Felt backed Fleeces is based in the West Country. Each fleece is lovingly created by Sophie Harrison a felt maker of over 25 years who creates her felt textiles and wearable art pieces in her Somerset and Cotswold studios.

With a love of wool and traditional craft, Sophie feels passionately about the environment and the waste of this precious commodity here in the UK. Always being offered fleeces from farmers who don’t always know what to do with them, she came across this fantastic method of turning a raw fleece into a rug. The process, while causing no harm to the sheep, keeps the soft fluffy texture and warmth sheepskin gives, without the horrible chemicals for tanning leather.

Each rug is “Wet felted” by laying brushed wool on the back of the raw fleece and then shrinking the wool fibres with soap, hot water and friction. This is hard work done by hand. The heavy wet fleeces are brushed and washed multiple times until clean and fluffy.

Each fleece is unique in colour and quality. Sophie likes to source her fleeces from small flocks, many local to her in the West Country where she can meet the farmers, visit the sheep and know their names if possible.

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