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Let's make eyeballs!
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Wren lemmy.today Wren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-11-04
(edited) Quote

A bowl of colourful felted objects, mostly eyeballs, with a banana and a peep.

I call these "catballs" as well, because they're all filled with catnip for my sweet nightmare baby.

So! Here's how to make a catball. You need:

Wool roving - Sheep's wool specifically has a rough texture under a microscope. The bumpy parts help it lock into itself when it gets tangled up.

A felting needle - These are long needles use to stab the wool together. The barbs along the length help pull the wool fibres into the mass. You can also get reverse barbed needles to re-fuzzify things.

A thick sponge - A firm felting surface the wool woving won't stick to.

Catnip - Dried and optional.

I always start with the "burrito method" where I take a hand-length bit of roving and roll it up like a burrito around the catnip, pulling in the sides as well. I stab that a bunch, rolling it on the sponge to get all sides until it's relatively secure, then I start adding more chunks of wool, wrapping and turning the ball, slowly building up through stabbing until it's solid.

To make the iris, I take a small bit of roving in a different colour to roll and squish it between my fingers until it's about discus-shaped, then I stab that into my ball - careful around the edges to keep it round. At this point I can layer up the iris if it's not thick enough.

I then twist another bit of roving into a loose thread between my fingers, and carefully stab that in, a little at a time, tracing the edge of the iris.

The veins are made with a chaotic version of the thread method, just stab it semi-random and watch the blood vessels form.

Once you master the eyeball you can move on to the banana and the peep.

32   Original
dandelion lemmy.blahaj.zone dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2024-03-02
#2 · Quote Reply

THE BANANA THO !!!!!!

6
Wren Moderator Wren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-11-04
#3 · Quote Reply

THE BANANA THO !!!!!!

It's like the burrito but more banana shaped. It takes great skill.

5
tae glas [siad/iad] slrpnk.net tae_glas@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2025-09-27
#4 · Quote Reply

these are so cool! ๐Ÿคฉ i'm sure your nightmare baby is very pleased with these offerings ๐Ÿ™‚โ€โ†•๏ธ

2
Broadfern lemmy.world Broadfern@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-02-03
#5 · Quote Reply

I love that thereโ€™s a whole bucket of these eyeballs, then just two random cute toys ๐Ÿ˜†

3
GrantUsEyes lemmy.zip GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-21
#6 · (edited) Quote Reply

I love this, I love this, I love this!!!!!!
My cats would not appreciate the craftsmanship so I'd keep them for myself...hummm

I can envision some sort of jewelry with them .... Ah! So many ideas

4
Wren Moderator Wren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-11-04
#7 · (edited) Quote Reply

I love this, I love this, I love this!!!!!! My cats would not appreciate the craftsmanship so I'd keep them for myself...hummm I can envision some sort of jewelry with them .... Ah! So many ideas

SO many things you can do. I made a tiny set of eyeball earrings for a friend.

I just like to see my cat demolish a pile of eyeballs.

3
Wren Moderator Wren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-11-04
#8 · Quote Reply

I love that thereโ€™s a whole bucket of these eyeballs, then just two random cute toys ๐Ÿ˜†

My murderface appreciates variety.

4
Wren Moderator Wren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-11-04
#9 · Quote Reply

these are so cool! ๐Ÿคฉ i'm sure your nightmare baby is very pleased with these offerings ๐Ÿ™‚โ€โ†•๏ธ

Thank you... I type as she attacks me.

2
GrantUsEyes lemmy.zip GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-21
#10 · Quote Reply

SO many things you can do. I made a tiny set of eyeball earrings for a friend. I just like to see my cat demolish a pile of eyeballs.

You are crafting goals Wren, I envy your friend :P

3
Wren Moderator Wren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-11-04
#11 · Quote Reply

You are crafting goals Wren, I envy your friend :P

Don't worry, I have many flaws.

3
swelter_spark reddthat.com swelter_spark@reddthat.com
Joined: 2025-03-06
#12 · Quote Reply

Very clever!

2
1984 lemmy.today 1984@lemmy.today
Joined: 2023-07-28
#13 · Quote Reply

Thats actually cute :)

2
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