# My first pattern attempt! Happy dancing!



## gigisiguenza (Aug 1, 2015)

Thanks to heaps of advice on tweaking my recipe to be slow moving, I successfully completed my first batch with a pattern! I'm so excited! LOL 

Recipe was perfect, even with the adjustments for the infused oil. It came to very thin trace, barely past emulsion, easily, and stayed fluid life Nguyen enough to give me plenty of time to pour 
my color segments and work the swirls to the point where I wanted them. I was aiming for something that looked like leaves and petals, and I hope I achieved it. 

The colors are dark now but I'm hoping they do as I anticipate and lighten up considerably as they set up. All the posts n pics I've seen using natural colorants show them lightening up and morphing, 
so if that plays true, I should have light green leaves and light yellow orange petals effect.

I used a little bit of kaolin white clay for the white, very finely ground parsley for the green (I hope it speckled a little, cuz it would look nice), and Annette powder infused safflower oil for the yellow 
orange. 

Here's the pics ... sorry for the lousy picture quality, my phone is not the best lol 

Setting up to add lye to oils, mold prepped and ready 
Colors mixed 
Colors poured into segments, segments dividers removed
Swirls done 

Grrr half my attachments went wonky ... geez


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Aug 1, 2015)

A very good looking soap!


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## umeali (Aug 1, 2015)

Congratulations ,looking very beautiful ,did you tell me the names of colors you used in your recipe? You rocked .


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## Susie (Aug 1, 2015)

Very nice!


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## navigator9 (Aug 1, 2015)

So pretty! :clap:


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## commoncenz (Aug 1, 2015)

Very nice! I wish my first attempt at coloring had gone as smoothly!


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## not_ally (Aug 1, 2015)

Yay!  That was a tricky one to pull off, and you did it!!  Pretty soap.


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## Seawolfe (Aug 1, 2015)

oh my gosh that came out PERFECT! Color me jealous - I love the starburst you did, and the colors are perfect for fall


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## cmzaha (Aug 1, 2015)

Good Job and gorgeous colors :clap:


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## jules92207 (Aug 1, 2015)

What a gorgeous looking soap! It looks like a quilt, a sunburst of color.  Just lovely!


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## newbie (Aug 1, 2015)

I see speckles and you were right, it does look cool! It's a beauty.


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## TheDragonGirl (Aug 1, 2015)

its beautiful! congrats!


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## aprice522 (Aug 1, 2015)

Beautiful, one day I aspire!


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## SunWolf (Aug 1, 2015)

Gorgeous, love the sunburst-y pattern.


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 1, 2015)

Ty all! I can't wait to be able to cut it! I'm waiting until I get home tonight from work. I figure it should be hard enough to cut by 4am ish when I get home. It was so loose when I poured it im sure it's gonna take a little longer to set up. I peeked tho, and the colors are indeed lightening up some yay!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 1, 2015)

So far the colors have paled up exactly where I thought they would. Hard to take pics with my phone, but once it's cut, I will take some in daylight so the colors show better. I'm very happy with how it turned out 

ETA I did expect the orange to pale out to a more yellow color, but I'm still happy. Will have to try something else for yellow next time


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## dibbles (Aug 1, 2015)

I can't believe that was your first attempt at a swirl!! Very, very pretty - great job!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 1, 2015)

Dibbles - Thank you!  I can't believe it either LOL! I was very much expecting a disaster or for something to go wrong with the process, like with my first attempt at using color. I owe my success to the very helpful advice from folks here on tailoring my recipe for slow trace and how to use infused oils correctly, and to thorough planning. I spent a day or more working out quirks in the recipe, the mold, the design idea. And I didn't rush myself which I think was a major factor in my first failed attempt. I told myself take your time, if the batch thickens up on you, oh well, you'll try again another day. I'm super excited about how well it turned out


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## Seawolfe (Aug 1, 2015)

I cant wait to see it cut! What scent did you use gigi?

One thing they say in my soap meetups where we always try something new: If you mess up, it will still be soap


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## not_ally (Aug 1, 2015)

That is the thing Sea, w/limited exceptions even the fails are so much nicer than anything you can would buy in the store.  Although lately I have realized that in my couple of years of soaping (MP and then CP), I have already spent more than I ever would have buying soap for the rest of my life   But other people have expensive hobbies, darn it!


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## Seawolfe (Aug 1, 2015)

Exactly NA - its not like we are going out and buying horses or Harleys or anything, right? right?


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## Obsidian (Aug 1, 2015)

Great job, love those colors together. Not sure what you used for the yellow but I bet if you use about half of what you did, you'll get a nice soft yellow.


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 1, 2015)

Seawolf - ty - I can't wait too LOL. I used the same FO as the first batch, BB Milk and Honey. I only have a small bit of FO cuz it was what I could afford, but I plan on getting more soon. I would have liked to have scented it with a like and tangerines,cuz the colors suit those scents, but it still smells good LOL.

