For she.farm’s Rebecca Brouwer and her husband, Dennis, the journey to NoVA all began with an epiphany. “We wanted to get back to our roots, but the only ones I had were turning gray,” says the fiber artist and shepherd, who handcrafts lambswool scarves and other products. Those roots? The rural countryside of their youth. The Lake Benton, Minnesota-born Rebecca grew up tending animals on her family’s land. “I was like Fern from Charlotte’s Web,” she says. Her dream was to live on a farm and raise sheep.
Instead, she and Dennis (plus their three kids, now grown) moved frequently for his work. It eventually led them to Loudoun County. On one of their first visits in 2000, they were so charmed that they bought a 10-acre plot near Purcellville, which they named Shepherds Corner.
Rebecca didn’t get her sheep till 16 years later (though she had previously won a raffle for a spinning wheel and learned how to spin yarn and weave). They chose the gentle Gotland breed because of their cozy silver-gray wool and gentle disposition. She started with four sheep. Today, she has 20.
Thanks to their bounty, she handcrafts larger garments like felted scarves and lock shawls. (She takes the locks from fleece and places them in rows on the shawl.) She has made a waistcoat with buttons, and she is developing a neck cowl and wrist warmers for winter and the holiday season. She’s also made pillows with different textures. She also sells yarn, raw fleece and microwaveable lavender relaxation pillows she makes from the lavender in her garden. “I love the creativity of it: picking the materials and working on ideas,” she says.
While you can typically find her at local markets, COVID has temporarily changed that. She now runs a virtual boutique, including offering tours of her farm and felting processes, from her cabin and plans to hold Facebook Live events. For the holidays, she’ll host appointment-only shopping for those who want to touch and feel the pieces. Because at the end of the day, it all goes back to her flock.
“No matter what’s going on in the rest of the world, I go outside, and each sheep has its own behavior,” she says. “I’ll be walking, and one will just lean up against me.” (The couple also has two Shih Tzu-poodle mixes, Walter and Molly.)
Yes, her animals inspire her—as does this community of people who make their own products. “Living here nurtures me,” she says. “Being able to take things from my farm and turn them into products … that people value—a little of what I have here is shared in that transaction. People aren’t just buying a scarf. They’re buying a piece of me and Loudoun County.”
This story originally appeared in the December issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly print magazine.