated woven
checks in charcoal grays.
$7.00/yd
about 6 yards left |

#1062
59" 100% superfine worsted
with lycra
tabby weave suiting
cold chocolate milk
brown
$8.00/yd approx. 7 yards left |

#1063
60" 100% superfine worsted
with lycra
tabby weave summer suiting
dark charcoal with a bit of blue tint
$8.00/yd |
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#1115
60" 100% worsted wool
twill light gabardine. Very nice weight for suits and slacks, lined
jackets, tunics, coathardies.
Nice hand.
Pale Blue
$9.70/yd |

#1016
57" worsted wool with 2% lycra
tabby weave suiting
rich
chocolate
$7.00/yd
2 yards left |
#1116
60" 100% worsted wool twill
light gabardine. Very nice weight for suits and slacks, lined jackets,
tunics, cotehardies, etc.
Nice hand.
(looks nice with pale blue)
Lilac..almost lavender
$9.70/yd
I can't seem to get this color to come out at all. It turns too gray in the
pictures. It might be called a dark periwinkle as well as lavender. |
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#1117
58" 100% worsted wool twill
gabardine. Very nice weight for suits and slacks, lined jackets,
tunics, cotehardies, etc.Nice hand. This is the color of the ripest red
raspberry...not the bright red that we hope to get before the birds do, but
the slightly dusky red that is the sweetest and ripest you can get. Or you
can call it red-violet I guess.
Ripe Red Raspberry
$9.70/yd |

#1073
59" 100% wool twill , lightly brushed
deep blue
hot wash shrinkage: 4% warp;
9% weft
$9.50/yd approx. 2 1/2 yd left |
#1119
58" 100% woolen
A soft woolen with a herringbone twill weave. Very nice for suits and
jackets. Also nice as a tunic dress or cotehardie. The soft color blue
and the soft hand make me think of soft blue skies with wisps of clouds.
VERY pretty.
Light Blue
$10.50/yd |
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#1127
60" 100% wool twill gabardine
medium weight, drapey, very very nice!
Dark Blue
$9.95/yd |
#1128
60" 100% wool twill gabardine
medium weight, drapey, very very nice!
Plum
$9.95/yd |
I had this one at Pennsic and sold out of it there.

#1105
58" 100% woolen twill
From Carleton Woolen Mills which closed last year.
A beautiful soft wool. When I washed a piece in cold water and hung it to
dry it had 6-8% shrinkage in the warp and 11% in the weft. This could be
from the way I hung it.This has a bit less blue in it than the jpeg shows.
It would make a gorgeous lined jacket. Or cloak!
Forest Green
$13.45/yd |

#1038F
59" 100% worsted wool satin
modernly called sateen
warp-faced satin weave, possibly similar to the worsted satinette of 1794
Fuchsia Pink
$11.00/yd
approx. 5 yds left
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#1129
60" 100% wool gabardine
medium weight, drapey, very very nice!
Peacock/Teal
$9.95/yd |
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there is a little sparkle in the threads that makes this unsuitable for authentic
kilt/renaissance use
#117
60" twill 99%worsted/1%nylon?
(was labeled 100% wool)
black/cream faux Menzies tartan
$9.00/yd
SALE $ 4.00/YD |
#1118
60" 100% wool crepe
A lovely hand and drape and a luscious rich color.
Wool crepe makes very nice suits that move with you and don't wrinkle
as much as other fabrics.
Burgundy
$9.95/yd |
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#1091
60" 100% twill woolen flannel suiting
a fine, soft, smooth finish in a pretty 'tweedy' look with very subdued
windowpane.
Grays with brown & blue 'panes'
$9.00/yd
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#1114
60" 100% woolen twill light gabardine. This would make a good light suiting,
tunic, cotehardie, etc. But let me talk about the color. I
hope to be able to catch this in the jpeg....I call this heathered sunshine.
It is a bit warmer than a pale daffodil and full of soft hints of color that
make me think of dancing sunshine and soft fuzzy animals.
Heathered Sunshine
$10.25/yd |

#1093
61" 100% worsted wool suiting, very fine broken twill weave, with a slight shine
finish on the face. Gorgeous!
fine suiting.!
Dark Blue
$ 9.50/yd |
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#157
59" 100% wool twill with lush nap on one side
wool/camel hair blend
checked browns/black
$12.00/ydabout 2 1/2 yards left
$25.00 the piece |
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#1017
60" 97% worsted w/3% lycra in weft only
twill weave makes great slacks and suiting, cotehardies, or slim dresses
copper
$8.25/yd
*****
HISTORICAL: lycra makes it unusable for 'authenticity'. 2/2 twill, Look and hand same as
appropriate worsted twills for 1251-1400 and on |

#179
60" 100% worsted wool sateen
a luscious suiting with browns and blue and other furtive colors woven
together.
browns with blue hint
$8.25/yd
about 2 1/2 yards left |
#1015
same hand as #1017 to the far left.
60" worsted 2/2 twill suiting with 2-3% lycra in the weft. The lycra has become a "fashion
plus" item in high end fabrics because it helps keep the fabric from bagging at the
knees and (ahem) and other places where clothing tends to sag. You never know its there to
look at the fabric or clothing.
Navy
$8.25/yd
***** 1 1/2 yards left
$10.00 the piece
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#125
60" 70% wool 30% nylon
broken twill woolen coating
large plaid in
red, green, and goldThink picnic blanket or bulky jacket.
about 3 1/2 yards left
$7.50/yd
SALE $5.00/YD...$15 the piece
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#1096
58" 85% wool, 15% nylon coating,
soft, fluffy, lightweight twill with a wonderful thick nap surface.
Wonderful for a coat or a cape!
Feels great!
Beige
about 5% shrinkage
$9.00/yd |
1038C
62" 100% worsted wool
copper
very fine twill
$10.00/yd
approx. 1.5 yds left
(what can you do with 1.5 yards of fine, wide twill? short slacks? unlined
jacket?)
$12.00 the piece |
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#1125
60" 100% woolen twill
flannel weight Some of the last of Burlington. (sigh) This is a lovely
soft woolen twill. It's close to a flannel although the twill weave is still
a bit visible.
So nice, so soft. So long, Burlington.
Rich Red
$10.95/yd |
#1126
60" 100% woolen twill.
flannel weight Some of the last of Burlington. (sigh) This is a lovely
soft woolen twill. It's close to a flannel although the twill weave is still
a bit visible.
So nice, so soft. So long, Burlington.
Winter White
$10.95/yd
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#1124
60" 100% woolen twill.
flannel weight Some of the last of Burlington. (sigh) This is a lovely
soft woolen twill. It's close to a flannel although the twill weave is still
a bit visible.
So nice, so soft. So long, Burlington.
Royal Blue
$10.95/yd |
page updated 2/22/2009
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