Easy FELTED SOAP

In the fall I usually do ceramic workshops with my students at school to get ready for the holidays. This year we did a Thanksgiving series that was all about the things we use while cooking. We made a spoon rest, a ring holder because you need to put your rings somewhere while you wash your hands, after all during flu season we want to make sure our hands are always clean. We made a soap dish, again make sure you kill those germs. Then I got the idea to have them make felted soap to go with the soap dish. 

A large bucket or pail
hottest water you can touch
stockings
soap
wool roving  (the roving is easy enough to find on line, sometimes e-bay, definitely JoAnnes fabrics) 

I choose two or three colors of roving and separate it into very fine sections.

begin wrapping the soap with thin strands of the roving

every so often dip your hands in the warm water and rub them on the strands to help make them stay in place

continue building up layers until entire bar of soap is covered.

carefully place the soap in the stocking and tightly tie knots in the ends

Drop the soap in the bucket of hottest water possible
Let it soak for about 20 minutes

remove the soap and while it is still inside the stocking wash your hands again and again. The heat from the water is shrinking the wool roving and making a casing around the soap. 

Let the soap dry in the stocking over night.

when dry carefully cut the stocking away.

I think the FELTED SOAPS look extra pretty tied with a ribbon.