Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

The newest addition to the Chubbies family!

One of my most popular patterns of all time is Waffle the Chubby Bear (middle photo below). I can totally see why because it’s also one of my favorites. It’s simple, chubby, and super adorable!

I made a second animal in the same body shape, Bingsoo the Chubby Penguin, and I’m absolutely in love with him too!

However, it’s been a few years and although I’ve really wanted to continue adding to this series I haven’t had the time or the right inspiration.

I attempted a red panda version a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely loved how it came out. I went with a similar body design with a slightly oval muzzle, and the cutest white tipped ears.

This project is very simplistic in its design which makes it an even easier make. I used darker red yarn for the ears and arms, but you could also go with brown or black depending on the type of red panda you want to make.

Tips making this pattern!

This pattern is relatively straightforward with only a few pieces, which makes it perfect for beginners.

The only tricky step in this project is the Foundation Chain. This is a method of starting amigurumi that creates an oval shape, which can be really helpful for creating unique body shapes.

I use this method in all the animals in the Chubbies series, because I find that the oval body shape give them a really cute and adorable look.

For this red panda, I also used this technique to create a slightly more elongated muzzle. This creates a super cute facial expression!

If the foundation chain is new to you, just click the tutorial below for a photo and video tutorial.

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

Adzuki the Chubby Red Panda is a spherical red panda with small limbs that balances on a round bottom. His adorable shape makes him a breeze to make and is perfect as a stress ball, desk companion, or gift to a
friend (or yourself!). This is a great project for confident beginners who want to learn a how to crochet an oval and basic color changes.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• Hobbii Fluffy Day XL (bulky)
  • (<1 skein) Spicy (brown)
  • (<1 skein) Rust (dark red)
  • (<1 skein) White

Notions

• Size G 4.00mm Clover Amour hook
• 8.0mm safety eyes
• black embroidery thread
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down. Check out this blog post here on how to avoid holes and stuff correctly.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Special Stitches

• How to embroider a nose: see this tutorial
• How to invisible finish off: see this tutorial

Final Size

4″ x 5″

The Pattern

BODY (in Brown)

• Begin: Chain 7.
• Round 1: Beginning in the second chain from hook, sc 12 all around the foundation chain. There will be 2 stitches in each chain stitch. For help on crocheting around a foundation chain, see here. (12 sts)
• Round 2: inc x12 (24 sts)
• Round 3: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 4: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 5: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 6: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Round 7-10 (4 rnds): sc all around (48 sts)
• Round 11: (7 sc, inc) x6 (54 sts)
• Insert 9.0mm safety eyes between rounds 9 and 10 with 7 stitches in between. The body is in an oval shape with two long sides and two short sides. Make sure you place the eyes on a long side of the oval.
• Round 12-19 (8 rnds): sc all around (54 sts)
• Round 20: (8 sc, inc) x6 (60 sts)
• Round 21-25 (5 rnds): sc all around (60 sts)
• Round 26: (8 sc, dec) x6 (54 sts)
• Round 27: (7 sc, dec) x6 (48 sts)
• Round 28: (4 sc, dec) x8 (40 sts)
• Round 29: (3 sc, dec) x8 (32 sts)
• Begin stuffing.
• Round 30: (2 sc, dec) x8 (24 sts)
• Round 31: (sc, dec) x8 (16 sts)
• Finish stuffing.
• Round 32: (dec) x8 (8 sts)
• Round 33: (dec) x4 (4 sts)
• Cut yarn, leaving a short tail. Using a needle, thread the yarn through all 6 stitches in the last round, and pull it tight so the opening cinches like a drawstring bag (tutorial here). Finish off (fig. 1).

EARS (in White, make two)

• Rnd 1: 4 sc in MR (4 sts)
• Switch to Dark Red (tutorial here)
• Rnd 2: (sc, inc) x2 (6 sts)
• Rnd 3: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
• Rnd 4: (3 sc, inc) x2 (10 sts)
• Do not stuff and fold flat. Finish off, leaving a short tail for sewing (fig. 2). Make another identically. Sew the ears between the 3rd and 8th rounds from the top of the body, off to the left and right (fig. 5).

MUZZLE (in White)

• Begin: Work 5 chains (5 sts)
• Round 1: Beg from the 2nd chain from the hook, sc around the foundation chain (tutorial here) (8 sts)
• Round 2: (sc, inc) x4 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6, sl st to first st (18 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. You will stuff as you go after embroidering the nose.

Embroider a triangular nose on the muzzle: Begin from the middle of the nose and
outline out a small pie slice shape extending 2 rounds using vertical stitches. Fill in the
outline and make one single horizontal stitch across the top for a cleaner look. See my
tutorial here! Then, embroider two small lines going out from the bottom of the
triangular nose. See figure 3.

Sew muzzle to head between 9th and 14th rounds from the top, with the top of the
muzzle at the same level as the top of the eyes (fig. 5). Stuff gently as you go.

SMALL FACE MARKINGS (in White, make two)

• Begin: Work 3 chains (3 sts)
• Row 1: Beg from the 2nd ch from hook, sc 2 across the chain (2 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically.

LARGE FACE MARKINGS (in White, make two)

• Begin: Work 5 chains (5 sts)
• Row 1: Beg from the 2nd ch from hook, sc 4 across the chain (4 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically.
• Sew the face markings around the eyes and muzzle as pictured in fig. 5.

ARMS (in Dark Red, make two)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2-4 (3 rnds): sc all around (6 sts)
• Do not stuff. Fold the piece flat, and finish off, leaving a tail for sewing (fig. 6). Make another identically. Sew the arms on the body between the 15th and 17th rounds from the top (fig. 8).

TAIL (in White)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Switch to Dark Red.
• Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (8 sts)
• Switch to White.
• Round 4: (3 sc, inc) x2 (10 sts)
• Round 5: sc around (10 sts)
• Switch to Dark Red.
• Round 6-7 (2 rnds): sc around (10 sts)
• Gently stuff. Fold the tail in half. Then, insert the hook through both sides of the round and work 5 sts across the opening to seal it closed (see fig. 7 for photo tutorial).
• Sew the tail to the back of the body, 8 rounds from the bottom of the body. To keep the tail tucked against the body and slightly raised, make an extra stitch near the base of the tail to secure it against the body.

Adzuki the Chubby Red Panda is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting it and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post Adzuki the Chubby Red Panda Free Crochet Pattern – Red Panda Amigurumi appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

An adorable mini doll with luscious hair!

When setting out to design this pattern, I knew I wanted to make a mini doll from my mini doll base. I have quite a few dolls made from this base already, and I really love all the different variations that I’ve been able to come up with!

Dolls are some of my favorite projects to make (which is so funny, because I hated dolls growing up), and I love how my little portfolio is slowly growing!

The pièce de résistance for Angelica is her hair. Hair is often the most difficult part of making dolls, but Angelica manages to have a beautiful hairstyle that is surprisingly straightforward to make.

You’ll start with a small circle made from a magic ring, and then work a series of chains and single crochets (as if you were working in turned rows). This creates the individual strands of hair.

The best part is that as you work the hair, it will naturally curl into the beautifully textured hair you can see on the doll below.

After working all the hair strands, I have detailed instructions on how to arrange her hair exactly like the hairstyle you see below. It makes the whole process a lot less stressful and more achievable!

As always, I recommend pinning her hairstyle in place first to decide how you like it, and then I usually break out a glue gun to secure everything down. You can always sew the strands down individually as well, but that tends to more significantly more time consuming and might not result in as polished of a finish.

A new technique for making this doll: the FSC!

This doll uses several techniques that might be new to you, or at least the first time you’re using them in amigurumi.

One of the big ones is the Foundation Single Crochet. This is an amazing technique to have in your toolbox and one that I use frequently in my amigurumi projects.

In essence, the FSC is exactly the same structurally as working a chain and then working single crochet stitches back on top of it. However, an FSC creates both the bottom row of chains and the second row of single crochets at the same time. It’s kind of magic, and isn’t really much more difficult.

The main reason why I and many others choose to use this technique is because this results in a piece that is significantly stretchier. Working a chain means that there is very little elasticity, and often this can result in work that doesn’t stretch much at all in either direction.

