Felting Fibres

The Story Behind…

The carded organic naturally hand-dyed fibre comes from my blade shorn high welfare flock of Portland sheep and homegrown organic plant dyes.  The process starts in May with shearing the sheep, quietly in the field.  After sorting and washing, the fleece is hand-dyed with organic homegrown plant dyes.  On warm sunny days, I go into the garden to harvest the Weld and Woad (Madder is dug up in early Spring before it starts to sprout).  The fibre is prepared and hand-dyed in colours inspired by nature.  The wool is hand carded to create lovely soft carded slivers for you to play with.

Environmental Impact

If you are looking for an ethical product with a low carbon footprint, look no further.

The key points:

• Fleeces are organic
• Sheep are blade shorn (no electricity)
• Sheep are less than a mile from my home, so the fleece is carried home
• Fleece is hand sorted and washed in rainwater
• Soap is bio-degradable
• Dyed with homegrown organic plant dyes

What the fibre is great for

Needle and wet felting, spinning, weaving, peg loom weaving and any other wool crafts.

Working with Portland fibre

I get a real buzz from working with my own soft, naturally coloured fibre.  The low level of processing the fibre experiences gives it a sense of life which is hard to beat, enhancing my projects with energy and colour.  Portland fibre also loves to felt, so creating beautiful needle and wet felted items takes less time than with some other British fibres.

Shipping

All items are sent 2^nd class small parcel Royal Mail.  Remember, if you spend more than £30, postage and packaging is free.  More details can be found on the shipping page.

Be aware

Once a specific colour is gone, it is gone!  Due to the nature of natural dyes (the dye pigment varies with weather and time of day it is harvested), it is impossible to exactly colour match, although I can get close.  Therefore, if you see something you love don’t hesitate to buy and make sure you order enough for your project.

The colours in the photos are the best match I can make, but there is variation between screens and devices. Some of the fibre may contain small amounts of vegetable matter as it is all hand processed.