Material
All you’ll need for your embroidery adventure is a needle and some thread. I personally prefer an embroidery needle (with a sharp point) over a tapestry needle (with a blunt point) for this. It makes it easier to enter and exit the plushie wherever you want. Now onto the thread. You could easily use any type that you wish, but I recommend not using something that unravels easily. For really small amigurumi, I use one to three strands of special embroidery thread. For regular amigurumi toys, I find it easiest to use a good quality cotton thread of fingering or sport thickness (4-5 ply), depending on the size of the plushie.
Before or after?
When should you embroider your details? Before you start stuffing or much later, once everything else is already done? If you are making your plushie for young children, I’d advice on the first. When you embroider before stuffing, you can make the most secure knots and be absolutely sure that, no matter how much pulling or fingering it may endure, the stitches will never come loose. However, if you are having trouble with embroidery and you are not planning on giving your amigurumi to the young ones in your life, I’d recommend embroidering only after you’ve finished crocheting and stuffing your toy. When the plush is already stuffed, it’s considerably easier to make your stitches in the right places and to make them match up.
Starting and ending?
If you have decided to embroider before stuffing, simply make a big knot at the end of your thread and begin on the inside of your amigurumi, so the knot stays on the inside and keeps the thread from being pulled out. You will finish your embroidery with another big, tight knot on the inside. If you start embroidering after you’ve finished your amigurumi, start with a long thread on your needle, but don’t make a knot at the end! Enter the amigurumi about eight stitches (or as far as the length of your needle permits) from the spot where you’ll be embroidering a detail. Push your needle through the amigurumi from the entry point to the embroidery-spot, and leave a semi-long thread hanging from the point of entry. When you’re done embroidering the details, after the last stitch, exit the amigurumi again at the entry point. Now you have two threads hanging from the same point. Tie them together into a tiny knot, cut away the excess yarn and push the tiny knot into the amigurumi with the backside (the blunt side) of your needle. Gone! No-one will ever see a thing.
What now?
Now you know how to start and end, that’s all good and well, but what do you actually do in between those two steps?! I’m happy you asked!
I like to use some basic rules for the order of my embroidery stitches. I start with the most important outlines, the ones that will form some sort of frame that will guide me of where to put my next stitches. Then I fill up the space created by the outlines. Afterwards, I work away uneven lines by putting some last stitches over them to hide them.
When I embroider something that hasn’t got a frame or space to fill up per se, I follow a different order. I start out with a single stitch in the middle. Then I slowly expand from that center to both sides so I can mirror my stitches with less difficulty. I know this all sounds kind of abstract, but bear with me. Below you will see some step by step drawings that will clear up these descriptions.
The most common shapes: step-by-step
Here are some step-by-step diagrams for the most common shapes in amigurumi, applying the tips that I have explained above. They are not absolute rules of order, but just a look into how I personally create the basic embroidery on my amigurumis. There are a million more ways to create shapes, so be sure to try around to see which works best for you.
Snout with nose and mouth
Here we begin with the outline of the upside down triangle, to estimate its size. Then we fill in the triangle, and finish the uneven lines at the top with the top line. Then we can proceed to the smile.
Multi-purpose basic snout
Here we make a couple of vertical lines, and then a couple of horizontal lines. Done already! This one is the easiest and can be used for rabbit amigurumi, for example.
Several eyes
You can make such a wide variety of eyes! You can create even more diversity by combining different types of eyes, like a regular eye and a sleepy eye to make your amigurumi wink. To make circular shapes, try to use very small stitches. This takes more time, but a lot of tiny stitches with a slightly different angle look more circular than simply four straight, long lines.
Good luck!
That’s all! Don’t postpone any longer and try some of these embroidery techniques on that amigurumi project that you have been avoiding. Will you mess up? Probably, every skill takes a lot of practice. Don’t let your fear of ruining all your toys stop you. At first you will create a bear with an awkward mouth that’s way too big or small, but 20 toys later you will look back on that bear and appreciate that you can visually see how much your practice has helped you. That will give the awkwardly embroidered bear its own charm!
