Spring Is Here! Felted Soap

Hi guys! Spring is in the air here in North Carolina. The flowers are blooming and the trees are budding. I love springtime so I thought I would make some felted soap to celebrate. I learned how to make felted soap a few years ago. I made some for my store and a lady bought all of it!. So I really need to make some more.

-Bar of soap- somtimes it's easier to make several at a time

-Wool roving- I get mine at Hobby Lobby or Michael's

-Felting needles- I like to use a single needle, sometimes the ones that hold several needles break

-Panty hose- old ones are fine

-Bowl for water- optional- I just use the sink

-Gloves- also, optional- sometimes it can be rough on the hands

- Felting template- also optional, but gives great results

Gather your soap and wool. I used soap from my store that had faded some and one bar of Olay I found in the closet. I really liked the shape of it. Unwrap the soap and wool. Choose your colors.

I love bees and was trying to make a bee out the wool on the soap. I have the black and yellow. It didn't exacting work because the process isn't precise as you will soon see. I wanted one to look like grass or a meadow with flowers so I have the 2 greens with a little teal. And the last one I just wanted to do blue. That one had no plan. I was winging it.

To wrap the soap, the felt has to cover the entire bar. I normally start off with a large base color, yellow for the bee, dark green for the meadow and blue for the last one. I wrap the edges of the soap first making sure the corners are covered. Then wrap the large piece around the main part of the soap. Wrap as tightly as you can. It will be hard to keep it fully wrapped. There is no wrong or right way to do it. You can put whatever colors you choose in whatever order you like. Have fun with it! It is Spring and all things are new!

The felt wrapped soap has to go into the pantyhose. Try to keep it as tightly wrapped as you can and as fully covered as possible. Tie a knot in the end as close to the soap as you can get it.

Put the soap in the sink or bowl if that's what your using. Get all the felt wet with cold water. Now you can start to lather the soap. Be careful not to move the felt around too much at this stage. You may want to use some dish soap to start the felting process. After the soap is lathered. rinse it off. Now do the same thing but use HOT water. Here is where the gloves come in handy. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. You must do this A LOT. I usually do it at least 20 minutes. Cold hot, cold hot. I know its kinda boring now. Bee patient!

You will see the felt starting to shrink and stick to the soap. That is what you want. The tighter the better. When you feel like you are done, rinse off as much of the lather as possible.

It probably feels like there wouldn't be any soap left but I promise it will be. Now the soap and felt has to dry. I put mine on a cookie rack but found that will leave marks on it. This time I had some bubble wrap laying around and thought this should work. (Use what you have people!) It will take a long time to dry- like a week. And you thought you were bored before! Just flip it over every day to make sure it dries evenly.

When the soap has dried enough, it's time to take it out of the pantyhose. Pull the knot loose from the soap. It may be felted to it so just pull kind of easy, yet firm. I cut it close to the knot but without cutting the knot completely off. I used some cheap department store try on hose and they were way to thin. They almost didn't want to come off! You can see how much of the felt was left in the hose. It also took me awhile to get it separated. If you use better hose, that won't happen.

I found these cool templates at Hobby Lobby and couldn't wait to try them. There are 3 of them in the pack but you can't tell what they are..frustrating..until you open it. Anywho I love them! One was all hearts, one different kinds and sizes of flowers and the third was insects- ladybugs, dragonflies, and butterflies!

Once again, you get to choose the colors you want to use. I like to use a single needle but with a holder. (bottom right side near the green soap) It hold 3 needles but I only put one in it. I feel I have more control that way and it breaks less.

Just lay your color over the design you want to use and start stabbing. You should try and keep it in a straight up and down motion as possible. Keep your fingers out of the way too! The wool is very forgiving. If you miss a spot, you can add some more wool. Keep stabbing until it is pretty flat.

I added centers to my flowers, spots and a leaf for my ladybug and veins on my dragonflys wings! You can use your imagination and make what ever you like. They make great gifts! As I sit here I sold the dragonfly. Nice.

Happy Spring to everyone!