Knit Flix

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Eye-eye Sheldon

Sheldon has been finished for a while... sort of.

Yarn: Super 10 Butterfly Mercerized Cotton - Mouzakis, Colors 3701 & 3728
Pattern: Sheldon

Jordana asked,
He looks great. I'm working on one myself but can't find the safety eyes. Where did you find yours?


When it came time to put on Sheldon's eyes, I called every fabric and craft store I could find in the phone book within a reasonable distance to where we were staying in Phoenix. No one had safety eyes. Well, that's not quite right. Joann's had some in stock, but they were way too big for little Sheldon. So I bought some black embroidery floss and sewed some eyes on after he was finished.

What I didn't realize is that trying to sew a nice round eye on a st st fabric isn't as easy as it sounds. What I ended up with were two rectangular shaped eyes that made Sheldon look reptilian and not very friendly. Spinnity had a great suggestion--sewn-on felt eyes.

Here's my Sheldon eye kit: felt, embroidery floss, and a 1/4 inch hole punch. The fabric and floss cost less than 50 cents. Sweet!


Sheldon's mean eyes were removed using a seam ripper and a size 0 needle. Thankfully I didn't cut into his face.


I punched out 2 felt eyes using the hole punch, positioned them on his face, and sewed them on using a double strand of embroidery thread. Since this is a gift for a baby, I wanted to cover the felt completely so little curious fingers couldn't pull them off. The stitching crossed over the felt round like spokes on a wheel--over and over and over the felt until it was completely covered floss.

Here's Sheldon with his new, round, friendly eyes.


I like how the stitches across the diameter of the felt creates a dimensional eye.


3 weeks after Sheldon was declared finished, he's finally ready to be gifted. But before he leaves, I have to show a couple photos of the guy without his clothes on.




Related posts:
Sheldon begins
Sheldon is done... almost

Labels: , , , ,

14 Comments:

  • Brilliant solution for the eyes. And Sheldon looks great. Thanks for the introduction, now I must knit one as the nursery we have waiting for our baby has a turtle theme. :)

    ~ Christina

    By Blogger Christina, at 1/21/2007 9:51 PM  

  • My gosh, this is so absolutely cute, what a great job you did with it - this is the perfect gift, that's for sure! And I agree, what a brilliant solution for the eyes!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/22/2007 1:38 AM  

  • He is so cute! Thanks for the information on how you put Sheldon's eyes on.

    By Blogger Kris B, at 1/22/2007 10:39 AM  

  • adorable. that is so adorable. a naked turtle. what a great job you did!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/22/2007 11:19 AM  

  • Oh my, I am so in love with Sheldon! What an awesome project.

    By Blogger Ilona, at 1/22/2007 2:53 PM  

  • Awww! Sheldon is adorable -- and your safety eyes are really clever!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/22/2007 4:52 PM  

  • He's so cute!! I made "safety eyes" out of black yarn on the turtle I knit 2 years ago. The felt is a much nicer solution.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/23/2007 8:51 AM  

  • oh my goodness this is so cute! I found it on flickr and had to see more! Do you sell these little guys?? My son would LOVE sheldon!
    Michelle

    By Blogger michelle, at 1/23/2007 10:14 PM  

  • aww, he looks so cute for his photo shoot!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/25/2007 4:13 PM  

  • I don't know how I missed this when you first posted it!

    Very smart solution for the eyes. He is just too cute for words. :)

    By Blogger Abigail, at 1/25/2007 10:21 PM  

  • This is really great! So sweet!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/26/2007 2:30 AM  

  • Sheldon is adorable! Now I have to make one too.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 4:22 PM  

  • Such a beautifully knitted and really adorable toy! I love the fact that you can remove the shell - very clever :)

    By Anonymous Eva | Little Cool Toys, at 5/02/2012 12:56 PM  

  • SO CUTE. I ended up here looking for a way to put eyes on some little felt softies I was making. This is a great idea. And I totally LOVE the turtle! I want him!

    By Anonymous Susielee, at 12/29/2012 8:37 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home