Woman Turns Raw Sheep Fleece Into a Cute Striped Sweater in Four Months

Macy Gilliam documented the challenging four-month process of transforming raw fleece from a sheep named Franny at the Queens County Farm Museum in New York City into a cute striped sweater.

I spent 4 months making myself a sweater from scratch. Like, starting with shearing a sheep. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

Gilliam’s project involved shearing, cleaning, spinning, dyeing, and knitting the wool. She also explained why she took on this project.

My job, as I see it, is to put myself through something difficult and transformative and share the result with as many people as possible. And what could be more difficult than turning a dirty sheep fleece into a sweater as someone who had never even knit before?

Along the way, she also spotlighted the intensive labor involved in garment production.

You’ll notice that the most expensive part of this by far was the labor. And that is not the case with most clothing because that labor isn’t being fairly paid. We should all do our best to support brands that are fixing that. There’s no sewing machine that operates itself. All clothing is handmade. Buy less, buy better.  

Gilliam also made an Easter bonnet with some of the leftover wool.