Because the FSC creates a much stretchier end result, I much prefer it over using starting chains, especially when creating a (doll) garment. However, this concept extends to real life garments too! Hats that are started with a chain will always feel restrictive to put on, since it does not widen to accommodate your head and then shrink back down once you’ve put it on.

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

Angelica the Mini Doll is a petite sized Black doll with an elegant dress who fits in the palm of your hand. She is an intermediate amigurumi because of the patience and technique required with shaping her hair, along with creating the ruffle of her dress.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• WeCrochet Brava Sport (sport)
  • (<1 skein) Almond (light brown)
  • (<1 skein) Sienna (dark brown)
  • (<1 skein) Lady Slipper (pinkish purple)
  • (<1 skein) White
  • (<1 skein) Blush (pink)

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• 6.0mm safety eyes
• brown embroidery thread
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers
• (optional) hot glue gun

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Special Stitches

• Invisible finish off: see this tutorial
• FSC (Foundation Single Crochet): click here for tutorial

Final Size

4.5″ x 2″

The Pattern

LEGS (in light brown)

• Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5 sts)
• Round 2: sc around (5 sts)
• Round 3: sc, inc, 3 sc (6 sts)
• Round 4: sc around (6 sts)
• Round 5: 2 sc, inc, 3 sc (7 sts)
• Round 6: sc around (7 sts)

Stuff firmly, using the back of a crochet hook or chopstick to push the stuffing down. Finish off (this is leg 1) and then create a second leg identically, but do not finish off the second leg (this is leg 2).

Connect the legs (tutorial here): Chain 2 off the side of the leg, attach yarn to the remaining leg and sc 7 around the leg you just attached the yarn to. Sc 2 in the connecting chains, sc 7 around the first leg, sc 2 in the connecting chains. (18 sts)

BODY (in light brown)

• Round 1: inc x2, 7 sc, inc x2, 7 sc (22 sts)
• Round 2: inc, sc 10, inc, sc 10 (24 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (24 sts)
• Round 4: (dec, 2 sc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 5-8 (4 rnds): sc around (18 sts)
• Stuff. Finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

HEAD (in light brown)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 8: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Round 9-15 (7 rnds): sc around (48 sts)
• Insert 6mm safety eyes between rounds 12 and 13, 8 stitches apart. Embroider a nose using MC directly between the eyes, 2 stitches wide.
• Round 16: (6 sc, dec) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 17: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 18: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 19: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 20: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 21: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Stuff.
• Round 22: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off and weave in end. Using the tail from the body, sew the head to the body. See fig. 1 below.

ARMS (in light brown)

• Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5 sts)
• Round 2: 2 sc, inc, 2 sc (6 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (6 sts)
• Round 4: 2 sc, dec, 2 sc (5 sts)
• Round 5-6 (2 rnds): sc around (5 sts)
• Do not stuff. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. Sew to the left and right sides of the seam between the body and the head. See fig. 1 for finished doll base.

DRESS (Worked in turned rows until row 4, then in joined rounds. Begin in white. See Special Stitches for FSC.)

• Row 1: 20 FSC, chain and turn (20 sts)
• Switch to dark pink, leaving a long tail of dark pink at the top of the dress to use for seaming later. Do not cut the white yarn.
• Row 2: BLO, sc, hdc, 4 dc, hdc, 6 sc, hdc, 4 dc, hdc, sc, chain and turn (20 sts)
• Row 3: inc, dc inc, 4 sk, dc inc, inc, 4 sc, inc, dc inc, 4 sk, dc inc, inc, chain and turn (20 sts)
• Row 4: sc across, chain and turn (20 sts)
• Slip stitch to join and begin working in joined rounds.
• Round 5: chain, hdc inc x20, slst (40 sts)
• Round 6: chain, hdc inc, x40 slst (80 sts)
• Round 7-9 (3 rnds): chain, hdc around, slst (80 sts)
• Working in the front loops from row 2, continue working with White from Row 1. Work across on all the front loops. Slip stitch 7 times, then sc, hdc, 2 dc, hdc, sc, and slip stitch 7 times. (20 stitches total).
• Invisible finish off and weave in end. Put the dress on the doll (the back will be open). Using the Dark Pink tail from Row 2, sew the back of the dress closed. At this point the dress will not be removable.

HAIR (in dark brown)

• The hair is created by first crocheting a small circle, and then crocheting many hair strands stemming from the circle.
• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• We will now create 20 strands (S) of hair.
• S1-2 (2 strands): chain 35 and sc 34 back. Slip stitch into the back loop of the next stitch twice. Check to make sure that the hair is curling naturally. If these two strands did not curl, then redo and crochet all the hair strands with single crochet increases every 3 stitches or so. For tighter curls, work increases more frequently.
• S3-5 (3 strands): chain 35 and sc 34 back. Slip stitch into the next stitch twice (one slst in each stitch).
• S6-18 (13 strands): chain 25, sc 24 back, and slst into the next stitch twice (one slst in each stitch).
• S19-20 (2 strands): chain 35, sc 34 back, and slst into the front loop of the next stitch twice. These will overlap with strands 1 and 2.
• Finish off and weave in end. Glue the hair circle (not the hair strands) to the head with the right side downwards and continue following directions to pin down all the hair strands until you are satisfied with the hair style.
• Arrange the hair strands so that strands 1-5 oriented at the forehead. Pin down strands 6 to 18 around the back; these will form the main hair layer. Each hair strand is naturally curly after crocheting it, so uncurl the top of the strand so that it lies flat on the head, leaving the bottom curls (Fig. 4).
• Pull back strands 1-5 over the top of the head. Straighten out the upper portion of these strands and then tie them together with a scrap piece of dark brown yarn in a ponytail (Fig. 5, 6, and 7).

Strands 19 and 20 are secured to the right side of the face, left curly, acting as side bangs (Fig. 8 and 9). Glue down all hair strands using the hot glue gun, carefully removing each pin one by one. Begin with the base layer of hair strands (6-18), then secure the side bangs (19 and 20). Strands 1-5 are tied together in a ponytail.

BLUSH (in pink)

Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
Invisible finish off and weave in end, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. Sew to the face directly beneath and to the right and left of the eyes (Fig. 10).

Using brown embroidery thread, embroider eyebrows above the eyes at an angle (Fig. 10)

Angelica the Mini Doll is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting her and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post Angelica the Mini Doll – Amigurumi Black Girl Doll – African American Girl Doll appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

A deceptively easy project for doll beginners!

I’ve been dreaming about creating this design for a long time. Ever since I started designing, every time Lunar New Year rolled around I would think about creating a doll wearing a traditional qipao dress.

Over the years, I’ve considered a couple of different methods for the dress, including a top down construction, bottom up construction, and even a method that is both bottom up and top down. The reasons for all these crazy ideas is because a qipao has a few distinctive features that define it.

First, the collar is a high neck and tends to split apart at the bottom of the neck, which flows down into a layer that wraps over, creating a seam. Usually, there are a couple of decorative Chinese knots here.

From there, the dress goes straight down with cap sleeves.

However, my struggles always came with creating the collar. I had great ideas of adding the collar onto the end with a FLO round, something I’ve done with my Red Panda pattern, but then it would be very difficult to create the seam down the front unless I did a lot of freehand embroidery.

I try to avoid too many techniques in my pattern that rely heavily on freehand techniques, because at that point it becomes difficult to give accurate directions. So I shelved that idea.

Fast forward to a month ago, when I decided to try again, but this time creating the dress as a robe.

I had originally rejected this idea because creating a robe would solve the problem of the seam, but would not create that perfectly defined collar that I imagined. However, on my second attempt, I realized that I could make the robe slightly oversized, which would result in the high neck collar that I wanted.

Slightly oversizing the robe also meant that the front edges would cross over naturally, perfectly replicating the seam present on qipaos!

The other great part about this construction is that it’s so easy!! One of the reasons why I hesitated in my previous iterations is because inevitably the construction would get so complicated that I didn’t want to move forward. I try to keep my patterns as simple as possible, and my favorite ones are the projects that are deceptively easy but achieve a polished look.

