Thats what I thought, Susie. I did look it up and found the same thing. I just wanted to check here too just in case I missed something! Thank you.
Felted soap - looking for wool suppliers
- Thread starter dixiedragon
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Either roving or top will work for felting, but it does need to be wool to felt properly. You can mix other fibers into the wool -- silk, cotton, linen, polyester and other synthetics, animal hair, etc. -- but you have to be careful to not use too much non-wool fibers in proportion to the wool or the felt won't felt very well.
Here are some pics of my felting. I'm really a beginner -- honest! My teacher is a wizard at felting amazing stuff, and I benefited a huge amount from her advice when I was making the felt inlay for the purse -- it makes me look like I know way more than I do.
The soaps are all merino or Corriedale wools. The "Prairie Maid" needed to be more feminine, so the base color is natural Merino. The "Coeurer" soap is more masculine, so the base is natural-color Jacobs wool -- it's coarser and more fuzzy, but I liked how it looks a little like wood.
The purse inlay is mostly merino wool with embellishments of synthetic fibers (the turquoise "rivers") and loose locks of wool and silk (the squiggly red/wine bits).
Here are some pics of my felting. I'm really a beginner -- honest! My teacher is a wizard at felting amazing stuff, and I benefited a huge amount from her advice when I was making the felt inlay for the purse -- it makes me look like I know way more than I do.
The soaps are all merino or Corriedale wools. The "Prairie Maid" needed to be more feminine, so the base color is natural Merino. The "Coeurer" soap is more masculine, so the base is natural-color Jacobs wool -- it's coarser and more fuzzy, but I liked how it looks a little like wood.
The purse inlay is mostly merino wool with embellishments of synthetic fibers (the turquoise "rivers") and loose locks of wool and silk (the squiggly red/wine bits).
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The roving I have (just a few bits to play with) lose their colour - so my purple felt makes everything it touches purple, although the felt has remained the same purple, and the light colours have washed out.
Is this what happens with all colours or is it just the type I've been using?
Is this what happens with all colours or is it just the type I've been using?
Wow DeeAnna, you are too modest. That is really beautiful work. I could never get the hang of the small contrast on the soaps I did. They always seemed to separate and roll on me. Which is why I started using the variegated roving. It looked much fancier than it was.
Jade-15, I don't know if this will work, but you might give it a shot. Dyed yarns sometimes bleed because either the dye didn't set correctly or there is just too much dye. Since yours stays the same color purple, I'm guessing it was never set correctly. Put a bit of it in a pot or microwave bowl you won't use again, and soak it in cold water add some vinegar to the water, swish it around and make sure the roving is thoroughly saturated with the vinegar water. (There should be a good bit of water in the pot/bowl.) Heat it to very hot, but not boiling, then remove from heat, cover and leave it alone until the next day. Squeeze all of the water out of it and then use a bit of dish detergent to gently wash it. The vinegar and heat should have set the dye overnight and you shouldn't be getting any staining in the soap bubbles.
(These are sort of modified instruction on how to set dye in spun wool. I'm trying to convert a 100 gm hank of yarn into a cotton ball of roving in my mind as I give the instructions. Please forgive me if this is confusing, I hope you get the gist of it though.)
Jade -- The colors in my wool have not run or faded at all. I wonder if the person who dyed your wool was using stuff like Kool-Aid and other non-light-fast colorants. ???
Dibbles -- I had felted some soaps before taking the class in which I made that purse inlay, but I never was happy with the results. Like you, I had trouble with lumpy bits that didn't felt down nice and flat and my added strands of color didn't adhere well to the base felted layer. It was frustrating -- I don't know how many videos I watched but I never could pick up the feel.
In that class, I learned to use thin layers of wool to build up the colors -- a little like watercolor painting using thin, transparent washes of color. What I had been doing before was more like oil painting using a big heavy brush and lots of pigment. I don't think more experienced felters necessarily need to do this 'watercolor' thing, but it really has helped me improve my technique.
I first loosely wrap the soap with a base color of wool, making sure my corners are well wrapped (my nemesis!) I don't want too much wool on the soap -- it is possible to wrap it too thick so it takes forever to felt. My goal is to get at least two thin layers of wool covering all parts of my soap. You want each layer to go in a different directions -- side to side, and top to bottom, and/or diagonally. If you wrap so the fibers lay all in one direction, the wool will not felt as nicely.
