Make your own eyes – Part II
Continued from Part I
These are the eyes you have been waiting for… I stumbled upon this idea after finishing an amigurumi cactus for my friend, and not wanting to sew on eyes. So I turned to one of my all time favorite crafting materials, Shrinky-dinks. I get my shrinky-dinks directly from the “Magical Land of Shrinky Dinks.” The shipping is a little steep (UPS) so the last time I
I gathered my shrinky dinks, 1″ hole punch, 1/8″ and 1/4″ hole punches, and a square of paper from a brown paper bag. My 1 inch hole punch is designed such that if I flip it over, I can see exactly where I am about to punch. THis is helpful for getting as many circles as possible from one sheet of plastic.
I use the one incher to punch out numerous circles from the black and brown. Then I use one of the smaller punches to add the holes I will use for sewing the eyes onto my softie. I like to punch the holes bowling ball-style in a little triangle. The eyes are arranged on the piece of brown paper and put into a pre-heated 325 F toaster over for about 6 minutes. When they are done, they are tiny!
I use yarn to sew on the eyes with the larger holes, and I like to connect the dots in a triangle.
I use embroidery floss to sew on the eyes with the smaller holes, and i like to attach those with a sideways ‘v’ pattern.
Before you run out and order a bunch of shrinky dinks, you might want to wait until you read my next post on making eyes… From plastic you probably have around the house.
Tips for using shrinky-dinks
- Use brown paper as the baking tray. If you use metal or foil they may heat too quickly. Additionally, because the metal is so smooth, the shrinkies may briefly adhere to it before cooling. This often leaves a mark on the shrinky that I don’t like, even though they are not permanently stuck.
- Don’t cook them too fast. In a toaster oven, the plastic is always close to the heating elements. If your oven is not pre-heated appropriately, they may experiance too much direct heat, and distort severely when shrinking. This is the most frequent cause of curling in the final product.
- Don’t undercook them. If your shrinky is bowed up in the middle, or severely curled, it might not be done. put it in for a few more minutes and it might straighten out.
- Keep a set of chopsticks handy. Chopsticks are perfect for separating shrinkies that touch during baking. You can also use them to flatten out minor imperfections when the plastic is still hot from the oven and flexible.