SARAH TURNER

This little sheep went to market…

Little Beau Sheep came about in the most unlikely way. At the time, I was a mum of two little girls living in a small flat with no garden. So I was reliant on a tumble dryer to get a quick turnaround on all that babywear.

In a spin over tumble drying

To speed things up, I’m now ashamed to say I bought plastic tumble dryer balls. The noise was unbearable, however, and they soon showed signs of damage. Plus, I really didn’t want to add to the world’s plastic woes.

Wool and lanolin: a natural solution

I was taking a course in felting at the time and looked to nature for inspiration. Being in the Dales, sheep became my muse. I already knew about the softening power of lanolin as I’d used it on my babies’ skin. The penny dropped and my felted sheep took their first silent fluffy tumble in the dryer.

Up and away

With support in the early days from my wonderful local Women’s Institute I was soon up and running. Activity centred around my own little Etsy shop supported with stalls at everything from school fairs to farmers’ markets. It seemed folk had a soft spot for sheep. Which encouraged me to extend the range from dryer balls to laundry and skin care products.

Mums’ army

The beating heart of Little Beau Sheep is my clever and crafty mums’ army of makers and doers. Together we create by hand the woolly dryer balls that are still a firm favourite with customers around the globe. Sisters are doing it for themselves!

Flying the flag for British Wool

As a passionate believer in the power of British Wool, it’s always heartening to see its importance recognised and celebrated. So when I won the Small Business Sunday Award in 2019, I was quite frankly, over the moon. Only around 1% of the hundreds of thousands of entries win, so it was a very special feeling.

Turning the tide on plastic.

Like me, you’ve no doubt been horrified by coverage of plastic in our oceans. That’s why in 2018 I ran a crowdfunder campaign  to help me put in place a plastic-free policy here at Little Beau Sheep. So many kind-hearted and generous people came out in support, I was able to remove all plastic and packaging and wrapping from our product range. So you can enjoy all the benefits of wool without any nagging worries.