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Crocheting baby-safe eyes for amigurumi

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!

crochet owl

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:

 

 

This is the first baby-safe toy I crocheted… see how his eyes are a little buggy?

 

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):

attaching a baby safe eye in amigurumi

Then, to complete a second stitch, I stick the needle back up through the next stitch- through the owl head and through the eye:

crocheting a baby safe eye on amigurumi

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?

amigurumi crochet owl

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’!

6 COMMENTS

  1. Awesome and important information! Safety first, always:)

  2. I always made the eyes of my amigurumis with yarn, using the magic circle too. Thanks for sharing your technique!

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  4. 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.