Last week, I found this crochet doll tutorial on Youtube from Crimson & Wool. So I converted the video from instructions to my own written down pattern.
Crimson & Wool Doll Pattern
Basic Stitches (Legs)
MAGIC RING [Adjustable Circle] (MR)
DOUBLE CROCHET (DC – UK, SINGLE CROCHET USA)
INCREASE (INC)
DECREASE (DEC)
Leg:
Round 1
Make magic circle [See Magic Ring] – Double Crochet (DC) 5 into the circle then tighten the circle to close the hole.
Round 2
DC2 (INC) [See Increase] into each working stitch and place the stitch marker at the beginning stitch. It should give a total of 10 stitches.
Tighten the beginning tail with 2 knots and cut off excess.
Round 3
DC1 in every 1st loop, leave a loop and DC2 (INC) into every 2nd loop. It should give a total of 15 stitches.
Round 4
DC1 into the back loop only of every loop, it should give a total of 15 stitches.
Round 5
Now work back into both loops, DC1 in 3 loops. DC2tog (DEC) [See Decrease] in 10 stitches. DC1 in the last 2 loops.
Round 6-10
DC1 into each stitch all the way around.
Stuff the foot with wading
Round 11-14
DC1 into each stitch all the way around. Slip stitch but also pull the excess through the next stitch to make the stitches available later for attaching.
Legs (Repeat x2)
Basic Stitches (Torso)
HALF TREBLE (HTR – UK, HALF DOUBLE CROCHET USA)
INVISIBLE DECREASE (INV DEC)
Attaching legs & Torso:
Line up both legs with the feet pointing forward.
Insert the crochet hook through the back side stitch of one leg then pop it through to the stitch on the other leg.
Grab the yarn and hook it on the needle and pull through both stitches. Then bring the yarn tail back to the side for a second. Yoh and pull through, it doesn’t count as a stitch, it just to join the legs.
Round 15
DC1 into every stitch evenly all the way around and that’s going to give a total of 20 stitches (push the excess wool into the leg to get it out of the way).
Rounds 16/17
DC1 into each stitch all the way around.
Round 18
Round 19
8 stitches. DC2tog (DEC) in the back two loops [See video for reference]. DC1 into the back loop for 8 stitches. DC2tog (DEC) in last 2 stitches combining them into one stitch.
Rounds 20 > 22
Now extend the height of the waist with 3 rows of DC1 around the body in each stitch.
When I got to this point, I added extra rows to make the waist & chest longer, because I had made the legs a lot longer than the video (probably for the reason that I had a 0.5mm larger hook size and the wrong thickness of wool from what the pattern said).
Stuff the waist/legs with wading, don’t over stuff.
Round 23
DC1 in the next 4 stitches, then DC2tog (INV DEC) [See Invisible Decrease] in the front loops of the next 2 stitches (combine to one). Repeat that order two more times till the end of round 23. It should give a total of 15 stitches.
Round 24
DC1 then DC2tog (INV DEC) and repeat that order till round 24 is finished. It should give a total of 10 stitches.
Big Head:
Round 25
DC2 (INC) into each stitch, all the way around. It should give a total of 20 stitches.
Round 26
DC1 in the 1st stitch and DC2 (INC) into the 2nd stitch, repeat that order till round 26 is finished. It should give a total of 30 stitches.
Round 27
DC1 in the next 4 stitches and DC2 (INC) into the 5th stitch, repeat the order till round 27 is finished. It should give a total of 36 stitches.
Rounds 28/29
DC1 into each stitch, all the way around. It should give a total of 36 stitches for each round.
Stuff the chest/neck with wading, don’t over stuff before continuing.
Round 30
DC1 in the next 4 stitches, then DC2tog (INV DEC) and repeat the order till round 30 is finished. It should give a total of 30 stitches.
Rounds 31 > 34
Now extend the height of the head with 4 rows of DC1 around the body in each stitch.
Optional: This is the point where safety eyes can
be added and place them between rounds 30 & 31.
