Felted fleece....

A good friend of mine kindly introduced me to these - they look like sheep skins but have no skin; they are just shorn fleece attached to prefelt by the usual felting technique. Lots of room for experimentation using different fleeces and I am wondering about variations on a theme ...using dyed fleece and felt pebbles with couching and ....time to get designing!

Here I outline the basic method  - with thanks to my friend! I think the cats may have a new bed!

Lie the bits of fleece down - close together in the desired pattern - with the ends uppermost .

Flip the fleece and lay the prefelt on top. 

Wet the fleece thoroughly, add detergent or soap and lay the net on before rubbing ...

Roll back and forth, turning as usual.....then rinse and repeat. 

The fibres will all be showing - easier if it's a dark fleece. 

Spin the fleece after washing or leave to dry....

Brush carefully to separate the fleece ends - a dog brush is ideal ...

Different fleeces give different effects!