Magical Felt Wool Meditation Mat ‘Leaf’

A large sized seat pad with a beautiful scrolling pattern of a veined leaf on the reverse. This piece was made with wild meditation in mind using the fleece from a wild little sheep called Leaf. I wanted to make it special, an item to be treasured, to reflect the character and charm of the sheep who grew the wool, an item perhaps to carry into the forest to be placed on the ground and keep the bearer’s bottom warm or maybe to just simply place upon a favourite cosy chair, there are many possibilities…

The rug/seat pad: This seat pad is reversible. On one side it is shaggy hairy fleece with a very witchy wild look and on the reverse it is textured soft felt with a magical leaf pattern. The item is lightweight, the felt is not too thick or rigid it is soft and flexible and lends itself well to being rolled up or draped and is an ideal shap and size for use as a wool meditation mat. A mix of light-dark greys with brown tones throughout. The photos here don’t do it justice at all. Sometimes called ‘vegetarian sheepskins’ or ‘felted fleeces’ this is a sheep-friendly craft handmade from only natural wool.

The sheep: The wild witchy fleece was grown by beautiful Leaf. She is a little Icelandic cross Shetland/Soay sheep. She was born here with her twin sister Sorrel and is a much-loved member of our flock. 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 pulling apart and then re-arranging sections of Leaf’s fleece together. Carded wool from some of our other sheep is carefully placed on the back to complement the colour of Leaf’s fleece. The scrolling veined leaf pattern is created by very carefully laying pieces of handspun wool yarn on top of the carded wool. This is a meticulous time time-consuming process. The wool must be spun and balled up then carefully laid out. 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: Oval shape. The fleece measures up to 75-85cm length and 55-65cm width, the locks are overhanging the felt.

Wool texture: Leaf’s flecee has a shaggy hair like feel to it. The backing felt is soft. It may feel a little scratchy as felted wool often does.

Colour: Natural medium-dark greys with some brown tones throughout.

Hair loss: Minimal – there is very little loss of hairs. 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.