This project is AMAZING because the dress is made almost entirely in one piece, with the gold edging worked on as a seamless border. The collar is part of the robe, so no need to use any FLO techniques. It’s easy to adjust along the way if you’re struggling with fit, and easy to customize to your favorite qipao colors.

Honestly, I feel like I knocked it out of the park with this one and I hope you think so too!

I kept the hair simple and easy for beginners — no crocheting hair strands, no blocking. It’s one of my simplest doll patterns, while also being highly effective!

I also threw in a mini lantern as part of it which is a miniature version of my full size Lunar New Year lantern.

Tips for making your first doll!

If you’re making your first doll, you might be a little apprehensive. However, this is a great first doll project because I’ve kept things as simple as possible.

Structurally, a doll is just like any other amigurumi, except that it takes a little longer since you’ll have to create extra pieces for the hair and clothing.

Sometimes, hair can get really complicated (see my Jackie the Cellist pattern), but for this beginner doll, the hair is just two simple pieces that don’t use any special techniques. I love this hairstyle because the bun is simple and classy and doesn’t look like you cut any corners, but is secretly really easy.

As I mentioned above, the clothing on this project is very simple as well. Most of my dresses tend to be slightly more complex than this, but if you can crochet a square, you can make this dress.

The doll base is pretty straightforward, but if you’ve never made legs that connect into a body, this could be a bit tricky. I have a full video tutorial just for this, but it’s also included in my doll base video tutorial below.

This is a great video to watch if this is your first doll project!

More free crochet doll patterns:

• Carmen the Mini Doll (a flamboyant dancer!)
• Kitsune the Fox Doll
• Jacqueline the Cellist Mini Doll
• The Little Prince
• The Sugar Plum Fairy (one of my favorites!)
• Juliet the Mini Doll

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

新年快樂! Celebrate Lunar New Year with this simple doll pattern wearing a traditional Chinese qipao (旗袍) or cheongsam. This is a great project for first time doll makers with a simple hairstyle and robe that is worked almost entirely in one piece. The elegant collar and beautiful border are incredibly easy to make and designed with beginners in mind. Looks much more difficult than it is!

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• Hobbii Amigo (sport)
  • (<1 skein) Cream (or any skin color)
  • (<1 skein) Black
  • (<1 skein) Christmas Red (red)
  • (<1 skein) Yellow (optionally, you can swap in a shiny gold yarn; I used Nurturing Fibers Eco-Bamboo in Sunglow)
  • (scrap) Pink

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• 6.0mm safety eyes
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers
• toothpick
• (optional) hot glue gun for hair

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Special Stitches

• How to crochet doll base: tutorial here
• How to embroidery a French knot: tutorial here
• How to work a single crochet border: tutorial here

Final Size

6″ x 2″

The Pattern

LEGS (in Cream. Click here for a full tutorial of this doll base)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
• Round 3-11 (9 rnds): sc all around (8 sts)
• Stuff firmly, using the back of a crochet hook or chopstick to push the stuffing down. Finish off (this is leg 1) and then create a second leg identically, but do not finish off the second leg (this is leg 2).

Connect the legs (full tutorial): With your hook still connected to leg 2, pick up and work a stitch anywhere on leg 1, then work the remaining 7 single crochets all around leg 1. Then, pick up and work a stitch on leg 2 right next to the last stitch from round 11, and then work the remaining 7 stitches around leg 2. The two legs should now be connected with a total of 16 stitches around.

BODY (Continue in Cream)

• Round 12: sc all around both legs (16 sts)
• Round 13-20 (8 rnds): sc all around (16 sts)
• Round 21: (6 sc, dec) x2 (14 sts)
• Round 22: sc all around (14 sts)
• Round 23: (5 sc, dec) x2 (12 sts)
• Stuff firmly. Finish off, leaving a long (~12 inches) tail for sewing. See fig. 1.

HEAD (in Cream)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 8-16 (9 rnds): sc all around (42 sts)
• Place 6.0 mm safety eyes between rounds 13 and 14, 8 stitches apart.

• Round 17: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 18: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 19: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 20: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Stuff.
• Round 21: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Round 22: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off and weave in end. Using the tail from the body, sew the head and body together.

Nose (tutorial here): Using Cream, embroider three horizontal stitches directly between the eyes to form the nose (2 sts long).

ARMS (in Cream)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
• Round 3: sc all around (8 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, dec) x2 (6 sts)
• Round 5-9 (5 rnds): sc all around (6 sts)
• Do not stuff. Finish off, leaving a short tail. Fold flat and then sew to the left and right sides along the seam between the head and body.

HAIR (in Black)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR, slst (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 8-12 (5 rnds): sc all around (42 sts)
• Round 13: 19 dc, hdc, slst, hdc, 20 dc (42 sts)
• Invisible finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing (fig. 2). Position the hair piece on the head off center so that the back of the hair falls three rounds away from the neck, and orient the part slightly to the left. Sew or hot glue hair piece to the head.

BUN (in Black)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5-8 (4 rnds): sc all around (24 sts)
• Round 9: (4 sc, dec) x4 (20 sts)
• Stuff firmly. Finish off, leaving a tail (fig. 3). Sew to the back of the hair.

ROBE (in Red. Worked in turned rows.)

• Begin: Chain 15 (15 sts)
• Row 1: beginning from the second chain from the hook, (2 sc, 3 sc in one stitch) x2, 2 sc, (3 sc in one stitch, 2 sc) x2, ch and turn (22 sts)
• Row 2: 3 sc, ch 4, sk 4, 8 sc, ch 4, sk 4, 3 sc, ch and turn (22 sts)
• Row 3: 3 sc, 4 sc in chain-space, 8 sc, 4 sc in chain-sp, 3 sc, ch and turn (22 sts)
• Row 4-7 (4 rows): sc across, ch and turn (22 sts)
• Row 8: 4 sc, inc, 12 sts, inc, 4 sc, ch and turn (24 sts)
• Row 9: 5 sc, inc, 12 sts, inc, 5 sc, ch and turn (26 st)
• Row 10: 6 sc, inc, 12 sts, inc, 6 sc, ch and turn (28 sts)
• Row 11: sc across, ch and turn (28 sts)
• Row 12: 7 sc, inc, 12 sts, inc, 7 sc, ch and turn (30 sts)
• Row 13: sc across, ch and turn (30 sts)
• Row 14: 8 sc, inc, 12 sts, inc, 8 sc, ch and turn (32 sts)
• Row 15-16 (2 rows): sc across, ch and turn (32 sts)
• On the last row, do not turn the work. The work should look like figure 4. We will start from the black dot and then work an sc border counterclockwise, following the black arrows.
• Continue in Red yarn and work a single crochet border all around the outside of the robe (tutorial here). Switch to Yellow and work another single crochet border all around. Sl st to the first st and finish off, weaving in the ends.

SLEEVES (in Red)

• Round 1: Attach yarn (tutorial here) and pick up 10 stitches at the armhole of the robe. Pick up your first stitch at the bottom of the arm hole, inserting the hook from the outside of the robe. (see fig. 5). (10 sts)
• Round 2: (4 sc, inc) x2 (12 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (12 sts)
• Switch to Yellow. Work a single crochet border all around the outside of the sleeve. Sl st to the first st and finish off, weaving in the end. Repeat with the other sleeve. See fig. 6 for finished robe. Place the robe on the body, pulling it tight so that the front edges overlap, and then sew or glue it in place.
• Using Yellow, embroider four French knots at rows 6 and 7 on either side of the border (see fig. 6 for positioning).

LANTERN (in Red)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4-6 (3 rnds): sc around (18 sts)
• Round 7: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Stuff.
• Round 8: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail. Using a tapestry needle, weave the tail through to the top and then back down to create a loop (fig. 7)

CAPS (in Yellow, make two)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6, sl st to first stitch (12 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing.

Sew one cap to the top of the lantern. Thread the tail of the Red yarn weave it through the cap on top and then back down to form a loop (fig. 7). Make another cap, and sew it onto the bottom.

Trim a toothpick until it is 1.5″ long. Lightly glue the tip of the toothpick, then place the lantern’s loop on top of the end of the toothpick so that it is glued in place.

