Handcrafted Felted Fleece Seat Pad ‘Cerrig Mawr’ – Handcrafted in Wales

Felted fleece seat pad made by hand and sheep. The inspiration for this piece comes from the colourful natural field stone walls of our home and surrounding outbuildings and dry stone walls out in the fields. Hence the name, Cerrig Mawr which is Welsh for ‘Big Stones’. This seat pad is made using locks from several different sheep I have individually pieced them together to complement each other and to give a loose representation of stones/rocks. Piecing all the individual locks together is a time consuming process but the result is a gorgeous mosaic of different natural coloured wool that could not be achieved any other way. Making up this seat pad are icelandic locks from Sven and Maris and other wild locks from Leaf, Teasel, Dash, Martha, Elder, Sorrel and Dandelion this is a true patchwork seat pad..

The rug/seat pad: Inspired by the wonderful natural colours found in the field stone and lime mortar walls of our home. This felted fleece seat pad features a stone theme pattern on the backing felt that has been created with carded wool and handspun yarn. It is a large size seat pad a little bigger in size than its sibling ‘Cerrig bach’. The shape is ideal for use on a kitchen chair or bench or it can be rolled up and carried into the wilds to use as a cosy bum warmer or meditation mat. Sometimes called ‘vegetarian sheepskins’ or ‘felted fleeces’ this is a sheep-friendly craft handmade from only natural wool.

The sheep: This seat pad is very special it is made from the locks from 9 different sheep. A proper Patchwork sheep seat pad. The wool used for the backing felt and spiral pattern come from other sheep in our flock too 🙂

The process: This seat pad has been made by carefully selecting and arranging individual locks from the fleeces of several different sheep. Carded wool from some of our other sheep is carefully placed on the back to complement the locks and create a simple abstract pattern of stones. 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 nor to I buy in pre-carded commercial wool for the backing felt.  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: This natural wool seat pad is an irregular circular shape. The hairy side measures up to max 75-80cm in diameter and on the underside the backing felted area measures approx 50+cm diameter, the locks are overhanging the felt.

Wool texture: The feel is not rough or scratchy despite the locks being wild hairy types. It has a coarse hair like feel to it.

Colour: Natural greys, beiges, tans, and cream colours with slightly darker roots..

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): Minimal. As always you may find the odd wisp of hay or grass seed from the Welsh Hillside within the fleece and felt. 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 or several. 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 the sheep who created this seat pad here.