Next, I wet the wrapped soap with warm water and gently pat the wet wool to encourage it to compress and flatten into place. The feeling is like patting a tender plant into the soil -- firm, but not harsh or hard and definitely no rubbing. After the wool is beginning to think about staying more or less in place, I start to add my design. To add a squiggle of color, I first pull off a small strand of roving or top and gently tease it wider and looser until it's a wisp so thin I can see through it -- this is the "watercolor wash of color" thing. I lay this wisp of (dry) wool on the (wet) wrapped soap and pat it into place. The water in the base layer will help the wisp adhere. Add more wispy layers as desired.
When all embellishments are in place, I continue to pat and squish the wool until I can no longer pull up separate fibers of wool when I pinch up a bit of the wool and gently try to pull the fibers apart. At that point, I have a "prefelt" that can tolerate more handling, so I start to rub and roll the soap in my hands rather than just pat. This will encourage the fibers to felt more and more until the result is a nice, thick felt. If I start to rub or roll the wool before it gets to the prefelt stage, the wool can roll into thick wads, pill up into ugly ropes, thin out along the corners and edges, and generally refuse to felt well.
Hope this helps!
Dibbles -- I had felted some soaps before taking the class in which I made that purse inlay, but I never was happy with the results. Like you, I had trouble with lumpy bits that didn't felt down nice and flat and my added strands of color didn't adhere well to the base felted layer. It was frustrating -- I don't know how many videos I watched but I never could pick up the feel.
In that class, I learned to use thin layers of wool to build up the colors -- a little like watercolor painting using thin, transparent washes of color. What I had been doing before was more like oil painting using a big heavy brush and lots of pigment. I don't think more experienced felters necessarily need to do this 'watercolor' thing, but it really has helped me improve my technique.
I first loosely wrap the soap with a base color of wool, making sure my corners are well wrapped (my nemesis!) I don't want too much wool on the soap -- it is possible to wrap it too thick so it takes forever to felt. My goal is to get at least two thin layers of wool covering all parts of my soap. You want each layer to go in a different directions -- side to side, and top to bottom, and/or diagonally. If you wrap so the fibers lay all in one direction, the wool will not felt as nicely.
Next, I wet the wrapped soap with warm water and gently pat the wet wool to encourage it to compress and flatten into place. The feeling is like patting a tender plant into the soil -- firm, but not harsh or hard and definitely no rubbing. After the wool is beginning to think about staying more or less in place, I start to add my design. To add a squiggle of color, I first pull off a small strand of roving or top and gently tease it wider and looser until it's a wisp so thin I can see through it -- this is the "watercolor wash of color" thing. I lay this wisp of (dry) wool on the (wet) wrapped soap and pat it into place. The water in the base layer will help the wisp adhere. Add more wispy layers as desired.
When all embellishments are in place, I continue to pat and squish the wool until I can no longer pull up separate fibers of wool when I pinch up a bit of the wool and gently try to pull the fibers apart. At that point, I have a "prefelt" that can tolerate more handling, so I start to rub and roll the soap in my hands rather than just pat. This will encourage the fibers to felt more and more until the result is a nice, thick felt. If I start to rub or roll the wool before it gets to the prefelt stage, the wool can roll into thick wads, pill up into ugly ropes, thin out along the corners and edges, and generally refuse to felt well.
Hope this helps!
DeeAnna, you amaze me! You always teach me something. I only know "oops" felting and needle felting. I assumed that needle felting was how everyone felted their soap. I always thought felting soap was a really strange thing to do. REALLY STRANGE! Why did anyone want to sit and stab a hard bar of soap a million times? (Needle felting: not good. Needles: too long. Lap pillow: too thin. Teresa: Too angry)
Either roving or top will work for felting, but it does need to be wool to felt properly. You can mix other fibers into the wool -- silk, cotton, linen, polyester and other synthetics, animal hair, etc. -- but you have to be careful to not use too much non-wool fibers in proportion to the wool or the felt won't felt very well.
Here are some pics of my felting. I'm really a beginner -- honest! My teacher is a wizard at felting amazing stuff, and I benefited a huge amount from her advice when I was making the felt inlay for the purse -- it makes me look like I know way more than I do.
The soaps are all merino or Corriedale wools. The "Prairie Maid" needed to be more feminine, so the base color is natural Merino. The "Coeurer" soap is more masculine, so the base is natural-color Jacobs wool -- it's coarser and more fuzzy, but I liked how it looks a little like wood.
