My series on how to add faces to your amigurumi continues with one of my favorites: the sleepy face. It doesn’t require many materials — all you need is yarn, a needle, scissors, and your crochet or knit toy. In just a few quick steps your adorable toy will have an equally adorable face. Let’s begin…

1. Thread your yarn needle and insert it into your amigurumi from the back and exit out the front where you want your eye to start. I find sewing the nose and mouth on first helps with the placement of the eyes.

2. Leave a long tail at the back.

3. Insert your needle where you want the back of your eye to be (on Sleepy Bear, I counted back 7 stitches) and exit on the front, down and to the right of where you began in Step 1 (on Sleepy Bear, this is down 2 rounds and over 3 stitches).

4. Pull the yarn through, leaving a good amount of slack so that the eye droops. Our next stitches will hold this part of the eye in place.

5. Insert the needle below the last exit point where you want your first eyelash to end (on Sleepy Bear, this is 2 rounds down), and exit where you want your next eyelash to begin (on Sleepy Bear, this is 1 stitch over from the first eyelash). Make sure you exit above the drooping yarn.

6. Repeat Step 5 for the next eyelash.

7. Repeat Step 5 for another eyelash.

8. Repeat Step 5 for a final eyelash, but this time you will exit on the opposite side of the face, next to the nose, where you want your next eye to begin.

9. Like this.

10. Insert your needle where you want the back of your eye to be (on Sleepy Bear, I counted back 7 stitches) and exit on the front, down and to the left of where you began in Step 1 (on Sleepy Bear, this is down 2 rounds and over 3 stitches). Continue to repeat the steps above to create the eye and lashes for this side.

11. On your last eyelash, draw the needle through to the back of the head and exit through the same stitch that you used in Step 1.

12. I like to tie these two ends together and push them into the amigurumi to hide them.

13. And there you go. Now you have a friend who is always ready for bedtime.

Join us next week, when I’ll reveal the free crochet pattern for this lovable Sleepy Bear.

Visit the Resources page for more ways to add faces to your amigurumi.