Place the completed lantern in the doll’s hand either by inserting it into the bottom of the hand or by gluing in place.

ROSE (in Red, in turned rows. Refer to Abbreviations for meaning
of *…*. For assistance with the rose, watch the video tutorial here.)

• Row 1: chain 21 (21 sts)
• Row 2: working from the second chain from the hook, (sc, 2 ch, sk) x8, sc, 2 ch, slst into last stitch. Chain 2 and turn (10 sts, 9 chain spaces)
• Row 3: working into the chain space, (3 dc, ch, slst, slst to next chain space) x3, (3 hdc, ch, slst, slst to next chain space) x3, (*3 sc, ch, slst*, slst to the next chain space) x2, *3 sc, ch, slst*. (9 petals)
• Finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing. See fig. 8.
• With the single crochet petals in the center, wrap the other end of the work around the single crochet end, until the rose is as flat or conical as you wish. Using the tail end, sew across the bottom of the rose to secure in place (see fig. 9), then sew to the seam between the bun and the hair (see fig. 10).

BLUSH (in Pink)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR, sl st to first st (6 sts)

Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. Sew the blush directly under and to the side of both eyes. See fig. 10 for positioning.

Lingling the Lunar New Year Doll is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting her and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post Lingling the Lunar New Year Girl Doll – Traditional Qipao/Cheongsam Crochet Doll appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

A classic teddy silhouette from across the pond!

If you’ve been here for a while, you know that I just adore teddy bears! At this point it’s probably a bit of a problem but I just keep making them!

I’ve made several bears from various fluffy yarns like Faux Fur and Alpaca, but this is my first project in boucle yarn!

I purchased this yarn on a trip to London this past fall from an adorable store called Loop in the Islington neighborhood of London. I had so much fun yarn shopping with my crochet friend Clare, and I found this amazing fuzzy boucle yarn from Woolfolk (you can see it peeking out of the bag!).

Luckily, Woolfolk has tons of stockists in the US and ships to the US so you won’t have any trouble finding the exact yarn that I used. I know that boucle yarn is sometimes hard to locate these days so I was glad to see that it’s readily available!

I also have to say that this is some of the loveliest yarn that I’ve ever worked with! The boucle curls are so soft to touch and it’s a thinner boucle yarn so that the end result looks refined and classic like an old-fashioned teddy. It’s a little on the pricey side, but it’s so worth it!

If you’re on a budget or don’t want to mess around with fiddly boucle yarn, one of my testers used Lion Brand Homespun, and while it had substantially more stitch definition, it turned out to be a good substitute in terms of weight.

Boucle Yarn for Beginners

If you’re intimidated by the thought of working with fluffy yarn, rest assured, I’ve got tons of tips and tricks to help you out.

This is a good project to start with if you’ve done one or two projects in some other novelty yarn (e.g. plush yarn, velvet, or faux fur), since the yarn weight is a bit smaller and requires more counting.

The good news is, as usual with amigurumi, only single crochets are required, so you don’t have to worry about creating fancy stitches or detailed shaping at all. Only the most basic shapes are needed—a spherical head, cylinder body, and then other features made by crocheting in a round. This means that if you mess up somehow (which happened to me multiple times), it’s not as difficult to find your way back to where you should be.

Although boucle yarn takes a little getting used to, I found a few things particularly helpful for me:

Feel for stitches, don’t look for them

It’s impossible to count stitches to see where the loops are when working with fluffy yarn, so adjust to this difference by feeling for the loops with your fingers.

If you try pinching the crochet fabric near your hook, you can identify the stitches by the places where your index finger and thumb can touch. If there’s a hole, it must be created by a single crochet stitch!

Use plenty of stitch markers

This is always important when working in the round, but if you’re using boucle yarn, it can be a life saver. However, in this case, you might want to use stitch markers more often than usual to help you count stitches, in addition to keeping track of rounds.

This way, you can keep track in a more systematic way of how many stitches you’re crocheting in a round. This is not a mandatory step, but I feel that it can be helpful for those of us who are a little neurotic about counting stitches. It can be really frustrating to not know whether you’re on the right track or not!

When I was working on Maple, I had 2 stitch markers going at all times. One was my beginning of round (BOR) marker, and the other one was for the halfway point. I would take the total number of stitches in the round and divide by two to get the number of stitches I needed to work before reaching the midpoint stitch marker.

This made it easier to spread out the stitches evenly and make sure that I didn’t have any large ripples or areas with too many increases.

If you still find that it’s hard to make it to the midpoint stitch marker with the right number of stitches, you can even use four (one for each quarter round) to make it easier on yourself. I stuck to 2 because I felt that using too many could be a little fiddly, but there’s no shame in starting slow and making sure that you don’t have to frog!

I use these stitch markers because they never fall out and have ridges to keep them securely in place!

Because it’s impossible to count stitches worked in fluffy yarn, it might be helpful to place a stitch marker every five or six stitches that you work in a round.

If all else fails, guess!

For all the difficulties that fluffy yarn comes with, it also comes with this major plus. That is, since you can’t see the stitches, no one can see your mistakes!

If you end up having trouble counting exactly how many stitches there were so far, or you know you’re off by one but can’t tell where you went wrong, don’t worry.

It happened to me, and as long as you make sure you’re in the right ballpark and approximately on track with the increases, then you should be fine.

No one will be able to tell and your Maple Bear will still be the cutest ever. Yay!

Try to avoid frogging

Boucle yarn sheds very easily when frogged. Because boucle yarn generally is made up of a soft exterior strand wound around a central string, if you frog it, the friction can easily lead to a lot of shedding and stray yarn pieces (not to mention tears). The best solution to this is to try to avoid frogging, and also working in a place that can be easily cleaned.

Try the chain-2 method instead of the Magic Ring

If you haven’t heard this before, the chain 2 method is another way to start a magic ring/circle.

Some people prefer it to magic circles. I like chaining 2 for fluffy yarns, but I will use magic rings for everything else because I can pull it shut.

For the chain 2 method, you will start with a slip knot on your hook then chain 2 (as the name of it implies). From there, you will crochet into the second stitch from your hook however many times that you would normally crochet into a magic ring.

It’s as simple as that! Feel free to use this method instead of a magic circle, but be warned: it will leave a small hole that you won’t be able to tighten!

If you would like a visual, click here for a YouTube tutorial. If you would rather read a blog post, you can find a post on One Dog Woof, who breaks down magic circles and chaining 2.

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

This fluffy fleece teddy bear is insanely cute and a little larger than life! If you’ve never used fleece yarn before, it can be a bit tricky but also so worth it when you finish — it looks like a real teddy bear! The cherry on top is an adorable heart that makes it perfect for gifting.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• Woolfolk Flette Bulky (bulky weight)
  • (1 skein/100 yards) FB11 (golden brown)
    • You can get this yarn online at woolfolkyarn.com/shop/flette-bulky-yarn/
• Hobbii Amigo (sport weight)
  • (1 skein) Christmas Red (red)

Notions

• Size F 3.75mm Clover Amour hook
• 8.0mm safety eyes
• black embroidery thread
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• sewing pins
• stitch markers

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.
2. Consider using the chain-2 method to begin your work instead of the magic ring.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Special Stitches

• How to embroider a nose: see this tutorial

Final Size

4″ x 9″

The Pattern

HEAD (in Golden Brown)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
  • If you’re having trouble with the magic ring, try the chain-2 method instead (for more detail, scroll up!)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Rnd 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Rnd 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Rnd 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Rnd 8: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Rnd 9-16 (9 rnds): sc around (48 sts)
• Rnd 17: (6 sc, dec) x6 (42 sts)
• Rnd 18: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Rnd 19: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Measuring 2.5 inches from the top of the head, place two 8.0mm safety eyes about 1.5 inches apart (fig. 1)
• Rnd 20: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Rnd 21: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Stuff.
• Rnd 22: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 23: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing.

MUZZLE (in Golden Brown)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: sc around (18 sts)
• Invisible finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Then embroider a nose (see Special Stitches for a tutorial). See figure 2.
• Using a running stitch, sew the muzzle between the eyes, making sure that the top of the muzzle aligns with the top of the eyes (fig. 4). Lightly stuff as you go.

