Wednesday, October 25, 2006

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.
Purple PuppyGray Kitty
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.
Gray KittyKitty Kat - frontPurple Puppy
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.)
WIP - Pink RabbitGray Kitty
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)
Lavender Rabbit

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)
Purple Puppy - face close up

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

Tail:

Bear: fold the tail then whipstitch around
Purple Puppy - back viewKitty Kat - rear view

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.

Kitty Kat - a close upRed Cat
Cat/Rabbit:
Embroider eyes, nose, mouth, whiskers, and claws (optional) as shown on cat/rabbit.

Purple Puppy - face close up
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)

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Stuffed Animal CAL - Week Two

We will be working on the arms, legs and ears

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

Fill with stuffing so it’s full enough that you get a fairly firm shape but not too full that you are over stretching the fabric.

Arms and Legs (make 2):

R1: Magic ring, ch1, 6sc in ring, pull ring closed (6sc)

Note: Mark the beginning of each round before you start this will help you know the beginning/end of each new round

R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sc)
R3: (1sc in 5sc, 2c nxt sc) twice (14sc)
R4-6: sc in each sc around (14sc)
R7: (1 sc in 5sc, 1 sc dec) twice (12 sc)

R8-16: 1 sc in each sc around, slip st in the next stitch (12sc)

Fasten off leaving a 10” tail

Fill with stuffing

Legs (make 2):

Note: Mark the beginning of each round before you start this will help you know the beginning/end of each new round

Repeat Arm pattern R1-R7
R8-16: sc in each sc around

Fasten off leaving a 10” tail

Fill with stuffing

Ears (make 2):
Note: ears are not filled with stuffing

Cat Ears:
R1: Magic ring, ch1, 6sc in ring (6sc)

Note: Mark the beginning of each round before you start this will help you know the beginning/end of each new round

R2: (2sc in the nxt sc, 1 sc in nxt) 3 times (9sc)
R3: 2sc in the first sc, sc in the nxt 3sc, 2 sc in nxt sc, sc in the nxt 4sc (11sc)
R4: 2sc in the nxt sc, sc in the nxt 4sc, 2 sc in the nxt sc, sc in the nxt 5sc (13sc)
R5: 2sc in the nxt sc, sc in the nxt 5sc, 2 sc in the nxt sc, sc in the nxt 6 sc (15sc)
R6: sc around, slip st in the nxt st (15sc)

Fasten off and leave a 10” tail.

Rabbit Ears:
R1-4: repeat as for cat ears
R5-10: sc in sc around

Stop here if you are making upright rabbit ears

R11-15: sc around if you would like floppy/folded ears, slip st in the next st.

Fasten off and leave a 10” tail

Bear/Dog Ears:
R1: Magic ring, ch1, 6sc in ring, pull ring closed (6sc)
R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sc)
R3: (1sc in the nxt 5sc, 2c in the nxt sc) twice (14sc)
R4: (1sc in the nxt 6sc, 2 sc in the nxt sc) twice (16sc)
R5-6: sc around (16sc), slip st in the nxt st

Fasten off and leave a 10” tail

Muzzle (make one) (optional because you can use felt)
A muzzle helps give the look of a dog or bear
You can add a little stuffing under it as well.

R1: Magic ring, ch1, 5sc in ring, pull ring closed (5sc)
R2: 2sc in each sc around, (10 sc)
R3: (2sc in nxt sc, 1sc) repeat 5 times (15 sc) slip st in the nxt st

Fasten off and leave a 10” tail

If you use a felt muzzle make a circle of felt with a diameter of 1-1/2 Inches now or when you are ready to embroider the face.

Set aside for Week Three

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Stuffed Animal - CAL - Week One

We will make the head and body.

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

Materials:
3-4oz of Worsted weight yarn in color(s) of your choice. Red Heart is a good choice.
F hook or hook that gets you a dense crocheted fabric (some were able to use a G hook)
Embroidery floss for eyes, nose, mouth, etc.
Embroidery needle or sewing needle a sharp one is best
Pins
Larger eyed needed to sew body parts together
Poly Fiber Fill
Stitch marker (yarn scarps work great for this!)
Felt (optional)
Animals/doll eyes (optional)

Kitty Kat - front

Purple Puppy

Finished doll size using ww yarn is approximately 9.5 inches long not including ears.

See more finished dolls here.

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

Fill with stuffing so it’s full enough that you get a fairly firm shape but not too full that you are over stretching the fabric.

Gauge:
When making animals or amigurumi, I like a dense crocheted fabric so gauge is not necessarily important. Go for as dense a fabric you can without going to a hook size that makes crocheting difficult. I am including my gauge so you have a place to start when choosing your hook size.

5sc in 1”
5rows in 1”

Try for something close to this gauge or a crocheted fabric that seems solid/dense.

Start doing the head, complete 6-7 rows then check your guage. If it seem off go to a smaller or larger hook.

Stitches/Skills: slip stitch, sc, sc dec, and magic adjustable ring (magic ring)

Magic adjustable ring instructions can be found here

Head:

Note: Magic ring is the same as the magic adjustable ring and will be referred to as such throughout

R1: Magic ring, Ch1, 8sc in the ring, pull ring closed (8sc)

Note: Mark the beginning of each round before you start this will help you know the beginning/end of each new round

R2: (2sc in each sc) repeat around (16sc)
R3: (1sc in the nxt sc, 2sc in the nxt sc) repeat around (24 sc)
R4: (1 sc in the nxt 2sc, 2sc in the nxt sc) repeat around (32sc)
R5-13: 1sc in each sc around (32sc)
R14: (1 sc in nxt 2sc, 1 sc dec) repeat around (24sc)

Note:
If you are going to use doll/animals eyes you will need to attach them now. If you are using embroidery floss you can wait until after the animal is assembled. Place the eyes about 1” a part on the 6th or 7th row

R15: sc dec around (12sc)

Add stuffing

R16: (1sc in nxt 2sc, 1sc dec) around (9sc), slip st into the next stitch
Fasten off leaving a 10-12” tail

Add more stuffing if needed

Body:

R1: Magic ring, ch1, 8sc in the ring, pull ring closed (8sc)

Note: Mark the beginning of each round before you start this will help you know the beginning/end of each new round

R2: (2sc in each sc) repeat around (16sc)
R3: (1sc in the nxt sc, 2sc in the nxt sc) repeat around (24 sc)
R4: (1 sc in the nxt 3sc, 2sc in the nxt sc) repeat around (30sc)
R5 –16: 1 sc in each sc around (30sc)
R17: (1sc, 1 sc dec) repeat around (20sc)

R18: sc dec around (10sc)

Add stuffing

R19: (1 sc in next 3sc, 1 sc dec) repeat around, slip st into the next stitch (8sc)

Fasten off leaving a 10” tail

Add more stuffing if needed

Set these aside and next week we will start on the arms, legs and more.