How to Needle Felt Eyeballs

We’ve now gotten to that time of year where holidays and celebrations are piling up. No sooner do you deal with one, when the next is already snapping at your heels.

First there’s Halloween, then Bonfire Night, Remembrance Sunday raises its poppy covered head, then we’re suddenly barrelling on towards Christmas and the New Year.

It’s all a bit hectic, so I thought I’d do some holiday appropriate tutorials for when you pick up your crafting tools to take a break from it all… but still want to be productive for the upcoming holiday season.

To start with I’ve got some nice, easy eyeballs for you.

Everyone loves a good eyeball on Halloween, right?

  • white roving wool
  • black roving wool
  • iris colour of choice roving wool
  • needle felting needle (I’m using a 40 gauge needle for this, which I got from Heidifeathers over on Etsy)
  • foam, sponge, or brush to felt on (I use 2″ thick, firm upholstery foam)

What you’ll be doing:

  1. First you’re going to want to pull off a length of white wool and tie it into a loose knot.

2. Stab this knot a bit till it starts to more resemble a ball with a tail…or a wooly white comet, I suppose…anywho, start to roll that little ball into its tail, felting as you go.

A little white comet

3. Once the loose fibres of the tail have been felted in a bit you can roll your ‘ball’ between your palms to help shape it a bit more. Keep felting and rolling till you’ve got a firm ball. It’s at this point that you can add more white wool if your eye isn’t as big as you want it to be.

4. Now for some colour. Grab whichever colour you’ve chosen, I’ve gone for a nice light green. Roll it at bit between your fingers so you’ve got a basic round shape, place on your eye, and start felting it on. I find it’s easiest to felt the edges first, so you know it’s more or less the right shape, then felt in the middle.

5. For the pupil take a smaller amount of black wool than you used for the iris. Again, roll it between your fingers a bit first, then felt it to the centre of your colour. Trim off any excess fibres you see sticking out and there you have it, your very own felted eyeball.

Now you may do with them what you will, add them to jars, turn them into earrings, or even a macabre garland, the possibilities are endless.

Up next on my holiday appropriate tutorials – how to make my version of hot glue wands.

One comment on “How to Needle Felt Eyeballs

  1. Bernadette Thompson

    January 9, 2019 at 9:39 pm Reply

    Wonderful I now shall not muck up anyone eyes -doll or animal love this craft and I do heaps of others

    Bernadette Thompson-Corryong,Victoria,Australia

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