EARS (in Golden Brown, make two)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4-5 (2 rnds): sc around (18 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Do not stuff, and fold in half (see figure 3).
• Sew the ears to the top of the head, about an inch to the left and right of the center (see fig. 4).
• Your work should now look like figure 5.

LEGS (in Golden Brown, make two)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3-10 (8 rnds): sc around (12 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing (this is leg 1). Place a blue st marker at the last st. Make another, but do not finish off (this is leg 2). Place an orange st marker in the last st. See fig. 6 (leg 1 on the left and leg 2 on the right).

Connect the legs (tutorial here): With your hook still connected to leg 2, pick up a stitch on leg 1 (immediately to the left of the blue st marker). See fig. 7 and 9. Next, work 12 scs all around leg 1 until you get to the blue st marker (see fig. 9). Then, pick up a stitch on leg 2 right next to the orange st marker (see fig. 10), and then work the remaining 11 stitches around leg 2. The two legs should now be connected with a total of 24 stitches around.

Continue to body.

BODY (in Golden Brown)

• Rnd 11-12 (2 rnds): sc around (24 sts)
• Rnd 13: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Rnd 14-16 (3 rnds): sc around (30 sts)
• Rnd 17: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Rnd 18-19 (2 rnds): sc around (24 sts)
• Finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Stuff. See fig. 11 for finished body. Sew the body to the head.

ARMS (in Golden Brown, make two)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 5-10 (6 rnds): sc around (12 sts)
• Stuff lightly. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. See fig. 12 for finished arms. Sew to the left and right sides of the body. See fig. 13 for finished bear base.

SCARF (in Red)

• Begin: Chain 4 (4 sts)
• Row 1: Beginning from the second chain from the hook, work 3 sc, ch and turn (3 sts)
• Row 2: 3 hdc, ch and turn (3 sts)
• Row 3-55 (53 rows): repeat row two (3 sts) The scarf should measure around 15” long.

Work a single crochet border (fig. 14) (see tutorial here): The last stitch in row 55 is the black dot. Then, you’ll omit the last “turn” and continue working down the left side of the scarf, following the direction of the black arrow. After working scs all the way down the left side of the scarf, turn and work 3 scs across the bottom of the scarf, below row 1. Then, turn one more time and work scs all the way up the right side of the scarf, following the red arrow. You should end at the red dot. Then, finish off and weave in the ends.

Wrap the scarf around the bear.

Maple the Boucle Bear is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting her and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post Maple the Boucle Bear Free Crochet Pattern – Fuzzy Teddy Bear Amigurumi appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

A super detailed and low-sew mini ice skate!

This adorable tiny ice skate has enough details that it’s not for the faint of heart, but it works up surprisingly easily and the main body of the boot is entirely no sew!

I love making no sew and low sew patterns because I think it just makes for a smoother construction and assembly process. Usually, it means that structurally the amigurumi is a bit more solid as well!

For this ice skate, the sole is worked first using the foundation chain method to create an oval, and then the body of the boot is built up from it. My favorite part is when you use a neat trick to split for the tongue of the boot, which you will work before finishing the boot top.

The only other component is the blade, which is sewn on at the end, and the laces!

Low-sew projects tend to be a bit more advanced because they utilize slightly more complex crochet techniques like back loop only, so this is a great project for anyone looking to learn new skills.

A palm sized ornament, bag charm, or gift!

This miniature ice skate is simply adorable and fits into the palm of your hand! I love the small footprint (*ahem*) and coincidentally, it works great as an ornament for your Christmas tree, or a bag charm (if it’s the wrong time of year).

I have great memories of ice skating in Frog Pond in Boston with a cup of hot chocolate and I love how figure skates evoke memories of pristine snow and crisp air.

If you also love skating or have someone in your life who enjoys gliding around on ice, this is a great gift. Just insert a lobster clasp keychain to easily make it into an ornament or a bag charm!

If you want the blade to be a bit more secure you can always insert the blade around a toothpick or a piece of wire (folded in at both ends for safety).

This skate also works as a base for a hocky skate – just switch out the colors to something a little more dark and a little embroidery goes a long way!

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

This adorable mini skate has a real tongue, sole, and blade and is the perfect gift for the figure skater in your life! I love this pattern because it’s such a lifelike miniature, and the best part is that it’s practically a no sew! This pattern uses clever techniques like BLO and working back and forth to create all the elements, and is suitable for an intermediate crocheter.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• WeCrochet Brava Sport (sport)
  • (<1 skein) White
  • (<1 skein) Brindle (medium brown)
  • (<1 skein) Silver

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Special Stitches

• Invisible finish off: see this tutorial

Final Size

2.5″ tall x 2″ wide

Color Coding

In this pattern, the MC is white, CC1 is brown, and CC2 is silver.

The Pattern

BOOT BOTTOM (in CC1)

• Begin: Chain 10
• Round 1: Beginning in second chain from the hook, sc 6, then hdc in the next chain, then dc in the next chain, and then work 4 double crochet stitches all in the last chain. Turn the chain piece, and then work a dc in the next chain, an hdc in the next chain, and then 6 more single crochets in the remaining chains. See fig. 1 for chart, and fig. 2 for finished piece. For a tutorial on this technique, click here. (20 sts)

• Round 2: (sc, inc) x2, 2 sc, (hdc, hdc inc) x4, 2 sc, (sc, inc) x2 (28 sts)
• Round 3: (2 sc, inc) x2, 2 sc, (2 hdc, hdc inc) x4, 2 sc, (2 sc, inc) x2 (36 sts)
• Switch to MC.
• Round 4: BLO, sc around (36 sts)
• Round 5-6 (2 rnds): sc around (36 sts)
• Round 7: 15 sc, 3 dec, 15 sc (33 sts)
• Round 8: sc around (33 sts)
• Round 9: 13 sc, 3 dec, 14 sc (30 sts)
• Round 10: 12 sc, 3 dec, 12 sc (27 sts)
• Round 11: 16 sc, then turn your work, chain 1 (see fig. 3), and work 5 sc back. Chain and turn.

TONGUE (in MC. Work in turned rows.)

Row 1-7 (7 rows): 5 sc, chain and turn (5 sts)

Your last row should be on the right side of your work, so that you are looking at the toe of the shoe (see fig. 5 for finished piece). Finish off and weave in end.

We will now work back and forth on the remaining stitches to build up the top of the boot.

BOOT TOP (in MC. Work in turned rows.)

• Row 1: Begin on the first stitch to the left of the tongue (fig. 6), and pick up scs across the remaining stitches of the boot bottom, chain and turn. (22 sts)
• Row 2: dec, 18 sc, dec, chain and turn (fig. 7). (20 sts)
• Row 3: dec, 16 sc, dec, chain and turn. (18 sts)
• Row 4: dec, 14 sc, dec, chain and turn. (16 sts)
• Row 5: 16 sc (16 sts)

You should now be on the side that is close to the right side of the tongue (the red dot in fig. 8). We will now crochet a border over the entire top of the shoe. Continue working single crochets left down the side of the boot top and then up the tongue, crocheting all around until you get back to the red dot. Finish off and weave in end.

Stuff the toe firmly, and the top of the boot lightly.

BLADE (in CC2)

• Row 1: Chain 10 (10 sts)
• Row 2: Beginning from second chain in hook, work 9 single crochets across, chain and turn (9 sts)
• Row 3: Sc across, chain and turn (9 sts)
• Row 4: Fold your work in half lengthwise, and insert your hook into the first chain from row 1 (see fig. 9). Work 2 single crochets. Then, chain 1 and sl st into the same stitch as the second sc. Work 7 more sl sts across until you reach the end of the row. Chain and turn. (9 sts)
• Row 5: Work 2 single crochets, then chain and sl st into the same stitch as the second sc. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing (fig. 10). (2 sts)
• Using the beginning and end tail, sew the blade to the bottom of the boot. Only sew the top two bumps formed in rows 4 and 5 to the bottom of the boot.

Lace the shoes: Cut 8 inches of CC1. Using a tapestry needle, pull the yarn through the left and right sides of the boot, so that there is an equal length of yarn on the left and the right. Continue lacing the boot (click here for a helpful tutorial, and also see fig. 12 below). Tie a butterfly knot and trim the ends.

