Stuffed Animal CAL - Week Three

We will complete the tail, assemble the animal, and make the face

Feel free to use this pattern and link to this page for a crochet along for your group. Please note all copyright info.

It’s a cat, it’s a dog, bear or rabbit. Oh My!
Updated Sept 2006
By Fiberstar – Samantha M. Stopple
Copyright 2006 - For your personal use or charity work only please do not make to sell for your profit unless you contact me first. Thanks

Notes:
DO NOT join rounds unless otherwise noted. Use a scrap of yarn or stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round.

Leave a 10” tail for all body parts. You will use this when you sew the animal together.

You don’t need to weave in your beginning ends just stuff them into the body parts.

A great place to find tips to make animals is here:
http://www.crochetme.com/amigurumi

Tail (make one):
Note: tails do not need stuffing

Cat/Dog:
R1: magic ring, ch1, 5sc in ring
R2: 2sc in the first sc, sc in the nxt 4sc (6sc)
R3-10(more or less to your liking): sc around

Slip st in the nxt sc fasten off and leave 10” tail

Dog/puppy: example use 10 rounds
Cat: Grey Cat example used 13 rounds

Bear:
R1-2 same as cat/dog tail
R3-5: sc around

Slip st in the nxt sc fasten off and leave 10” tail

Rabbit:

Simple:
R1: magic ring, ch1, 5sc in ring, pulled closed
R2: 2 sc in the first sc, sc in the nxt 2 sc. 2sc in the nxt sc, sc in the nxt sc (7sc)
R3: 2sc in the first sc, sc in the nxt 2sc, 2sc in the nxt sc, sc in the nxt 3 sc (9sc)
R4: 1 sc dec, sc in the nxt 2 sc, 1sc dec, sc in the nxt 3sc (7sc), slipstitch in the nxt stitch, fasten off and leave a 10” tail

Bushy tail (like making a pom-pom):

Cut a piece of cardboard down to piece cardboard or card stock 2’x2’ then fold it in half.

Cut a piece of string (a similar color to your yarn) approximately 10 inches long. Lay that along the inside of the fold.

Then wrap the yarn around the folded cardboard/stock at least 30 or more times. (Do not wrap too tightly or you will end up with a grossly uneven pompom). The more you wrap the bushier the tail will be.

When you have reached what you think is sufficient. Take the string inside the fold of the cardboard and move it up towards the opening. Pulling very tightly tie two knots. Cut through all of the wrapped yarn along the fold. You may need to trim the tail now to round it out a bit.

You can find other ways to make pom -poms here and here


Assembling the doll:

There really is no right or wrong way to put the animals together. Hopefully I have provided you a few ways to do it and you can improvise from here.

Note: All ends and sewing tails get pulled though the body then cut off

See the website here if you have any questions about assembling the animals.

Click on the thumbnail pictures to help put the animals together.

Attach head to body using whipstitch. You can add a bit more stuffing here before you close up if needed. . You can use either the tail from the head or the tail from the body to attach the body and head together. Stuff the tail inside the head or body. Sometimes I go around twice to make sure it’s on secularly.

Arms:
Fold arms closed then attach to body about I place it about 2-3 rows down from the neck (or where it look best to you) then whipstitch around.

Legs:
Pin legs to body as shown in picture(s) in a standing or sitting position and whipstitch in place. I do not fold the legs closed before I sew them to the body I keep them open. You can fold the legs before you sew them on. It does makes it easier for the animal /doll to sit.

Ears:
Pin in place to see the best placement then whipstitch to the head.

When attaching the ears I like to curve the ears a bit to make it look kind of natural. I make the curve more pronounced when sewing the rabbit ears to the head. (Almost folding it at the base of the ear lengthwise.)

If you are folding the rabbit ears down then fold it so it looks good to you then sew it in place. (See Lavender Rabbit picture)


Adding ears for the dog you might sew them so they hang down and it will look less like a bear. (See Purple Puppy picture)


Muzzle: sew in place with a whipstitch where it looks best or see pictures for placement.

Tail:

Bear: fold the tail then whipstitch around


Cat/dog/rabbit: whipstitch w/o folding

Making the face:

TIPS: I use a fairly fine embroidery needle or even a sewing needle and 2-3 strands of floss. A sharp needle makes it easier to work through the yarn and get better detail.


Cat/Rabbit:
Embroider eyes, nose, mouth, whiskers, and claws (optional) as shown on cat/rabbit.


Dog/Bear:
If you are not using a crocheted muzzle sew on a felt muzzle with a diameter of 1.5 inches using either a whipstitch or running stitch with embroidery floss.

Embroider eyes, nose, mouth, and claws (optional)