my first amigurumi!

[mollyknight]

i just taught myself to crochet last week - i've been knitting for about a year but wanted to change it up. here's my first real "project" other than a couple little flowers for practice:

Comments

[zeolite]

Congrats on your first amigurumi, she's very sweet! I don't like embroidering faces much because I'm never sure if I'm doing the right thing either.

[sayga]

Wow, that's your first amigurumi? GREAT job!

As far as embroidering faces, I'm not very good at it either. Crochet is so different from embroidering fabric, because there are parts of a crocheted thing that the needle wants to go into and parts it's difficult to get the needle into. It's so hard to get smooth embroidered edges. I don't know of any good tutorials, but I like using safety eyes.

I get my safety eyes here. They have more colors, but you have to pick a size first and then it'll show you the eye colors. You can see even more by going to bear supplies>eyes> and just clicking around. Cat eyes, etc.

You can put felt behind safety eyes for a different effect, and you can embroider eyelashes or other markings too. Just some ideas there. Congrats on your first ami!

[mollyknight]

thanks!

yeah i keep meaning to order some safety eyes online but i was impatient to get this little guy done so i went the embroidery route. thanks for the link :)

[sayga]

CrCrafts are very quick to deliver. I'm impatient too, and want to have everything on hand no matter WHAT I decide to make that day, so I got an organizer and went nuts on the eyes and noses website and just ordered some of almost everything! I should be set for a few years now! ;)

[mollyknight]

haha that's a great idea, i might have to stock up as well

[mollyknight]

Thanks!

[crafty_shanna]

Your crochet is very neat and you did a great job of getting it tight! Super job!!! Cute little Twee! I can't wait to see more projects from you.

I think I dread doing the faces even more than joining the parts. It is really tough for me. One thing I learned thru experience is that I never cut the yarn/floss until The piece is really done and I'm happy with it. That way you can always take of an arm and move it over a bit or redo the smile if you decide it isn't placed right or doesn't look right or just doesn't fit your vision. That's the best advice I can offer you. Someone who knows how to embroider will have to give you tips on actually making faces look good. -_^

[mollyknight]

thanks :)

[theknittycat]

Good point about not cutting the yarn/floss till you're all done, crafty_shanna! I do this too - saves a lot of annoyance! ;o) Another tip is to anchor your ends in the limbs (arms/legs/wings/ears etc.) before sewing them on... juuust in case you need to remove them and you've sewn them so well that you have to cut the yarn.

[theknittycat]

Welcome to our amigurumi addiction, mollyknight! And welcome to WLA You've made an amazing start! Having just taught yourself to crochet LAST WEEK, this is really fabulous! :o) Such a Cute wee birdie!

I too find faces to be the most challenging part of making ami's! Another good source for eyes is http://www.glasseyesonline.com I use this place and http://www.crscrafts.com (as sayga mentioned) for the eyes I use, and also very simple embroidery, and knotted yarn eyes (I have a tutorial for yarn knot eyes here: http://esunbeams.com/knittycat/patterns/knittycatsYarnKnotEyesforPeepsTutorial.pdf )

One hint for embroidering.... if you outline the shape you want first and then fill it in, it's easier to achieve the desired shape. (found this out the hard way! heh heh)

[mollyknight]

aah that tutorial will be very helpful, thanks. your little sheep is too cute!

[theknittycat]

Oh, that's excellent! :o) Happy to help! And thanks for the nice compliment... I do love making lambies! ;o)