The Crafty Retailer

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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