Eye eye: safety eye roundup
Yesterday was my first my first attempt at using safety eyes. The monkeys are always button or embroidered eyes, but there was something about the sweater bear that called for safety eyes and nose. Since I had to look online for sources of eyes/noses and how to use them, I thought I'd share what I found.
My original plan was to buy them in town, but eyes weren't easy to find - at least not around here. I did find some at Michael's craft store, but they had a very limited selection (that's why I used 18mm eyes on him). I'm a bit picky about the eyes I will use. I only like it when they are black or dark brown. I've seen others use coloured eyes well in their work, but I'm not able to envision my project with these eyes because they sort of creep me out (the eyes, not other crafter's work). My future eye purchases will most likely be online, seeing as I can find more sizes in the colours I want.
Noses were even harder to find. I definitely had to go online for those. Since I had no idea what the sizes would be or what size I needed, I went with a sampler pack I found in an etsy shop. Another place I've found online, which has a bigger selection, is Suncatcher Eyes (you've probably seen their ad if you read the Needle). Suncatcher Eyes is also on etsy, if you prefer to shop there.
Since I was not really sure how they work, I hit the google and my bookmarks in search of info on the safety eyes. I found good explanations on eHow, as well as on the Suncatcher Eyes site. It's pretty self-explanatory, but I wanted to make sure I had it right.
Mochimochi Blog also offers a good tutorial on all kids of eyes for your plush work, not just safety eyes. A good tip on using safety eyes from Mochimochi: there's a chance that kids can pull them out of knitted toys, which sort of defeats the point of the safety feature.
One thing I did learn is that you have to cut a small hole in fabric like felt, something you can probably avoid in most knitted or crochet toys. I need to work on getting them even. Once the hole is cut, you're kind of stuck. (although, some of my "consultants" tell me that the crooked eyes work).
Posted byHello Pineapples! on Thursday, October 30, 2008
filed under: how to, plush, roundup
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