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aphid777 — Needle Felted Eyes: A basic picture tutorial
Published: 2014-04-27 17:28:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 74250; Favourites: 518; Downloads: 0
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Because so many people have asked me how I make eyes, I figured I'd post a simple, picture tutorial. First off, I needle felt directly onto the crocheted surface. I've never tried needle felting eyes separately and sewing them on, so if anyone has, I'd love to hear how it worked! Anyway, these pictures are in order from left to right, top to bottom.Picture:
1. Supplies you will need: Wool roving-depending on what color eyes I'm making, I use a bunch of different shades of that color in order to get an effective color gradient. I also choose a base color, in this case, black, and white will be used for the eye reflection. You'll of course also need your handy-dandy needle felting needle!
2-3. I first start with a small amount of the base color. You don't need much. You are simply going to make a basic outline/shape for the eyes. Don't worry about show-through at this point.
4. Once you like how the eyes are shaped and positioned, add more of the base color until there is no more show-through.
5. You're now ready to add the iris colors! I start off with the darkest color first and add it where needed.
6. I then add a smaller amount of the next darkest shade within the confines of the darkest shade so that you can still see the darker edges and base color.
7. The lightest shade is then added just to highlight the colors that are already there. Lastly, add the reflective whites.
And there you have it, needle felted eyes!
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Comments: 110
No, you'll need a needle felting needle because it has notches in it that will catch and condense the fibers.
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Needle felting needles have extra ridges on them to help the wool tangle, so I don't think a normal sewing needle would do the job. Felting needles aren't generally very expensive though. I've gotten a pack of really basic ones for like a dollar before.
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I can't wait to try this! I was wondering if these eyes stay on well enough to safely give the amigurumi to a three year old.
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I'm actually not sure since I've never tested their durability with a 3 year-old 
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YES Thank you! [and thanks for your response on another comment of mine]
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Hey, this tutorial is really helpful, thank's a lot! I was just wondering, what kind of wool do you use? Is it merino woll?
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I'm actually not sure.. 
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This is an awesome tutorial. I love the way your faces come out. However, I was just wondering, were do you buy your supplies for needle felting? I've never done it before and would love to try it out for some of my works! ~<3
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Thanks so much!
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First of all - THANK YOU so much for sharing this. I applied your technique to my latest amigurumi and I'm so satisfied with the results.
Second - where do you get such stark white roving wool? My local Michaels just has off-white and that doesn't make the eyes pop as much as I'd like.
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No problem! Glad it worked out!
I actually haven't had any luck finding stark white roving wool. I ended up using some excess brushed out white acrylic yarn. It doesn't layer on quite as nicely as wool, but it works
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Thank you so much! I'm going to try it!
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Awesome tutorial...thanks for sharing
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Would it be machine washable? I would love to try this with my projects.
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I've never tried machine washing them before so I have no idea
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This doesn't exactly make sense to me, but I will try it and will be sure to credit you.
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There are a lot of YouTube tutorials if you search "needle felting". Perhaps it'll be more helpful to see how it's done in action rather than just pictures. Good luck to you!
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Yay! This is such a great, quick, easy-to-understand little tutorial. Hopefully with this as help I'll be able to figure it out - though I image my first few attempts might be a little... off. XD
Thank you for this explanation.
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No problem! I'm glad it could be of at least a little help
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Ah, it's neat seeing a tutorial, thank you for posting one!
I still need to buy the materials to try it, but I did wonder...oh gosh, how to word this? I wondered if you put the colors separately, but I see that you stack them. This answers the question I had had about that: if it ruined the layer of needlefelting beneath by pulling it up/mixing the colors. But you say to add more of the base color so nothing shows through. So now I know!
Thank you again!
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No problem! Yeah, there's quite a bit of room for error if you layer small amounts at a time. I've found that a little show-through when stacking the colors can help with creating a better color gradient too
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Yeah, I imagine small amounts of different colors can also lead to some fun blending, if that's what you're aiming for? Though I imagine that takes practice, too. Hopefully this summer I can order needlefelting materials online, since I didn't find them this summer. I'm anxious to find time to try this out, as well as catch up to making all the patterns I have stored aside. xD I'll have to let you know how it goes, and thank you again for making a tutorial! That's awesome of you. <3
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No problem! Hope it all works out! Wool roving can be a little pricey for the amount you get and the colors are pretty limited, so you can actually make your own roving with brushed out yarn. Acrylic doesn't quite smooth out as nicely from my experience, but maybe wool yarn will. It takes a little extra time, but it's a nice trick if you don't have the color you need.
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Awesome! Thanks so much for posting this tutorial <3 It really helped!
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so amazing! i can't wait to give this a tryyyy!
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I had already tried your tip and it turned out very well so thank you !
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Anytime! Glad that it worked!
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I've always loved your needle felted eyes. They make the creature come to life. Thanks so much for this tutorial, I'm looking forward to trying them out. ^.^
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Thank you! I hope you'll get a chance to try it out and hopefully it works out!
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You're welcome
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Thanks, I can't wait to give this a try!
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No problem! Best of luck!
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Damn. Wish I had seen this before I ruined that toy. Thanks for the step-by-step. It's appreciated more than you know! ^u^
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Oh no! It's not salvageable at all? 
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Don't think so. Tried to emulate what you did with your Eevee's eyes but slightly different. They just...turned out wrong. I don't have any idea how to salvage it.
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Sorry to hear that
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How well does this method hold up to cuddles and ageing? I really like this idea and crochet dolls who have body markings and such and I've been trying to find ways of adding the markings to a tiger without sewing or gluing on felt (because 1, felt pills and 2, glue would possibly harden the felt or come off down the road and that's not good for product quality...) And would this method work with thin markings? Or would you suggest only larger markings?
I'm sorry I have so many questions >.< I'm trying to learn better ways of improving my dolls before I offer them for commission and so I'm trying to find options.
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Well, I don't usually give my amigurumi to children to play with so I don't know how well they would fare with constant touching
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Thanks for the tutorial! Once I get the stuff, I can learn how! XD
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