First question what is a vegetarian fleece rug ? Its like a sheepskin rug, but has been made from the fleece of the sheep by felting and the sheep lives to eat some more grass. Whether using animal products at all is acceptable to vegetarians is of course questionable.
My friend Margaret leant how to felt Gotland fleeces into vegetarian fleece rug at the IFA conference this year in Sweden. Her tutor was Erik Torstenson the ‘ Man of wool “. The unwashed rug accompanied us to Copenhagen and dried on our very small hotel balcony. It looked so lovely I wanted to make one for myself.
So when I went to Woolfest , I was looking for a Gotland fleece. However even being there very very early I still could not find one to buy. So I bought a Shetland fleece and a Hebredian Hogg fleece instead.
What was a Hogg I thought ? I believe its a young sheep and this is its first shearing. Isnt it great the way the fleece was described as VERY BLACK
The Shetland is lovely , but on closer inspection it’s it too many bits to make into a fleece rug. I think Hebridean fleece should be possible.
Luckily the wonderful weather allowed to try our fleece rug experiment in my garden
First step was to repair any splits in the fleece. We did using Shetland yarn.
We added a Bergschaap fibres to the back.
And felted it
It was really quite easy.
But did require a lot of washing.
Here is the finished Hebridean fleece rug , in my lounge after a few washes.
Harriet Smith
14 Nov 2018Hi, thanks for sharing your fleece project. Do you know if anywhere in England (particularly within a few hours of London) which offer courses to learn how to make these felted fleeces? I have lots of Shetland wool myself and would like to turn in into some beautiful rugs. Thanks, Harriet
jane_mercer
16 Nov 2018Hi Harriet, Thank you for your comments. I am not aware of anyone within a few hours of London , offering courses . Nickie Kirby of Eden Gotland does offer courses, but she is in the North of England. To work successfully I think you need to start with whole fleeces, sheared in one piece. Good luck in finding a course. Jane