tsu - I think that may just be the way she was sitting on the stool.  I have noticed with the Roly pattern that the foam head does shift around and can give a bit of a different looks depending where it shifts.  My centre seam was a bit off.  You can see the lips don't quite meet up properly.  Again, this was fixed on my third puppet.  I was using a machine to sew and have now switched to hand sewing so I have more control.

Puppetlady - here is where I got my eyes.  yes, they are pre-made hence the focus issue.  How should eyes be placed so they look focused?
http://stores.ebay.com/JNCSHOP

Puppetbubba

What size eyes are you using? It is hard to tell by the photo. Perhaps telling the size will help those that would like to order the same eyes.

Billy D.

Billy - I think it was the 14mm iris, ends up being 24mm wide for the entire eye.

tsu - I just checked and uploaded another photo.  You are right, the symmetry on the face is off.  I wonder why?  Not sure how I can fix that.  Any suggestions from someone who has used the Roly pattern?

Puppetbubba:
Is it the oval shaped plastic baby doll eye?
As far as face symmetry goes, it's not uncommon for the upper and lower li seams to be a bit off.  Antron fleece will hide it a little better.  I'm not sure if you can do this with regular store fleece, but with Antron fleece you can pick the seams to hide the seam line.  That's just rubbing the seam with a straight pin to loosen the fibers out of the stitching seam.  I know if I take extra care glueing in my mouth plate, my mouth upper and lower halves will match up better.  I use contact cement and as soon as I lay my mouthplate in, I flip it right side out and check to see if the mouth came out well adjusting as needed and smoothing the mouth interior.
When I first saw your eyes, I thought you put the pupils in yourself somehow.  Now that I know it is a manufactured pupil, I know why the eyes aren't focused.  Manufactured eyes with pupils always look straight out.  It's as if the manufacturer assumes a flat face surface.  In reality, faces aren't on a flat plane but a curved one, so the eyes, if glued flat against the head naturally bug out some.  When I make ping pong eyes, I glue or pin them on first.  I then place a round sticky circle (roughly pupil size on the ping pong balls and step back to see if the eyes are focused.  I move the sticky dots and the the ping pong balls themselves (if just pinned up) until the eye and pupil arrangement is exactly what I want.  Then I glue the ping pong balls on if I haven't already.  I take my circle template and mark the pupil perimeter and then rip the sticky dot off.  Then I am ready to fill it in with a Sharpie and paint and laquer.  So basically I don't add the pupils until the end.

Puppetlady - yes they are the oval shaped plastic baby doll eye.

Thanks for the tips.  I may try to build up the eye socket a bit differently so the pupil kind of looks in instead of straight out.  Not sure how yet but I love a challenge! 

She is very cute I like the pink dress on her. 

Puppetlady has it right with pinning and lining up pupils, usually at the very end you add the pupils in the puppet building process.  I also pin everything on before I make any commitments (glued) to the puppet.  I spend more time on my eye's on the puppet than any other part of the puppet because they are the "soul" of the puppet.  If you want to continue to use these eye's that you bought from Ebay.....I would suggest that you get a basic Dremel tool and grind down the edges so that the pupils start looking at each other a little more.....this will reduce the work of having to "build them up."  As a way to see if the eye's are "focused" you should stand a couple of feet away from the puppet and see if the puppet is looking back and focused on you.  Henson described the "focused" method like an invisible triangle made up by the nose and pupils then you know things are lined up well.   The pupils should be slightly crossed eyed without going to far by making it look like a village idiot it should look focused and looking back at people.

BTW a Dremel tool you can get for a pretty reasonable price, you only need a basic one and you can do so much for making puppets with it.  You can use spoons for eyes the tool can be used to smooth out edges.  You can use it to smooth out foam if you are shaping foam.  I could go on with puppet making with this tool but it is worth the investment if you are interested to continue to make puppets.  It is also very handy to do some house repairs or projects.  The best part it is no bigger than a small drill. 

I use scrape booking punches that are circles in various sizes and then I get sticky back vinyl that they use for signs ect....and stamp them out with the circles sizes I like and stick them on.  I find this easy to use and gives nice clean eyes.  You can also get the black sticky back material with fuzzy/velvety side to it works really well to make pupils. 

Hope this helps.......

Stiqman-
I too have a series of hole punches but have not found a material suitable for pupils.  Where do you purchase sticky back vinyl for signs?

Where does the dremel work you suggested on the eyes get done?  On the back side of the plastic eye nearest the center seam?  I hadn't thought of that.  Good idea.

Most any sign shop will sell you a roll of the vinyl................. the only problem is you have to buy a full roll. I found these on EBay................. 10 for $10.00 and comes in all different colors.

http://stores.ebay.com/starqualityvinylandcrafts_SPECIALS-ONE-TIME-OFFERS_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ249341013QQftidZ2QQtZkm

Billy D.

I have been able to buy vinyl like you can buy fabric as much or as little as you want.  I get it at a higher end art supply store that sells more specialty arts supplies (unlike Micheal)  they will sell every colour you can imagine and I have been able to make small props with covering it with this material or add details to them.  It is a very useful item....personally I would walk into a sign shop and see if they would sell you a foot or so.....a little goes a loooooonnnnnnngggggg way especially if you only use it for pupils. 

Yes the Dremel would be used on the back side of the eyes......you would grind them on a slope so the pupils will start coming more "crossed eyed" instead of looking out on each side of the head.  I don't use those eyes so I can't provide photo's of what I am trying to explain....I am not very strong in my writing ability I am more of a visual person.  I guess that is why I am a visual artist and not a writer.  LOL

I hope this makes sense to you.

Daryl H