Man I feel this one. Waited way too long on a decent vacuum bleeder for brakes, kept telling myself gravity bleeding was fine, then finally grabbed one and knocked out a full flush in 15 minutes. Should've bought it years ago lol.

That line about the fabric being stretched into wrinkles is the real tell here. Once that fabric wrinkles up, it stops being a separator and starts acting like a tarp, so water sits on top of it instead of draining down through to the soil below. Adding the extra 4 inches on top just made it worse because now there's more weight pressing down and more gravel for water to filter through before it even hits the clogged fabric layer. You didn't mess up by skipping the edging, edging keeps gravel in place but it wouldn't have stopped this. The depth is the problem and honestly the wrinkle part matters more than the depth. Only real fix is pulling the gravel off, smoothing the fabric flat again, and going back to 3 inches, which stinks with 12 tons but it beats a swamp every time you water.