Or if an embroidery face is needed, wait till then
end of the pattern when the nose is being sewn.
When I got to this point, I embroidered the head to the shoulders to get rid of the neck, because my dolls head was huge, didn’t find it appealing. So thought this would rectify the problem.
Stuff the neck/cheeks with wading, don’t over stuff before continuing next round.
Round 35
DC1 in the next 3 stitches, then DC2tog (INV DEC) and repeat the order till round 35 is finished. It should give a total of 24 stitches.
Round 36
DC1 in the next 2 stitches, then DC2tog (INV DEC) and repeat the order till round 36 is finished. It should give a total of 18 stitches.
Stuff the head a little more with wading, don’t over stuff before continuing next round.
Round 37
DC1 then DC2tog (INV DEC) and repeat the order till round 37 is finished. It should give a total of 12 stitches.
Continue stuffing the head with wadding.
Round 38
DC2tog (INV DEC) in each stitch, all the way around round 38. It should give a total of 6 stitches.
Cut of 12 to 18 inches (of wool) because the nose is going to be embroidered with the excess wool. Pull the through the last stitch to start sewing up the head [See video for Reference].
Finish stuffing the head with wadding before closing it up.
Grab the tapestry needle and put it on the end of the excess wool cut. Put the tapestry needle through the front loops of the last round of the head, it’s just like decreasing. Pull and it closes up the hole in the top of the head. Weave the rest of the yarn through the head and face to create the nose.
Arms:
Round 1
Make a magic ring – Work DC6 into the adjustable circle.
Round 2
DC1 in the next 2 stitches, third stitch DC2 (INC) and repeat the order till round 2 is finished. It should give a total of 8 stitches.
Tighten up the tail with a couple of knots.
Round 3
DC1 into each stitch all the way around
Round 4
DC1 in the next 2 stitches, DC2tog (INV DEC) and repeat the order till round 4 is finished. It should give a total of 6 stitches.
Rounds 5 > 10
DC1 into each stitch all the way around
Close off with DC2 working them through both sides. Leave a long enough tail to sew onto the body.
Arms (Repeat x2)
Sew them onto the body [As seen in the image below]
Clothing:
So, using the crochet skills I learnt from the Doll & Granny Square Pattern, I created my own pattern to make individual clothing (Shorts, Jumper, and Hat) items for the doll.
Trousers
Round 1
Slip Knot (SK) – Chain (Ch) around the size of the leg.
Rounds 2 > ?? (Up the inside of the leg)
DC1 in each into each stitch all the way around
Trouser Legs (Repeat x2)
Line up both trouser legs.
Insert the crochet hook through the back side stitch of one pant leg then pop it through to the stitch on the other pant leg.
Grab the yarn and hook it on the needle and pull through both stitches. Then bring the yarn tail back to the side for a second. Yoh and pull through, it doesn’t count as a stitch, it just to join the trousers.
Rounds ?? > ??
DC1 in each into each stitch all the way around both pant legs (Decrease DC2tog on certain rounds to tighten the waist band of the pants) [As seen in the images].
T-Shirt
I repeated the method of the pants for the jumper, as seen in the images below.
Beanie Hat
For the hat, I used the method for the doll’s hands, making a big circle by increasing and decreasing stitches.
Saturday 18th Feb 2023, I started crocheting the doll legs using a magic ring then Double Crochet increasing to widen the leg and I finished off the rest of the body two days later.
I created this doll and clothes to learn the stitches technique to get a simple body shape before developing my own stitch pattern from scratch.
I really enjoyed making this doll because it was a stress reliever and made me laugh when making it. When I was helping my mum at work all day Sunday, it help pass the time whilst learn the way to make a human shape.
This doll helped me towards my project because by learning the human form aids me to adapt the shape/pattern to what I want it to look with INCREASE and DECREASE stitches.
So next I’m going to build an armature for my original character puppet and crochet the outer skin with clothes crocheted into the pattern.
