Sheep shearing.

[viltmaaraan]

It is almost time for sheep shearing and maybe some farmers helped already the ladies out of their coats.
So I ordered a few fleeces for wet felting a little carpet. 
I have done that before but I have question about the material at the backsite.
I bought a kind of light fleece for the backsite, it looked like a blanket wich you could tear apart just like silk hanky's.
I think it is machinale fabricage.
My question is:
can I use selfmade bats, carded from sheepwool, for the backsite ?
Has somebody more experience with fleece felting and give me some tips?

[MTRuth]

Zara does a lot of felting fleece. Here is one of her methods of making a rug combined with weaving. feltingandfiberstudio.com/2015/09/06/weaving-a-rug-from-raw-fleece/

Here's a post here on the forum about a fleece rug she made:
feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/thread/2401/felted-rug-raw-fleece

And yes, you can use self made batts for the back side of the rug. Are you felting in a small inflatable swimming pool? That's a good idea. Love the rug!

[viltmaaraan]

Thanks for the link Ruth and yes , when swimming is done, I go one with felting in the pool

Whow, well done Zara, chapeau!! What a nice fleece of baggen Edwin I love that!! And your carpet, what an invention.
I read your story and indeed the difficulty is the trick :The trick is to work it long enough to get it to felt together properly, but to stop before too much length of the locks have been felted in.
I think I it felted too long. But I am still pleases with the result, we take the pieces with us on holliday to prevent a cold backside in the evening when we sit outside.

[zara]

Thanks Viltmaaraan. :-) It looks like you have worked out a good method to felt raw fleece, I like the idea of using a kid's pool. And if you felt it a bit too much you can always find comfort in the fact that that means you have made a more durable rug!