Fig. 12: Process of lacing the boot. Thread the CC1 yarn across the toe, right under the left and right flaps of the boot. Center the yarn. Alternate between threading the left and right ends of the yarn through the left and right flaps of the boot. I mostly followed this tutorial!

Your mini skate amigurumi is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting it and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post Amigurumi Mini Ice Skate Free Crochet Pattern | Low-sew! appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

The cutest low-sew lazy teddy bear with endless sweater options!

I’m in love with teddy bears, but especially low-sew teddy bears! After creating my Donut Teddy pattern, I was obsessed with the way I designed the ears to be worked in the round as part of the head. With Snuggles the Lazy Bear, I also worked the tail into the body as an adorable puff stitch.

I created this bear because I’ve been dreaming about making a cute teddy bear in a lying down posture, and this was the result! It took a while to get the perfect egg-shaped body that I wanted, but I loved how perfectly rotund it looked in the end.

I also wanted this teddy bear to be wearing a cute sweater, which I worked into the body as a series of simple color changes. (If this is new to you, scroll down for a video tutorial!)

I came up with a basic striped sweater, as well as a festive Christmas sweater variation! I love that it’s so easy to use this pattern as a blank canvas to create your own sweater. One of my testers came up with three different variations in just a few days!

The main pattern instructs you how to make the brown bear with the striped sweater, but if you want to make the Polar Bear in a Christmas Sweater variant, just follow the main pattern with a few adjustments here.

Tips for working this pattern!

This is a great pattern for advanced beginners because it’s a simple and short pattern, but the low-sew techniques you’ll learn are a great addition to your amigurumi toolbox.

One of the biggest techniques used in this pattern is changing colors, because you’ll need to do so multiple times to create either of the sweater variants. (If you dislike color changes or just don’t feel ready yet, you can always just omit the sweater and continue onwards in the main color!)

Here’s a quick video tutorial as well as a great blog post here all about changing color and my personal favorite method.

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

Snuggles the Lazy Bear is a sweet low-sew amigurumi project of a teddy bear lying down. It uses clever no- sew techniques to form the ears and tail, so you only have to do a minimal amount of seaming at the end. You can customize the color change sweater to any design or color scheme you like! The Polar Bear with Christmas Sweater variation is included in this pattern for inspiration.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• Hobbii Amigo (sport)
  • (<1 skein) Dark Beige (brown)
  • (<1 skein) White
  • (<1 skein) Dusty Green (green)
  • (scrap) Sand (beige)

For Polar Bear variation, use only Hobbii Amigo White and Christmas Red.

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• 4.0mm safety eyes
• brown embroidery thread
• embroidery needle
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers

Abbreviations

• BLO: back loop only
• ch: chain
• CC: contrast color
• dec: decrease
• hdc: half double crochet
• inc: increase (work two single crochets in one stitch)
• MC: main color
• MR: magic ring
• rnd: round
• RS: right side
• sc: single crochet
• sk: skip
• x sc: work x number of single crochets
• sl st: slip stitch
• st(s): stitch(es)
• WS: wrong side
• (x sts): total number of stitches for the round
• (…) x: work all steps within parentheses x number of times
• *x,y*: work x and y stitches between asterisks all in the same stitch

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down. For help with how to stuff or getting rid of holes, click here!
4. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Special Stitches

• Invisible finish off: click here for tutorial.

• How to embroider a nose: see this tutorial
• How to crochet a puff stitch: click here for tutorial.

Final Size

4″ x 3″

The Pattern

BODY (in beige. See Special Stitches for … abbreviation.)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: sc around (18 sts)
• Switch to brown.
• Rnd 5: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Rnd 6: sc around (24 sts)
• Rnd 7: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Rnd 8: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Rnd 9-12 (4 rnds): sc around (36 sts)
• Rnd 13: Begin by working 4 sc. Next, start working on the ear below.
• Ear: Working in the FLO, work dc, tr in the same st. In the next st, work 2 tr in the same st. In the next st, work tr, dc in the same st.
• Resume working through both the front and back loops. Work 5 scs.
• Work a second ear in the same method as before.
• Resume working in both the front and back loops. Work 21 remaining scs. After finishing this round, there should be unworked back loops behind the two ears (see fig. 2). There should be 42 total sts in this rnd, as well as 6 unworked back loops.

• Rnd 14: Sc around.
• When you reach the ears, work into the back loops left unworked from the previous rnd. There should be 3 unworked back loops per ear.
• After working into the unworked back loops of the ears, insert the hook into both loops of the first st after the ear and work 13 more scs in the round.
• At this point you should be at the bottom of the head, opposite the ears. This is the new beginning of round (see fig. 3). (36 sts)
• Insert two 4.0mm safety eyes between rnds 5-6, with 5 sts between the two eyes (see fig. 3). Using brown embroidery thread and an embroidery needle, embroider a T shaped nose. The top of the T should be between rnds 2-3, extending 3 sts across (fig. 4). See Special Stitches for a tutorial.

• Rnd 15: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• (For the Polar Bear variation, skip down to “POLAR BEAR” here for rnds 16-24, then come back here to finish the body.)
• For the main pattern, switch to white.
• Rnd 16: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Switch to green.
• Rnd 17: sc around (48 sts)
• Switch to white.
• Rnd 18: (7 sc, inc) x6 (54 sts)
• Switch to green.
• Rnd 19: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to white.
• Rnd 20: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to green.
• Rnd 21: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to white.
• Rnd 22: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to green.
• Rnd 23: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to white.
• Rnd 24: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to brown.
• Rnd 25-28 (4 rnds): sc around (54 sts)
• Rnd 29: (7 sc, dec) x6 (48 sts)
• Rnd 30: (6 sc, dec) x6 (42 sts)
• Rnd 31: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Rnd 32: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Rnd 33: work 15 single crochets. Work one puff stitch (see Special Stitches for a tutorial). See fig. 5. Then, work the remaining 14 single crochet stitches. (30 sts)
• Rnd 34: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Rnd 35: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Stuff.
• Rnd 36: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 37: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off in the round. Your work should look like fig. 6 and 7.

ARMS (in brown, make two)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts) Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: sc around (18 sts)
• Rnd 5: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Switch to white.
• Rnd 6: sc around (12 sts)
• Switch to green.
• Rnd 7: sc around (12 sts)
• Switch to white.
• Rnd 8: sc around (12 sts)
• Stuff lightly. Fold the arm flat and insert the hook through both sides of the opening (fig. 8). Slip stitch 6 sts across to seam the arm shut. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Your arm should now look like figure 8. Make another identically.

LEGS (in brown, make two)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: sc around (18 sts)
• Rnd 5: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 6-8 (3 rnds): sc around (12 sts)
• Stuff lightly. Fold the leg flat and slip stitch 6 sts across to seam shut, in the same way as the arms. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. You should now have 2 arms and 2 legs (fig. 10).

ASSEMBLY

Sew the two arms to the body at round 16. The arms should be sewn vertically to the body, with the top of each arm about 4 stitches below the left and right ears. See figures 10 and 11 for placement.

Sew the two legs to the body between rnds 26-27. The legs should be sewn vertically to the body, with the top of each leg roughly aligned with the arm. See figures 10 and 11 for placement.

Polar Bear with Christmas Sweater Variation

To make the polar bear version of this pattern, follow the main pattern using the alterations below:

HEAD: Make head using white yarn only, do not color change for the muzzle.

BODY (continue in white, see fig. 14 for colorwork chart)

• After rnd 15, switch to red.
• Rnd 16: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Switch to white.
  Rnd 17: sc around (48 sts)
• Switch to red.
  Rnd 18: (7 sc, inc) x6 (54 sts)
• Switch to white.
  
• Rnd 19: sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to red.
  
• Rnd 20-22 (3 rnds): sc around (54 sts)
• Switch to white.
  
• Rnd 23: sc around (54 sts)
  
• Switch to red.
  
• Rnd 24: sc around (54 sts)
  
• Switch to white. Continue with the remainder of the pattern.
• After finishing the body, use white yarn to embroider 6 point stars (you can follow this embroidery tutorial). The stars should be about 2 stitches wide with 3 stitches between each star.

