Thursday, February 21, 2013

Small Clutch Bag And A New 'Soap Glue'-Making Method

Whipping 'soap glue' in a mixing bowl.

 
Laying out white roving on a small, rounded-off-square resist...



...and adding variegated pencil roving stripes. 
 
The finished felt (front)...

 
...and back.

 
Adding a button and strip of leather for the closure.

 
The pencil roving felted in easily and completely...

 
...though it's not quite as blue as it looks in this photograph.

(See the pencil roving photo for a closer approximation.)

 
Making 'soap glue' has always been a bit of a mystery to me...

...and I've found that everyone who makes it has their own special way to do it.

For my purposes, it needs to be softer than a bar of soap so that it dissolves easily in water...

...and mucilaginous enough that it keeps my design elements from shifting on the resist...

...while they're being covered with layers of wool roving.

Recently, I hit on the idea of adding boiling water to a grated bar of olive oil soap...

...and carefully (remember, it's hot!) whipping it in an electric mixer.

Easy and quick! :)

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The clutch in this post is pretty straight-forward.

I wrapped the resist with layers of white wool roving and added pencil roving as an embellishment.

After felting, I stitched on a large grey button with a black leather loop for the closure.

Next time (finally): the 'just right' hat! :)

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13 comments:

FeltersJourney said...

I thought you were going to make me hungry with a yummy recipe when I saw the whisk :) lol
Your clutch is lovely,simple and peaceful.. it reminds me of the seaside.
xx

Jeany said...

great purse,love the blue!! love to make them too, they are so cute and always for a purpose, isn't ? You make soap glue?? will that become soap? I have a friend who does that too, difficult work, but I love the endresult ☺
have fun, greetz from Janine

Heather Woollove said...

Deborah--Hahaha...sorry! I guess I do 'owe' you a recipe post soon, huh? :)
Janine--The soap glue is made from a bar of soap...it's not homemade soap (which, I agree, is lots of work!). This is just a product used by some feltmakers that is a softened soap (but not as thin as the hand soap that you find in a pump bottle).:)

Rachel said...

And you know what's in your home-made soap glue, which is more than can be said for most bought pump-dispensed soaps!

Heather Woollove said...

Rachel--True!

Kelly said...

does the soap stay soft? how do you store it? I have been using hand crushed flakes, but am so impatient when I realize I'm out and need to soften some. I would love to make a huge batch of this and keep it in a sealed bowl.

Your clutch is very cute!

Heather Woollove said...

Kelly--You can experiment with different volumes of water and get just the consistency you like. I keep mine in a Rubbermaid soup container and it has never 'gone bad'. Just remember to label it well so your family doesn't eat a big scoop of it on toast or something! :)

Kathleen said...

I can't believe you are using a lovely Kitchen Aid stand-up mixer to mix olive oil soap and water!! Did you get the soap completely out so it could return to making gorgeous breads and cookies????

Cute clutch!!

Heather Woollove said...

Kathy--Never fear...it's soap, after all! :)

Jeany said...

Thank you for explaining Heather!

Heather Woollove said...

Janine--Anytime! I'm always happy to help. XO-

Kelly said...

:) a bowl of soap would be a funny April fools joke....on someone else! :) Thanks for the info!

Heather Woollove said...

Kelly--Talk about 'washing your mouth out with soap'!! :)