Frivolous Ewe

From Profit Taker to Profit Maker: Frivolous EWE

Kathy Koning McClure

My life as a fiber seller began gradually and without much hoopla. It wasn’t so much a super highway to success as it was a narrow, winding path.

A sheep superintendent at a county fair that I showed at regularly (the late Dick Getzelman, Bo-Peep Cheviots) introduced me to his new neighbor. That neighbor would change the way that I looked at wool. Natasha Lehrer Lewis had just started a fiber co-op in Illinois. She had one core belief, that all fleece had value. This resonated with me and became my driving motto.

I had so much to learn but the co-op (and it’s members) taught me about fiber mills, fiber preparations, customer preferences, dyeing techniques and much more. I jumped in with two feet, seeing a unique opportunity and exciting future within the fiber community.

I had success with fiber sales in the co-op but eventually realized that in order to continue to grow my own business, I needed my own identity. Frivolous Ewe was born six years ago.

My first personal goal with Frivolous Ewe was to promote Montadale fiber. I have several other breeds of sheep: Wensleydale, Bluefaced Leicester, Lincoln, Merino, Rambouillet and Corriedale, all added to my flock after I joined the co-op in order to capture more of the fiber artists dollars. These are all lovely breeds in their own way but I am never shy about admitting that Montadales are my favorites. They are also the least known of my breeds among fiber enthusiasts. I am changing that one customer at a time. I primarily market Montadale wool in two ways: combed top and raw fleeces.

My combed top is processed in a 100 year old, family owned mill in Frankenmuth, MI. There are many mills closer to me, including one only 15 minutes down the road, but Zeilinger Wool Company is unique in that they will produce combed top for small and medium sized producers like me. Combed top is the premium fiber preparation for handspinners. After the raw fleeces arrive at the mill they are washed and air dried. The fiber is pulled apart by a mechanical picker to remove any remaining vegetable matter. Next step is the carder and pin drafter, this separates and organized the fibers into a continuous web. The last step takes the prepared wool and combs it so all fibers are completely parallel to each other. Combed top makes spinning faster and can produce a finer and thinner yarn. My customers love it. It is sleek, uniform and so easy to spin. I sell my Montadale top for $3.75/ ounce undyed or $4.25/ounce dyed. In 2020 I sent almost 200 lbs. of Montadale skirted fleece to the mill to be made into top. After processing costs, I net about $15 per pound on my Montadale.

My raw fleece sales continue to climb also. This year I have sold over 40 Montadale raw fleeces. I offer whole, well-skirted fleeces as well as Montadale Samplers. A Sampler is one pound of raw, skirted fleece and a one ounce ball of combed top. I have sold 27 sampler packs at $12 each this year. The folks who buy a sampler buy it to try something new at a reasonable price. Of those 27 customers, 11 of them (so far) have returned to buy a full fleece.

My raw, skirted, full (uncoated) fleeces usually weigh between 5-9 pounds. I price them according to quality, staple length and vegetative matter. Most whole fleeces sell for $40-$60. I am not trying to make a killing on these fleeces but just trying to get them into people’s hands.

Rather I send a fleece to the mill or sell it raw, skirting is the most important part of the equation. I skirt my fleeces twice. The first time on shearing day, a quick three minute skirt before the shearer gets the next sheep sheared. I have just enough time to get the belly and britch wool pulled off and get the fleece in an individual bag. A more complete skirting later will have me skirting off the neck wool (lots of hay chaff) and sometimes right down the spine (lots of dirt). This second skirting takes about 15 minutes.

Having a unique breed like Montadale and producing a beautiful product like combed top would all be for naught without customers to sell it to. I sell my product in several ways.

Fiber festivals are my favorite way to sell. I am really looking forward to (hopefully) going back to some in -person fiber fairs this year after the covid cancellations of 2020. Customers love meeting the shepherd - it connects them with the sheep and the products. They continually tell me how lucky I am to be able to raise sheep. So much so that I eventually start to believe them. I also sell product from my small retail cottage at my farm. Since I have a full time job off the farm, the cottage is only open by appointment but I hold a handful of events and classes in it each year. I usually draw people from within a two hour radius. Luckily for me, this two hour radius The third way that I sell product is right from my Frivolous Ewe business page on Facebook. I have grown a faithful following. This takes time and effort. For while it felt like I was just posting things for my Uncle Glenn and my college friend, Pam, to enjoy. The social media experts say 1-2 posts a day. I don’t have that kind of dedication but I do post a lot during lambing and I shoot for 2-3 times per week during the rest of the year. Even that is a commitment, but it really does drive business. I aim for only 10% of my posts to be ‘selling’ posts, the remaining 90% are sheep and lambs. I want my followers to know that I am a shepherd first and a merchant second.

The last way that I sell product is a fairly new way to do business. Several virtual fiber festivals have popped up since the pandemic began a year ago. I am involved in one of the most successful ones, ‘Wool & Fiber Arts’ on Facebook. WAFA sales are held monthly, on the last weekend of each month. Vendors pay an exhibitor fee and receive an assigned time slot. During the thirty minutes slot the vendor goes live on their Facebook business page, linked to the WAFA page. I have participated in six of these sales, each has been better than the one before. At my last sale I shipped 70 orders into 26 different states with sales over $2500. Pretty good for 30 minutes of work right from my own home.

Montadale wool is not the biggest draw at Frivolous Ewe but it certainly is the one that I’m most proud of. It’s a gorgeous fiber that is finally finding it’s way into the hands of fiber artists nationwide ( and Canada!). Like any endeavor there’s been starts and stops, but the path is getting a little straighter and a lot easier to follow now. My growth would never have been possible without the fleeces from my flock as well as David Gorman’s flock. I use every one of them and am grateful to have a secondary source of beautiful Montadale wool.

I would encourage anyone who’s interested in adding value to their wool to contact me. I love to talk about fiber and would be happy to mentor anyone interested in starting their own fiber business.

Needle felted gnome made with montadale wool and Wensleydale locks for the beard.

Assorted dyed Montadale combed top