ARMS (in white)

• Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Rnd 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Rnd 4: sc around (18 sts)
• Rnd 5: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Switch to red.
• Rnd 6-8 (3 rnds): sc around
• Stuff lightly. Fold the arm flat and slip stitch 6 sts across to seam the arms shut.

LEGS: Make legs using white yarn.

See fig. 15 for finished project.

The post Snuggles the Lazy Bear – Crochet Bear – Free Amigurumi Pattern appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

An adorable girl doll with a teddy bear outfit!

Dolls are one of my favorite types of projects to make, and this project was no exception! My previous project, Kitsune the Fox Doll, is one of my most popular patterns. I love her cute chibi proportions and the super sweet suspender skirt.

Julie the Bear Girl (also pictured below) is very similar to Kitsune the Fox Girl, but she’s slightly taller, using my 6″ doll base. I gave her slightly longer hair, and her hat is new and improved with FPDC/BPDC ribbing!

I really enjoyed adding a new installment to my “series” of adorable mini dolls wearing animal outfits, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make more soon!

It’s been about three years since I published Kitsune, and it’s so interesting to see how my style has changed (and yet remained so similar!) over that time.

Tips for making your first doll!

If you’ve never made a doll before, it can feel a little intimidating! Often, making humans can be tougher because we have an instinctive eye for what a person is supposed to look like, so it can be easier to accidentally make your project look a little off.

One of the tricky parts can be connecting the legs. The reason this is a stumbling block for beginners is because most dolls use this exact technique to connect two legs together, but it’s not usually technique that you come across unless you’ve tried making a doll with this construction before.

If you’re working on the pattern below and feel like the connecting legs portion is tripping you up, check out my blog post below which has a full photo and video tutorial to help you out. Just click below! If this is your first time, it’s a good idea to review this technique first so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

If you want some more help with the doll base, I have an entire video tutorial that goes through the exact doll base I use in this pattern.

The only differences are that in Julie the Bear Girl, I switch to white at round 12 to create the white shirt effect and work round 16 in the BLO to make it easy to attach the skirt later. Apart from that, the doll base I use in this pattern is exactly the same as in the video below.

If you’re feeling unconfident about creating the doll base, just follow along with the video tutorial below and keep an eye on the written pattern at the same time so you can get some visual help with how the doll base is supposed to fit together.

I hope these resources help!

Technical Notes

• If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

Julie the Bear Girl is a charming amigurumi doll with a simple outfit. The skirt is worked directly onto the body and the shirt is made with a color change — no need to crochet any extra pieces! Learn a simple way to crochet realistic hair and finish it off with a super adorable teddy bear hat.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• WeCrochet Brava Sport (sport)
  • (<1 skein) Dark Beige (light brown)
  • (<1 skein) Cream (fair skin color or any color skin color yarn. Check out this post for the best skin tone yarns!)
  • (<1 skein) White
  • (<1 skein) Chocolate (dark brown)

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• 6.0mm safety eyes
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers
• pink embroidery thread
• blocking materials (for straight hair)
• (optional) hot glue gun
• two 7/8″ brown buttons
• brown embroidery thread for sewing buttons

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them. For extra sewing tips, see my post here!

Special Stitches

• Invisible finish off: tutorial here
• FPDC BPDC Border (tutorial here)
  • Work a double crochet stitch by inserting the hook around the post of the previous row either from the front (FPDC) or back (bpdc)
• Foundation Single Crochet (FSC): tutorial here

Final Size

6″ x 2″

The Pattern

LEGS (in Cream. This pattern is almost identical to my doll base tutorial except for the color change in rnd 12 of the body.)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
• Round 3-11 (9 rnds): sc all around (8 sts)
• Stuff firmly, using the back of a crochet hook or chopstick to push the stuffing down. Finish off (this is leg 1) and then create a second leg identically, but do not finish off the second leg (this is leg 2).

Connect the legs (full tutorial): With your hook still connected to leg 2, pick up and work a stitch anywhere on leg 1, then work the remaining 8 single crochets all around leg 1. Then, pick up and work a stitch on leg 2 right next to the last stitch from round 11, and then work the remaining 7 stitches around leg 2. The two legs should now be connected with a total of 16 stitches around.

BODY (switch to White)

• Round 12-15 (8 rnds): sc all around (16 sts)
• Round 16: in the BLO, sc all around (16 sts)
• Round 17-20 (4 rnds): sc all around (16 sts)
• Round 20: (6 sc, dec) x2 (14 sts)
• Round 21: sc all around (14 sts)
• Round 22: (5 sc, dec) x2 (12 sts)
• Stuff firmly. Finish off, leaving a long (~12 inches) tail for sewing (see fig. 1 below).

HEAD (in Cream)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 8-16 (9 rnds): sc all around (42 sts)
• Place 6.0 mm safety eyes between rounds 13 and 14, 8 stitches apart.
• Round 17: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 18: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 19: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 20: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Stuff.
• Round 21: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Round 22: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off and weave in end. Using the tail from the body, sew the head and body together.
• Nose (tutorial here): Using Cream, embroider three horizontal stitches directly between the eyes to form the nose (2 sts long).

ARMS (in Cream)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
• Round 3: sc all around (8 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, dec) x2 (6 sts)
• Round 5-9 (5 rnds): sc all around (6 sts)
• Do not stuff. Finish off, leaving a short tail. Fold flat and then sew to the left and right sides of the seam between the head and body.

HAIR (in Dark Brown)

• Begin: With Dark Brown, make a magic ring.
• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• We have now created a circle which will form the center of the hair piece. We will now create 20 hair strands (S) branching off from rnd 4 of the center, leaving the last 4 sts in rnd 4 unworked.

• S1: Ch 21 off the side of rnd 4. Sc in the 2nd ch from hook and sc across. Sl st into the next st in rnd 4. (20 sts)
• S2-20: Repeat S1, creating hair strands all around rnd 4, until there are 4 sts left which will remain unworked.
• FO, leaving a tail for sewing. Lay the hair piece flat and steam block so that each hair strand is straight and does not curl (see fig. 2).
• Place the blocked hair piece on the head with the WS up and with the unworked sts from rnd 4 facing the front of the head. Pin down the hair to your liking and secure by sewing or with hot glue (see fig. 3). Weave in ends.

SKIRT (in Light Brown)

• Hold the doll base with the head pointing towards you, face down (fig. 4).
• Round 1: Insert the hook into the unworked front loops from rnd 16 of the body with hook pointed towards legs and attach yarn. Chain 1 to secure. Then, pick up hdcs all around the body. (16 sts)
• Round 2: hdc inc x16 (32 sts)
• Round 3: (hdc, hdc inc) x16 (48 sts)
• Round 4-5: hdc around (48 sts)
• Invisible finish off, weave in end (fig. 5).

SUSPENDER STRAPS (in Light Brown)

Pick two points on rnd 16 on the left and right sides of the front of the doll. Insert hook into rnd 16 of the body, where the skirt is attached to the body (see fig. 6). Chain 1 to secure.

Work 8 FSC (see Special Stitches) to form the suspender, then sew to the back of the doll on rnd 16 where the skirt meets the body (fig. 7).

Repeat with the second suspender strap, then sew on two dark brown buttons to the front of the dress. See fig. 8.

HAT (in Light Brown. See Special Stitches for FPDC and BPDC.)

• Round 1: 6 hdc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: hdc inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (hdc, hdc inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 hdc, hdc inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 hdc, hdc inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 hdc, hdc inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7-8 (2 rnds): hdc around (36 sts)
• Round 9 (see photo tutorial below): (FPDC, BPDC) x18 (36 sts)
• Round 10: (FPDC, BPDC) x18 (36 sts)
• Invisible finish off (see Special Stitches) and weave in end (fig. 9).

FPDC, BPDC Tutorial:

Julie the Bear Girl is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting her and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post Julie the Bear Girl Free Crochet Doll Pattern appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern.

A super sweet mini doll base!

This mini doll base is the smaller complement to my medium sized doll base. I love making dolls, but it’s nice to have a doll base to work off of so that I don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time.

