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Felted Soap Tutorial

Felted soaps are as utilitarian as they are beautiful. The felt fabric acts as a washcloth, and the

flower embellishment can be snipped off after the soap has been used to enjoy new life as a

brooch or other adornment.

Supplies needed:

Bar of soap

Wool Fiber (about 10 grams of wool top or roving)

Nylon stocking

Bubble Wrap

Hand Towel

Hot water

Small Container

Needle felting needle

Needle felting foam

Soapy water

Beads, beading needle, beading thread

Tiny piece of velvet (or other pretty fabric)

Step 1:

Lay your hand towel on the work surface and put the bubble wrap on top of the towel, bubble side

up.

Step 2:

Figure 1 Figure 2

Separate some of your wool fibers by taking a piece from the top and gently pulling away a portion.

You will want to take a piece about an inch thick and long enough to include all of the colorways of

the fiber (Figure 1). Fluff out the fiber so that it becomes wider and less bulky (Figure 2).

Step 3:

Wrap the soap with the wool fiber. You want to make sure that the soap is entirely covered with

fiber…no bald spots! (Figure 3) The corners will have a tendency to shrug off the fiber, so you must

be firm with it. Wind it tight (Figure 4). Make sure you leave some fiber to use for your flower.

You will not need much at all…only a gram.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Step 4: Figure 5

Put your soap into the nylon stocking, which

will serve to keep the fibers wrapped securely

around the soap (Figure 5).

Step 5:

Dip the soap into some very hot water and start to rub the bar against the bubble wrap.

Start with the wide areas (front and back) and eventually work on the side edges (Figures 6,7).

You will start to see some soap bubbles on the bubble wrap. This is normal…no worries.

Figure 6 Figure 7

Step 6:

Pull off the stocking and take a peek (Figure 8). The stocking might stick a bit, which is fine. If it

sticks so much that it pulls the fiber away from the soap, then put the nylon back on and continue

to rub the soap against the bubble wrap to felt it further. Take off the nylon and rub the soap very

vigorously against the bubble wrap. Use pressure similar to that which you would apply when

scrubbing a dirty pan. Work it! When you are finished there will be no movement of the soap

within the felt (Figure 9). The felt will be snug and tight. Whew! Put it in the sun to dry.

Figure 8 Figure 9

Step 7:

Now for the flower! I used a combination of needle felting and wet felting (called NUVO felting)

for this portion of the project. Look at your felted soap and choose a contrasting wool color for

the flower (Figure 10). Lay out a small circle of wool fiber on top of the felting foam. Put a small

round piece of velvet in the center of the circle (Figure 11). Frame the velvet with a strand of

wool and needle felt the circle border into the velvet (Figure 12). The needles must be used to

help the process along since the velvet will not “felt” into the fibers by the wet felting process

alone.

Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12

Step 8:

Once you have firmly felted the wool border into the velvet, lightly needle felt the entire flower

This is a good time to use the needle to encourage the flower to assume a more flower like shape.

(Figure 13). Pick it up and put it on the bubble wrap that you used earlier (Figure 14). Sprinkle

the flower with some of the soapy water (Figure 15).

Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15

Step 9:

Fold the bubble wrap over the flower so that the fiber is sandwiched between two layers of bubble

wrap. Roll up the bubble wrap as if you were making a jelly roll (Figure 16). Secure the roll using

the nylon that you used earlier and start to gently roll the package back and forth 100 times

(Figure 17). Take the top layer of bubble wrap off and then rub the flower vigorously against the

bubble wrap for a few minutes (Figure 18). You can shape the flower a little more with scissors if

you choose. Soften the cut edges by rubbing against the bubble wrap some more. Note: you can

make leaves using the same technique.

Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18

Step 10

Ready to embellish! Sew some beads on the flower if you are so inclined. I used transparent

beading thread such as Fireline (Figure 19). Attach the flower to the soap by burying the thread

through the felt as you go up and down through the flower (Figure 20). The idea is to make sure

that the thread is not visible. You will have to feel your way along and try not to poke your finger

too much! Tweezers come in handy to extract the needle from the felt!

Finished! Congratulations, you did it! (Figure 21)

Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21