Organza and Soap

Organza and Soap

I have a ‘thing’ for organza. I know, I have a ‘thing’ for all fabrics, but there’s something about organza I just can’t resist. Maybe it’s the two-tone colours of some, and also how they can be very different to each other while being similar. So, I thought I’d make a very textured nuno with various organzas. Like the other pieces I’ve made recently, I used 4 very fine layers of Merino. This is the whole piece:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERALooking at the back, you can see how textured this is too:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERALooking on an angle shows the many different textures:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s interesting how differently the various types rippled, probably due to how much Merino and how it was laid as well as the different finishes of the fabrics. The yellow piece, folded in columns:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe Purple on the right edge (and the red/yellow next to it) had more of a scrunched texture.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn this photo you can see the migration, and the way these organzas had a crumpled texture:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI made some felted soaps last week. They’re not perfect, but I’m getting better at it! I find natural wools on handmade soap works better for me, but people do love the bright, colourful ones!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

24 thoughts on “Organza and Soap

  1. I really like your work with organza, i bought some at christmastime and i still have to use it. Maybe it is a great idea using it at the theme Earth, wind, fire and water of the FFS.
    Bright soap looks lovely for decoration 😉

    1. Thanks a lot 🙂
      You’re coming up with loads of great ideas! One of the red organzas has a yellow flash when the light catches it, so that would be great for fire!

    1. Thanks, Leonor 🙂
      The good thing about felting soap is you can binge watch tv series while making them!

    2. So much froth, though, it felt a waste and I’ve had to sit through more adverts than I had for a year!

  2. Hello, Zed — I truly enjoy reading your blog. Lots of neat ideas and good tips! I make my own soap and sometimes felt over it. My felted soaps end up looking much like yours. You mentioned that “… natural wools on handmade soap works better for me…” Would you please explain why the natural wools work better for felting soap than the brightly dyed fibers? Thank you for considering my question! Regards, DeeAnna

    1. Thanks, DeeeAnna 🙂
      These soaps I used are Johnson’s baby soap, and I used dyed Merino. They look nice, but there are a few ‘soft’ areas which weren’t obvious before they dried. I didn’t get a photo of the natural ones before I sold them, I used natural/undyed Merino and Finnish on those and they felted easier and more firmly, and there weren’t any loose or soft areas when they dried. One problem I’ve always had with felting soaps is the soap shrinks faster than the wool, but not with hand made. I think it’s a combination of better soap and natural wools always seem to felt quicker. My hands liked the hand made soaps better too. Unfortunately I’ve run out now 🙁

    2. I have never felted over commercial soaps. After 4 years of making my own, I have plenty of my own to enjoy, so I will take you at your word that store-bought doesn’t work as well as handmade. I will have to pay more attention to any differences between dyed wool vs. natural. I would be pleased to send several bars of soap to tide you over. If you are interested, please PM your address. (I think you are in the UK and I’m in the US, but that is no problem.) This is the least I can do to thank you for this lovely and helpful blog!

    3. Thanks, DeeeAnna, that’s really generous of you! Luckily, I just found out the place I got my handmade ones still has some, so I’m alright for now, thanks. Do you have an etsy shop or anything, though, it’d be good to know alternative resources?

  3. I understand your love of organza – it has to be handled and turned in the light. Got any plans for the lovely ruched piece?
    I think commercially dyed merino takes longer to felt than the natural colours. The soaps look good and any soft spots will harden with use.

    1. I’m trying to save more pieces for future reference/inspiration now, instead of going in ‘the box’ for using. Yeah, natural wools definitely felt more quicker, that combined with the natural soap means the soap doesn’t shrink so much quicker than the felt, like with shop soap and dyed Merino.

  4. This definitely a fun piece. I love the way the different organzas felted and the fact you had them in different directions. The color underneath also created a lot of different shades. I like the nice bright soaps.

    1. Thanks, Marilyn 🙂
      Yeah, I thought about using different colours to create different shades, but went for the easy option 🙂 That one colour did change them a lot though. I must admit, I do like the bright, funky colours of the soaps!

  5. Love the different organza pieces. Always fun to see the different textures. And your soaps look great. Haven’t made any for quite a while now. Mine has lasted for a very long time actually.

    1. Thanks, Ruth 🙂
      I have a felted soap in the downstairs loo which has lasted ages, the dye on the wool has faded in the sunlight quicker than the soap has shrunk!

Leave a Reply to LeonorCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d