Wild Felted Wool Seat Pad ‘Darwin’

This wonderfully wild felted wool seat pad has been made using part of Darwin’s 2022 fleece. Sometimes called ‘vegetarian sheepskins’ or ‘felted fleeces’ this is a sheep-friendly craft handmade from natural wool.

The sheep: Darwin is one of the babies of the flock he is curious and gentle and laid back about life. He doesn’t yet have his own page on our website for me to link to but you can see him in lots of the photos checking out this very seat pad with his friends and posing in his witchy hat! Darwin is a mixed breed sheep. His mum is Wilma a pure breed Greyface Dartmoor and his dad is Cormoran a Valais Blacknose/Blue Face Leicester crossbreed.

The process: This seat pad has been made by carefully taking small sections of Darwin’s fleece and arranging them in an oval shape, carded wool from different sheep is placed on the back along with decorative wool yarn and then it is then felted by hand. The felted wool underside is thick and textured, carefully designed and made. Decorated with several different handspun wool yarns and Darwin’s name needle felted on, this felted seat cover is really pretty and unique. This is a completely handmade product every element has been created by my hands and the flock at our farm in Wales. I shear the sheep myself with blade shears and wash and card the backing wool fleeces. All the yarn is hand-spun by my hands too. The sale of this item directly sustains the sheep it pays for their feed and upkeep of the land enabling the flock to live long happy lives here munching away growing wonderful wool.

The seat pad: Darwin’s fleece is beautiful – the locks are long and slightly wavy and a lovely mix of warm grey and cream colors with subtle hints of brown. Darwin’s fleece seat pad is an oval shape that looks fantastic on a wooden bench or a rustic armchair or draped on a sofa. It would also work great as a little oval rug.

Size: Measured on the fleece top side lock tip to lock tip it is approx 65 x 55 cm. The felted area is smaller approx 48 x 37cm – the locks overhang the felted area.

Wool texture: The feel of this fleece is hairy, it is just on the coarser side.

Colour: Natural white/cream/grey/brown tones.

Hair loss: Minimal – there is a little loss of hairs which is normal. All felted fleeces moult or shed to some degree some more than others. Moulting typically lessens over time.

VM(aka hay/grass seeds etc): Few and far between with this item. But as 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. 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 get washed during the felting process and then they all get a thorough 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.

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

You can meet the flock and read more about them here.