This article originally appeared at Hobiumyarn.com’s blog. You can read it here.
]]>By now you’re probably aching to start your own amigurumi project. So how do you get started? Not all of us have crochet classes at our disposal, and googling tutorials, tips and tricks can sometimes seem overwhelming. This blog post will focus on crocheting, and will try to teach you how you can teach yourself. Teaching you to crochet would take more than just some words on a screen, but I aim to give you the basic tools necessary to explore the world of amigurumi and to feel more at home in this craft. So get comfortable and let’s go over the essentials!
The first thing that you will need is a pattern. As you might have seen on close-up pictures, a crocheted doll exists of hundreds, if not thousands, of individual stitches. The quantity and type of these stitches determines the shapes that the finished toy will have. When you’re just starting out, it’s hard to estimate how many stitches will make what kind of model. This is where a pattern enters the picture.
Because amigurumi dolls are crocheted in continuous rounds, a typical pattern describes the amount and the type of stitches that you have to make each round. They often guide you along the process and show a lot of step-by-step pictures. Patterns range from beginner’s level to intermediate to very hard. The harder the pattern, the more techniques are usually used. To be on the safe side, be sure to check the pattern’s description to see if it’s suitable for your level of skills.
There are numerous online places where you can find patterns, both for free and for a price. Many of these are made by indie designers, who have gotten into designing patterns after having crocheted amigurumi for several years. Some ideal places to look for patterns online are:
Closets stuffed with hundreds of brightly colored yarns might be a joy to look at, but you don’t necessarily need a whole lot to start your very first amigurumi. The bare minimums that you will have to stock up on are:
There are many types of yarn you could use for your projects. It is possible to pick any yarn you want for your amigurumi, but for now I’d advise you to use the yarn that the pattern recommends you to use. With yarn, it’s important to look at the type of material and the thickness. If your pattern of choice doesn’t suggest a particular yarn, starting with a cotton yarn of average thickness (sport, DK or worsted) is usually pretty accessible. Be sure to read the yarn’s label to learn more about its properties and its length.
To hook your yarn, you will need a hook. The size that you will need will depend on the yarn that you’ve picked. The label of your yarn contains information about what hook sizes are appropriate to use. Sizes vary from less than 1 mm to more than 10 mm, but for amigurumi, you will usually use hooks in the 2 – 5 mm range.
You crochet the doll’s exterior, but you will still need an interior. That interior will be stuffing, which you gradually stuff inside the shapes that you are crocheting. Stuffing can be made out of a variety of materials, but the most popular one is polyester stuffing. It’s easy to use and you can find it in most crafting stores. It looks a bit like a big bag of fluffy clouds!
With amigurumi, you often crochet all body parts separately and then sew all the pieces together at the end. You can use a regular sewing needle, but it doesn’t need to have a sharp point to function. Any old embroidery needle with a soft tip will do the trick.
You could use these to give your plushie a realistic face, but it’s not necessary. If you’d like to do without, or if you want to give your doll to a small child afterwards, you can simply embroider the eyes with some thread.
Now that you have your pattern and your supplies, it is time to start making the doll. For this, you will follow the guidance of the pattern you picked earlier, which will tell you what type of stitches you need to make in what order. For beginner’s amigurumi, there is only a handful of stitches that you need to know. They are commonly referred to by their abbreviations. I will go over the basics below. You can click the links to go to an online tutorial of how to do the stitch:
All that’s left to do is to practice, practice, and practice! It’s a cliché, but practice makes perfect. Crocheting amigurumi is a skill that, like any other skill, needs to be trained with lots of patience before you can reap all the benefits. Fortunately, it is a wonderful and fun activity. Above all, it is extremely rewarding to finish your very own doll. All that’s left for me to say is: good luck!
This article originally appeared at Hobiumyarn.com’s blog. You can read it here.
]]>Hopefully this blog post can give you some ideas. I aim to show you how you can get the most out of every pattern by personalizing them, so every pattern will feel like a perfect fit for you. This way you can work with every pattern multiple times in many different ways and never get bored of them.
