Close-up of a needle felted brown hare with detailed eyes and whiskers, alongside text that reads "easy needle felting tutorial.

How to needle felt realistic animal eyes in 8 easy steps

Take Your Needle Felting To The Next Level

Ready to dive into needle felting those adorable animal eyes? Hang on tight, because below I’ve whipped up a super-duper easy tutorial just for you. This gem is all about taking your needle felting projects to the next level with the very same 8 step method I love to use on my own projects. Now, if those nerves are getting the best of you, no sweat! Give it a whirl with a couple of trial runs. And guess what? My guidance is always in easy-peasy steps, so take your time and start again if you’re not happy with the first one or two.

Are You A Complete Needle Felting Newbie?

There’s a whole lineup of newbie-friendly video tutorials waiting for you. I’m talking about my “needle felting for beginners” series, where I break it down – heads, legs, bodies, and ears. It’s like getting a free front-row seat to my workshops, minus the biscuit breaks. These videos stand tall on their own, but let’s not forget they’re a match made in heaven with the needle felting kits from Lincolnshire Fenn Crafts. So, here’s to some joyful felting! Get those hands busy and let the fluffy magic unfold!

Happy felting! 

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How To Needle Felt Realistic Animal Eyes

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Say hello to Hamilton!

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This simple technique can be applied to most needle felted animals; the Winter Hare is life size.

EYELASHES

Let’s talk eyelashes – the cherry on top, the breeze on a summer day. Trust me, it’s the easiest bit to jazz up your critter. And below I’ve whipped up a quickie four-step guide.

Eyelashes are the quickest – we are talking a couple of minutes – and easiest feature you can add to your projects. They also create a striking finishing touch to your animals features.

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COMPLETE BEGINNERS START HERE

Est. 2013
© 2013 Lincolnshire Fenn Crafts

Two images of needle felting crafts: the left shows a hand crafting a white felt ball with a needle on burlap with colorful felt balls in the background. the right displays a close-up of a gray felt sculpture resembling a tree trunk.

How to needle felt a firm head shape – Video tutorial

A short video (only 12 minutes) to help you improve your needle felting techniques.

When needle felting a head (animals or people) it is important to make sure you have a really firm shape. If you have a soft head then when you start to add the features you will distort or flatten the wool.

It is one of the most common mistakes (apart from floppy legs) but very easy to get right. As with all things, practice makes perfect, but needle felting does allow for mistakes because you can just add another layer. Just remember the golden rule: Start smaller and build your shape up and you can add but not take away. If you start too big and have to keep adding you will end up with a head the size of a football and then have to make a body to match! We are now talking life size sheep or giant hares that will just scare everyone, especially the dog or cat…

My best advice: Be patient. Don’t try to run before you can walk. Get the basics right and the rest will follow. Yes, I know your bestie, family member or work colleague wants a sculpture of their dog making after seeing a flower brooch you made? However, anything worth doing takes time. If it didn’t we would all be taking David Bailey quality photographs after an hours tutorial, or be able to put in a whole plumbing system after fixing a leaky tap… Most definitely, very soon we would all be very bored of hearing about each others achievements and stop making the effort.

Happy creating!