Obsidian - ty - I used annatto powder infused safflower oil and I agree, less would have yielded a pale yellow. I didn't realize how deeply the annatto had tinted the oils :/


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## KristaY (Aug 2, 2015)

Nice job, Gigi! Those are great fall colors and I love the speckles you got. Excellent!


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## spenny92 (Aug 2, 2015)

Nice job! I'm anxiously awaiting cut photos!


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## Susie (Aug 2, 2015)

You might also try using Beta Carotene(vitamin aisle at Walmart) for yellows-oranges.  I squeezed a capsule(wear gloves! and snip the end with scissors) into half an ounce(14 gm) of OO, stirred, then added _drops_ of that to my soap to get the correct shade of yellow I wanted.  Just get your soap barely to emulsion before playing with how much you want to use for which shade.  Keep good notes so that you can skip the trial and error part next time.


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## Sonya-m (Aug 2, 2015)

Well done!! Excellent first swirl!

Be sure to post cut pics


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## tbeck3579 (Aug 2, 2015)

Very pretty!


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## soapswirl (Aug 2, 2015)

Really lovely pattern, well done! When I saw the first pictures I thought it was a funnel pour - then I saw your method pictures - really impressed you created that design from stripes!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 2, 2015)

I finally was able to cut the soap - yay! It's still a little soft, like very very cold butter, but I felt it was solid enough to cut and clean up the edges a little. 

I tried to get good lighting since I had daylight to work with, and I think it helped show the colors better 

The first couple pics are freshly cut, the last pic is the bars cleaned up some.


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## jules92207 (Aug 2, 2015)

Just beautiful!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 2, 2015)

Ty all for the kudos! 

Susie - I will look for that at the store, awesome idea, thank you!

soapswirl - it was supposed to be straight forward mantra swirl but once I started looking at it I realized I could do the usual back n forth, the do it across, then I did a spiral starting in the center and moving out to the edges, then I did spokes from the center and then spokes from the outer edge back to the center. I put the tiny bit of leftover soap from the bowls in the center, layered green then white then orange, and pulled the edges of that out to create a starburst.

I did so many things that I was worried I messed it up LOL but I looked at it and loved the pattern so figured I'm stopping there and it is what it is. I'm very pleased with it and still shocked I created it LOL!


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## TVivian (Aug 2, 2015)

Beautiful! I like the green speckles.


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 2, 2015)

Tvivian tyvm  I still can't believe I made it hahahaha


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## TheDragonGirl (Aug 3, 2015)

It looks really great! I love the swirls, they feel very autumn ish to me for some reason.


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## galaxyMLP (Aug 3, 2015)

Really, just a beautiful soap!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 3, 2015)

Ty all  I'm already  planning my next attempt for tomorrow or Friday lol


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## Jstar (Aug 5, 2015)

Those are awesome! I love the speckles and the colors..Great Job!


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Aug 6, 2015)

Very nice indeed


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 6, 2015)

Ty everyone  my friend came over for dinner and was checking them out and says 

"so... you're gonna make more right? Can you do lots more pretty ones, and soon, so they can finished baking or whatever it is they do, before Halloween? I want time to test some out before I ask you to make me gift baskets for holiday gifts for my coworkers in December. Let me know how much for a small basket with 4 different pretty soaps each, and I'll buy a bunch for the holidays. These would make great gifts!"

My response? (After I closed my jaws lololol) was "lemme get more practice and learning and make sure the **** things are safe first woman, then we can talk about anyone but me using them."

It was very gratifying and flattering to be asked but holy cow I haven't even used one of these myself yet! I'm not giving anyone anything, not even as a gift, until I've used them myself. Geez.

I will admit, though, that it was really nice to see someone react so positively to them - even if it was just a well meaning dear friend LOL


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## Jstar (Aug 11, 2015)

Its a great feeling isn't it? 

First you are amazed you actually made soap..something that is very useful, and something everyone can use, thats actually more healthy to use...

Then others chime in how cool it is and how they want this, and this, and that.....

Just wait tho.....wait for the day you have soap running out your ears and can't give any away cuz everyone is already loaded down with your wonderful creations hahahaha! 

What to do, what to do...OH! Make MORE soap cuz its so darn fun of course..{I'll find room for them if I have to build a separate building for them"} hehehehe


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## TheDragonGirl (Aug 11, 2015)

Its always so extremely awesome a reaction when it happens, I'm glad you got to experience that!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 11, 2015)

Jstar said:


> Its a great feeling isn't it?
> 
> First you are amazed you actually made soap..something that is very useful, and something everyone can use, thats actually more healthy to use...
> 
> ...



Hahahahaha yes to everything you said


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 11, 2015)

TheDragonGirl said:


> Its always so extremely awesome a reaction when it happens, I'm glad you got to experience that!



It rocked for sure


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## hydrazinehydrate (Aug 13, 2015)

Wow，It's so beautiful. The Pattern is cool like art.


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 13, 2015)

hydrazinehydrate said:


> Wow，It's so beautiful. The Pattern is cool like art.



Thanks


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## BeeButter (Aug 17, 2015)

Wow! Great job!


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## gigisiguenza (Aug 18, 2015)

Ty BeeButter


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