Larger-sized amigurumi make lovely presents for babies… but you’ve got to make sure they’re safe for the little ones! Today, I’m going to give you the pattern for crocheting baby-safe eyes (to replace the plastic eyes often called for in patterns), and show you a technique for attaching the eyes so you’ll end up with an awesome plushie!
Pattern for Baby-safe Crocheted Eyes
Even though the plastic eyes used in amigurumi are often called ‘safety eyes’, they’re not approved for use by children under 3. So, whenever I’m making a toy for a baby, I crochet the eyes. Here’s the pattern:
With black yarn (in weight and hook called for in the remainder of the pattern), ch 2.
Round 1: sc 6 times into 2nd ch from hook. (6)
Round 2 (optional): Sc twice into each st. (12)
Fasten off with a long tail.
That’s it! Easy!
Attaching Crocheted Eyes
When you are attaching limbs, I recommend that you use a whipstitch to attach the piece to the loops on the fabric. However, because the eyes are so tiny, this technique makes the eyes stick out a bit:
To get the eyes to lay flat, you’ll want to stitch all the way through the fabric that you are attaching to. Let’s look at an example of attaching baby-safe eyes to an owl.
To begin, I thread my tapestry needle with the tail of the yarn, as usual. Then, I stick my tapestry needle through the eye, then all the way through the head of the owl (going all the way to the wrong side of the owl head):
Then, to complete a second stitch, I stick the needle back up through the next stitch- through the owl head and through the eye:
This is attaching the eye using a running stitch, and pulls the edges of the eye much closer to the head than with a whipstitch. Isn’t the final result pretty?
Ideas for Variations
You don’t just have to crochet a black eye… you can be creative! Try:
- Embroidering a french knot with a scrap of white in the center for a pupil
- Crocheting a second round of white, so that the black is the pupil
- Use a funky color!
Hope this tip helps you create a fabulous baby-safe toy! So, next time you have a baby shower to go to… think ‘stuffed animal’!
I like to just make my crocheted eyes magic circle style. Pretty much the same thing isn’t it?
Yup! Same idea 🙂
Awesome and important information! Safety first, always:)
I always made the eyes of my amigurumis with yarn, using the magic circle too. Thanks for sharing your technique!
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Happy I found this post, I’m going to try making eyes this way. I’ve just started making amigurumis and had problems getting the eyes ‘right’. The safety eyes kept breaking when I attached the washers, so I’ve used french knots, but theydidn’t quite get the effect I wanted.