The brown part of the scapular must be made from WOVEN WOOL and not from wool felt. Other materials can be applied as decoration, but the main body of the brown scapular needs to be WOVEN WOOL.
In another blog I described buying used clothing from thrift stores and using that material for making scapulars. Men’s wool suits are always made from woven fabric, and are therefore a safe bet.
Allow me to describe how fabrics are made out of wool, so that you can more clearly understand which materials to choose:
1. Wool comes from the sheep, their wool (hair) is shaved off and cleaned.
2. Cleaned wool can be:
a. Pressed to become felt – felt does not unravel or fray when cut
b. spun into yarn or thread.
i. Thread can be woven together on looms to create WOVEN WOOL
ii. Yarn can be used to create knits, crochet, or even lace.
To summarize, wool can be used to create WOVEN fabric, which scapulars should be made from, and it can be used to create felt, knits, crochet, and lace which scapulars should NOT be made out of.
Felt is a wonderful material, and it is much easier to work with than woven wool. Because of the way the fibers are pressed and matted together felt doesn’t unravel, fray, or loose it’s shape when cut. I like to use colorful pieces of felt to create a background for the decoration and embroidery, but those pieces of felt must always be attached to the woven wool scapular.
Felt decorations should not obscure the fact
that the scapular is made out of brown
wool. Always make sure that there is a frame of brown around any felt pieces you use for the decoration.