The Wool Room
Where fleece becomes Yarn,
& cloth becomes clothing.
The Wool Room is the working heart of Goatherdess.
It is where the fleece comes in from the flock and where ideas, fibres, cloth and clothing come together.
Here, wool is sorted and prepared, spun and woven, knitted and dyed.
Patterns are drawn, fabrics cut, garments sewn and finished by hand.
Some work happens here; some travels to trusted local mills and makers before returning to the Wool Room for its next chapter.
It is part studio, part workshop, part wool room — but above all, it is where Goatherdess to Garment comes to life.
Colour From The Land
At Goatherdess, colour begins with the land around the flock.
As the seasons change, so does our palette. Spring brings young nettles and fresh growth; summer fills the hedgerows with flowers; autumn deepens into berries, seed heads and roots. We gather what we can, when the season allows, and bring those colours into the Wool Room.
Nettles, dock, chamomile, heather and madder can all leave their mark on our wool, creating colours that feel rooted in the landscape — soft greens, warm golds, earthy browns, russets and shades that are difficult to name.
The process is slow and beautifully unpredictable. The final colour depends on the plant, the weather, the harvest, the water and the fleece itself.
It is another part of Living with Wool: working with what the land gives us, allowing the seasons to shape the clothes we make, and accepting that not everything can be repeated.
The colour of a Goatherdess garment is not simply chosen. Sometimes, it is grown.
Image: Barton cable knitted jacket dyed with nettles.
“Wool is Timeless - Grown by the Past, Shaped by the Present, and Carried into the Future”
When The Sketch Book Comes Out.
It is only when the cloth and yarns are ready that the sketchbook comes out.
The wool has already told us something about what it wants to become — its weight, texture, drape, colour and character begin to shape the idea. From there, a garment takes form slowly. Patterns are drafted, toiles made and altered, proportions considered and considered again.
Fabric is cut carefully, pieces are sewn, fitted and adjusted until they sit as they should. Some garments are shaped at the sewing machine; others begin with hand or machine knitting, each stitch building the garment a little at a time.
Nothing is designed in isolation from the material. We respond to what the flock, the season and the cloth have given us.
This is fashion that doesn't start with a sketch.
Want to see more from inside the Wool Room?