The doll base might be a little too small if you’re looking for a larger doll to play dress up with, but this is my go to for a palm-sized amigurumi that you can still fit a dress over.

Two of my designs (Carmen, left, and Juliet, right) use the doll base and I’ve loved how they turned out. I elected to use a simple hairstyle for both of them to eliminate the need to crochet individual hair strands.

You can make both of them by clicking the links in the captions.

Tips for making this pattern!

This doll base is an intermediate level pattern because there’s a fair amount of detail involves. The most challenging or confusing step is connecting the legs to form the body.

I’ve made a general tutorial for the technique I use for connecting amigurumi doll legs. The video below goes over the general process, but is not specific to this mini doll pattern. I would recommend that you watch this video first to see what the goal of each step is before attempting the pattern below.

Some amigurumists also struggle with sewing amigurumi pieces together. There’s a little bit of sewing in this pattern for attaching the head to the body as well as attaching the arms to the left and right sides of the body.

If you struggle with sewing, I recommend you watch the video below to review how to sew amigurumi pieces together in the most efficient way, or read through the photo tutorial I have here for how to sew amigurumi together.

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

The Pattern

Description

This mini doll base is a great starting point for a petite sized doll. You can adapt it to your projects by creating clothes using color changes, adding dresses or jackets, or whatever else you can imagine. If you use this doll base, please credit me and do not publish any designs using this doll base pattern.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• WeCrochet Brava Sport (sport)
  • Color: Cream (<1 skein)
    • Fair skin color; you can use any skin color

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• 4.0mm safety eyes
• brown embroidery thread
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Color Coding

For this pattern, the MC is any skin color yarn.

Special Stitches

Final Size

4″ x 2″

LEGS (in MC, make two)

• Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5 sts)
• Round 2: sc around (5 sts)
• Round 3: sc, inc, 3 sc (6 sts)
• Round 4: sc around (6 sts)
• Round 5: 2 sc, inc, 3 sc (7 sts)
• Round 6: sc around (7 sts)
• Stuff very lightly. Finish off and weave in the end. Make another identically but do not finish off.

Chain 2 off the side of the leg, attach yarn to the remaining leg and sc 7 around the leg you just attached the yarn to. Sc 2 in the connecting chains, sc 7 around the first leg, sc 2 in the connecting chains. (18 sts)

Watch this video to see how the legs connect. The tutorial does not include the two chains in the middle of the leg, but the other steps are the same.

BODY (in MC)

• Round 1: inc x2, 7 sc, inc x2, 7 sc (22 sts)
• Round 2: inc, sc 10, inc, sc 10 (24 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (24 sts)
• Round 4: (dec, 2 sc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 5-8 (4 rnds): sc around (18 sts)
• Stuff. Finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

HEAD (in MC)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 8: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Round 9-15 (7 rnds): sc around (48 sts)
• Insert 6mm safety eyes between rounds 12 and 13, 8 stitches apart.
• Embroider a nose using MC directly between the eyes, 2 stitches wide (tutorial here).
• Round 16: (6 sc, dec) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 17: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 18: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 19: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 20: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 21: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Stuff.
• Round 22: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off and weave in end. Using the tail from the body, sew the head to the body.

ARMS (in MC)

• Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5 sts)
• Round 2: 2 sc, inc, 2 sc (6 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (6 sts)
• Round 4: 2 sc, dec, 2 sc (5 sts)
• Round 5-6 (2 rnds): sc around (5 sts)
• Do not stuff. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. Sew to the left and right sides of the seam between the body and the head.

Your Mini Doll Base is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting it and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.

The post How to Crochet the Easiest Mini Doll Base (free!) appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

I always use the same technique which I’ll describe in the tutorial below. This technique can be adapted for larger or smaller dolls simply by adding chains in between the legs to make the body longer or shorter.

Step 1: Make the first leg, invisible finish off, and weave in the end. (This will be leg 1.)

Step 2: Make a second leg identically, but do not finish off. Place a stitch marker in the last stitch. (This will be leg 2.)

Step 3: With your hook still connected to leg 2, pick up a stitch anywhere on leg 1.

Step 4: Work all the remaining stitches around leg 1. Then, pick up the stitch immediately after the last stitch worked on leg 2, i.e. the stitch immediately after the stitch marker.

Step 5: Work all the remaining stitches around leg 2 until you’ve worked the final stitch (marked by the stitch marker).

The total number of stitches should be exactly double the number of stitches for each leg. You have now connected the legs and formed one seamless round for the body.

If you want to add space between the legs to make the body wider, just chain one or two off the side of leg 2 in step 3 before picking up a stitch on leg 1. When you finish working around leg 1, work single crochet stitches into the connecting chains in the center before continuing back around leg 2.

Below is a video tutorial demonstrating all the steps that I described above:

The post How to Connect Amigurumi Legs Seamlessly (video tutorial) appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.

In the US system, crochet patterns are typically written using abbreviations that are easy to understand and remember. For example, a single crochet stitch is abbreviated as “sc,” and a double crochet stitch is abbreviated as “dc.” In contrast, the UK system uses different abbreviations that can be confusing for those who are used to the US system. For example, a single crochet stitch is abbreviated as “dc,” and a double crochet stitch is abbreviated as “tr.” These differences can make it difficult for crocheters to follow patterns from other countries.

US Notation

Crochet notation in the US differs from the UK in a few ways. Here’s what you need to know about US notation.

Stitch Abbreviations

US crochet notation uses different abbreviations for stitches than UK notation. Here are some of the most common stitch abbreviations in US notation:

• SC: Single Crochet
• HDC: Half Double Crochet
• DC: Double Crochet
• TR: Treble Crochet

UK Notation

Crochet notation in the UK is slightly different from the US notation. It uses a different set of stitch abbreviations, hook sizes, and yarn weights. Here’s a breakdown of the UK notation.

Stitch Abbreviations

The UK notation uses different stitch abbreviations than the US notation. For example, the UK double crochet stitch (dc) is equivalent to the US single crochet stitch (sc). Here are some common UK stitch abbreviations:

• Chain stitch (ch)
• Slip stitch (sl st)
• Double crochet (dc)
• Half treble crochet (htr)
• Treble crochet (tr)
• Double treble crochet (dtr)

Overall, understanding the UK notation is essential for anyone who wants to follow UK crochet patterns or communicate with UK crocheters. By knowing the differences between the UK and US notation, crocheters can easily convert patterns and create beautiful projects.

Differences

Crochet notation differs between the US and the UK, which can lead to confusion when following patterns. Here are the main differences between the two notations.

Single Crochet

In the US, single crochet is abbreviated as “sc,” while in the UK it is abbreviated as “dc,” which stands for double crochet. This is because in the UK, what the US calls a single crochet is actually called a double crochet.

Double Crochet

In the US, double crochet is abbreviated as “dc,” while in the UK it is abbreviated as “tr,” which stands for treble crochet. This is because in the UK, what the US calls a double crochet is actually called a treble crochet.

Triple Crochet

In the US, triple crochet is abbreviated as “tr,” while in the UK it is abbreviated as “dtr,” which stands for double treble crochet. This is because in the UK, what the US calls a triple crochet is actually called a double treble crochet.

Overall, it is important to pay attention to the notation used in a pattern to ensure that the correct stitches are made.

Key Differences

In summary, the difference between US and UK notation for crochet lies mainly in the terminology used for stitch names. While the stitches themselves are the same, their names can vary between the two countries. This can be confusing for beginners or those who are used to one notation system and are trying to follow patterns from the other.

It is important for crocheters to be aware of these differences and to familiarize themselves with the terminology used in the notation system they are working with. This can help avoid frustration and ensure that the finished project turns out as intended.

Some key differences to keep in mind include the use of single crochet (sc) in the US notation versus double crochet (dc) in the UK notation, and the use of treble crochet (tr) in the UK notation versus double crochet (dc) in the US notation.

Overall, whether you are using US or UK notation for crochet, the most important thing is to enjoy the process and have fun creating beautiful projects with your hook and yarn.

The post US vs UK Notation for Crochet: Understanding the Key Differences appeared first on Little World of Whimsy.