We had the main flock sheared in October and have been selling fleeces all fall to help pay the shearing bill and keep our fiber friends in wool for creating away. All of the natural colored fleeces this year will be processed at the mill for roving and yarns that we sell through Yarn Folk in Ellensburg.
With shearing comes making new coats as invariably some, when removed, are in such bad shape that they are turned into patch material for tears. I ordered 10 yards of material from CanvasETC.com and so far, this is my favorite for sheep coats. It’s a lighter weight nylon but seems to not cause rubbing on the fleece tip ends like the previous Cordura type of fabric I purchased from Amazon. I will be ordering more from CanvasETC.com. At first I thought it wouldn’t work because it felt stiff and had a coating but after a pre-wash in hot water, it felt fine and has proven to work well and washes up beautifully. The sizing is ample at shearing because the ewes shrink a lot when their wool is removed so we use zip ties to help hold the coats in place until the wool starts growing again and they fill them out a bit. Each ewe goes through several coat sizes during the wool growth cycle.
We shear our sheep approximately every 8 months. The Coopworths are a longwool breed and I find the fleeces have the most diverse purpose when in the 4 inch staple length range, give or take. A year’s growth usually yields a 6-7 inch staple.
As shown in the photos, the coats really keep vegetable matter (VM) contamination to a minimum. The coats are quite a challenge at times to keep on the sheep and to keep in good repair. I invested in a heavy-duty sewing machine to construct and repair them. I have honed in on a design that seems to work best for our situation. Comfort of the sheep is foremost so having multiple sizes for each sheep is important.
Sheep coat workshop
This winter I will be offering a sheep coat making workshop on the farm. If this is well received and useful for local folks, I will consider putting together a Zoom course online so anyone interested can participate.