The purse inlay is mostly merino wool with embellishments of synthetic fibers (the turquoise "rivers") and loose locks of wool and silk (the squiggly red/wine bits).
I am totally salivating over that purse DeeAnna! Love the chunky leather straps and hardware . . . reminds me of a really expensive halter or bridle for equines.
DeeAnna - inquiring minds must know if the purse was a kit or custom job? I'm actually allergic to wool so can't wear all the pretty wool sweaters without an undershirt. But I really dig the size, shape & hardware on that purse so might actually try felting something that's not soap.
Thanks Teresa and DeeAnna, I was hoping it was just the type I had bought.
- small packs from my local craft store to play with. I have found a few online stores devoted purely to wool for felting, so I hope that they will be colour fast (now that I know it's possible!). I'll also try setting the rest of the purple.
- small packs from my local craft store to play with. I have found a few online stores devoted purely to wool for felting, so I hope that they will be colour fast (now that I know it's possible!). I'll also try setting the rest of the purple.
Hi, Doriette -- It's my own design from start to finish. The bridle leather shoulder strap and the metal hardware are usually used on horse tack and harness, so that's why they have that chunky look. Here's a shot of the lined interior with an outside open pocket and an interior zippered pocket. Yeah, I was pretty happy how this one looks. Always room for improvement, but all in all it turned out well.
The bridle leather shoulder strap and the metal hardware are usually used on horse tack and harness, so that's why they have that chunky look. Here's a shot of the lined interior with an outside open pocket and an interior zippered pocket. Yeah, I was pretty happy how this one looks. Always room for improvement, but all in all it turned out well.
Hi, Doriette -- It's my own design from start to finish.
I am so impressed, just speechless! How long have you been doing leather work? It's really beautiful and just my style . . . simple clean lines but with bold character. The strap and hardware definitely screams halters/harnesses which I love.
Any chance you'd consider making another one (just name your price)? Also curious if you think it would be possible to incorporate horse hair in with the wool portion. I have some special horse hair that I've been saving since July when I had to help my best equine buddy cross the bridge
Something like this would be the perfect memento because I could use it every day. I also considered a horse hair bracelet but I'm just not much of a jewelry kinda gal.
Beautiful work Deeanna, the only felt soaps I've seen so far were butt ugly IMHO, yours are georgeous! How do you manage to get that wool around a square soap?Either roving or top will work for felting, but it does need to be wool to felt properly. You can mix other fibers into the wool -- silk, cotton, linen, polyester and other synthetics, animal hair, etc. -- but you have to be careful to not use too much non-wool fibers in proportion to the wool or the felt won't felt very well.
Here are some pics of my felting. I'm really a beginner -- honest! My teacher is a wizard at felting amazing stuff, and I benefited a huge amount from her advice when I was making the felt inlay for the purse -- it makes me look like I know way more than I do.
The soaps are all merino or Corriedale wools. The "Prairie Maid" needed to be more feminine, so the base color is natural Merino. The "Coeurer" soap is more masculine, so the base is natural-color Jacobs wool -- it's coarser and more fuzzy, but I liked how it looks a little like wood.
The purse inlay is mostly merino wool with embellishments of synthetic fibers (the turquoise "rivers") and loose locks of wool and silk (the squiggly red/wine bits).
How do I get the wool around the edges, you ask? Sometimes I don't! I have to pay close attention to keeping those corners covered!!! The patting and squishing step at first is helpful, because at that stage I can still can pat and squish the not-yet-felted wool around and encourage it to stay as thick as possible on the corners. It's the hardest part of felting over a rectangular bar, which is why I'm tempted to try Arianne Arsenault's approach of forming the soap into a softly rounded "crab cake" shape and felting over that -- her video is the one you gave in Post #4.
I have to pay close attention to keeping those corners covered!!! The patting and squishing step at first is helpful, because at that stage I can still can pat and squish the not-yet-felted wool around and encourage it to stay as thick as possible on the corners. It's the hardest part of felting over a rectangular bar, which is why I'm tempted to try Arianne Arsenault's approach of forming the soap into a softly rounded "crab cake" shape and felting over that -- her video is the one you gave in Post #4.Deedles
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Hi, Doriette -- It's my own design from start to finish.
Gorgeous!
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