These rabbits were made by valea80 and elu_tejidos_con_amor on Instagram. Pattern by Little Bear Crochets. You can find it here.
One of the easiest things to adjust to your liking is the size of the amigurumi doll. There are two ways to do this. If you want to change the general size of the plushie, try and adjust the type of yarn you’re using and the size of the hook that goes along with it. Although most crochet patterns come with a recommended yarn brand, almost all amigurumi patterns can be made with any type or thickness of yarn. Small patterns can be made bigger by using a yarn of worsted or bulky weight. Large patterns can be turned into hand-sized toys if you swap the yarn for some fingering weight alternative.
The second way to tailor the size, is to add or skip rounds while you’re in the process of crocheting. This is a great way to alter only certain parts of a pattern, but it is a little more advanced. Be sure to not skip any rounds that are essential for the structure of the amigurumi doll. Generally, these rounds can be spotted by watching for special techniques like increases, decreases or other advanced stitches.
It’s easiest to add or remove rounds in which the guideline says to ‘sc around’. Be aware of a potential repeating design though! If a pattern has a certain sequence of ‘sc around’ rounds alternated with structure-essential rounds, pick up on the algorithm and make certain the ratio stays intact to prevent drastic changes in the doll (unless that’s what you’re going for, of course!). After trying it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.
These giraffes were made by mariabocci and createdbyhilda on Instagram. Pattern by Little Bear Crochets. You can find it here.
Another easy aspect to play around with is the color of your amigurumi. Like mentioned earlier, you can use almost any yarn in your projects. Besides simply changing the color of the doll, look around for what kinds of effects you can emulate. Changing a horse’s colors to black and white can suddenly turn it into a zebra. Switching colors around the chest area and the upper arms, can make any naked animal look like it has put on a sweater. Sometimes switching up colors and yarn types can even make plushies from ordinary patterns look like the famous comic book characters you love so much. There are also fuzzy yarns that will make your amigurumi animal look like it has actual fur, if you want to go for a more realistic look. The mixing possibilities are never-ending.
These bears were made by cotuitbayknitter and beehsweet on Instagram. Pattern by Little Bear Crochets. You can find it here.
If you don’t mind crocheting a little extra, you could even add accessories to your amigurumi friend. Some ideas are bow ties, hats, skirts, bags or even eye patches if you prefer your plushies to pursue a career in pirating. You can easily improvise many of these types of additions if you have been crocheting for a long time. If you’re not that handy with yarn yet, you can turn to Google or other patterns you already own to spot some nice little decorations for your toy.
These rabbits were made by varblas and grevvysvirkning on Instagram. Pattern by Little Bear Crochets. You can find it here.
You can really go all out with how you organize the body of your plush. You could add some wings to your amigurumi, from tiny angel wings to gigantic draconian ones. If you wish to invent a new alien race, simply play around with the amount of limbs or eyes. Do you like the head of one pattern, but the body of a doll from a different pattern? Simply combine them! As long as you watch the general size of all patterns you’re fusing, you will be fine.
This is also a great opportunity to make a custom doll for someone with a visible disability. People who have to use mobility aids or people who look different from the average able-bodied people are usually not represented, especially not in toys. It could mean a lot to a child who might deviate from the norms to see a plushie that looks like him or her!
These bears were made by mommivabrik and lisejshaya on Instagram. Pattern by Little Bear Crochets. You can find it here.
I hope by now you will feel at least a little inspired to fine-tune a pattern to your liking for your next crochet project. Don’t feel insecure about your skills or the potential outcome, there’s no need! There are no restrictions or expectations, so go for it!
Also, if you have made something wonderful out of a pattern, be sure to show us. Comment below and tell us about it! Be sure to give credits where they are due, and don’t forget to show the pattern’s designer your own project as well. As a designer myself (you can find my patterns at www.littlebearcrochets.com), I can honestly say that it is a lot of fun to see everyone’s personal spin on a pattern!
This article originally appeared at Hobiumyarn.com’s blog. You can read it here.
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