I just made some homemade srting silencers out of a bag of scrap sheep hide I picked up at Tandy the other day.  They sell the stuff for $2.99 a bag.  There must be enough to do dozens of string silencers and arrow shelfs.  I installed the silencers and rest on an old Herter's International Match Hunter.  I strung it up, and shot a few arrows.  The silencers work great, and so does the rest.  For the rest, you have to give it a hair cut to get it down to the proper thickness and height.  I did it with scissors.  The only thing I need to try now is to dye the sheep skin to a darker color, as it comes in the familiar light tan.  You can't beat this stuff for the price.

Sharp Stick,  great tip. Thanks

Neat idea. 

Would love to see pictures.

I have been using cropped sheepskin for rests for years. I don't mind the color and it doesn't "burn down" from friction like velcro does........... I picked up a new 10" buffing pad at a garage sale for a doller and have been using it for 10 yrs. Still have half of it left................YMMV