Magical Witchy Felted Fleece Rug ‘Gem’ – Handcrafted in Wales

A dark magical witchy felted fleece rug handcrafted with Gem’s 2024 fleece. A wonderfully wild wool rug it is a large size and features a fabulous witchcraft design on the felted reverse. The designs on the backs of my felted rugs are always conjured by the sheep who grew the fleece and the looks and character of the fleece itself. Gem and her fleece included speak of witches and magical spells and bubbling cauldrons and dark moonlit nights.

The rug: A large hairy rustic rug made with Gem’s gorgeous wild fleece. Handcrafted using the whole fleece from Gem and backed with wool from other sheep in the flock and some shetland wool from another uk flock. This is a medium-weight fleece. The backing felt is wonderfully thick and features a magical design made from handspun yarn and lengths of carded wool. This design is carefully created prior to felting so it becomes one with the fleece during the felting process. Gem’s name and some intricate details were needle-felted on afterwards as a finishing touch. I was very much inspired by the witchy magical ness of Gem and the Autumnal season when I was working on Gem’s fleece. Think bubbling cauldrons, spells, cobwebs and dark magic when you look at the design on the felt. Gem’s fleece itself is shaggy and wild and has a definate wolfiness about it too. The centre of the fleece is softer and has been lightly brushed out. the tail and rear leg areas are very hairy and a little rough. It is a typical wild hill fleece wonderfully warm and durable. Therefore it would make a fabulous floor rug but is also soft and light enough that it would be lovely draped on a bed or a sofa.

The sheep: Gem is a beautiful crossbreed sheep. She is quite wild and rugged like her fleece. She found her name by looking like one of our other sheep who was called Magic – hence Magic and Gem. Gem was bought by us to save her from becoming mutton, she was what they call a cull ewe as she was unable to bear live lambs.

The process: This rug has been made with the whole of Gem’s fleece. Carded wool from some our other sheep Poppy and Minnie plus some dark shetland wool from another small UK flock is placed on the back and then the witchy pattern is arranged upon this. Everything is then felted by hand to become one. It is made with a lot of care and time entirely by hand. Working the felt slowly like this makes for a much stronger even smooth felt. No felting machines or rollers are used to speed up the process nor washing machines or driers.  This is a completely handmade product every element has been created by my hands and the flock at our farm in Wales – from shearing the sheep to washing and carding and spinning the wool to the felting process itself. Made as naturally and as nature-friendly as possible. The sale of this item directly sustains the sheep it pays for their feed and upkeep of the land and barns enabling the flock to live long happy lives here munching away and growing wonderful wool.

Details:

Size: Measurements taken on the hairy fleece side. The rug is a natural irregular shape made using the whole fleece including the tail wool and belly wool. It measures approx 135cm in length and 85-110cm in width with the narrowest measurements at the neck and places where the fleece draws in and the widest parts being across the middle and rear leg area.

Wool texture: The feel of this fleece varies. It is soft down the centre spine and neck area ranging through to coarse and hairy on the rear leg and tail areas. Gem’s fleece is a typical wild hill sheep fleece. The backing felt feels a little prickly in places where the roots of the fleece poke through the felt, this is normal and shows how well the two halves (fleece and carded backing wool) have become one.

Colour: Stormy greys ranging from light through to very dark brown/black at the edges.

Hair loss: Medium/minimal – there is a some loss of hair which is normal. Gem’s fleece is a wild hairy fleece and these fleece do have a tendancy to shed more than other types though for the most part this fleece is minimal moulting and the shedding is confined to the rougher hairier parts of the fleece. All felted fleeces moult or shed to some degree some more than others. Moulting typically lessens and ceases over time.

VM(aka hay/grass seeds etc): Few and far between with this item, there may be some seeds deep within the fleece/felt. As is always you may find the odd wisp of hay or grass seed from the Welsh Hillside within the fleece and felt I have done my best to remove the ones I came across and the center of the fleece has been lightly brused to aid this. This is a natural item gently made by hand and sheep. There is a whole story behind it! The wool it is made from has spent a whole year outside growing on a sheep. It’s been through a lot, it’s seen a lot, it’s kept a sheep warm and dry and even cool at times.. its probably been dragged through a hedge (or two!), splattered with mud at some point, sprinkled with hay at another and rolled around in the spring clover as it naturally started to rise and break away from its 4 legged creator and I got my shears out – all that and the wool still looks beautiful.. none the worse for wear.. isn’t wool amazing!

Fleeces naturally get washed during the felting process and then they all get a proper wash or two after they are felted so they are thoroughly clean and smell divine. They are left to dry in the open air or sometimes draped beside the stove in winter. I am passionate about keeping things natural and energy use to a minimum when making my woollen crafts. Hence I do not wash fleeces in a washing machine or use a tumble drier to dry and fluff them up.

If you have any questions or queries at all please send me a message I will be happy to help.

You can meet Gem and read more about her and her pals here.