Welcome to the world of amigurumi! How about knitting a charming toy like the Amigurumi Ladybug Doll this time? And the best part is, this guide offers the Ladybug Doll Amigurumi free pattern for free! This pattern caters to knitters of all levels and provides step-by-step instructions to create a delightful amigurumi.
Skills needed for crocheting this toy:
Ability to make single crochet stitches (sc), half double crochet stitches (hdc), and slip stitches (sl st).
Ability to create an amigurumi magic ring.
Ability to change colors.
Patience – this is perhaps the most important skill =)
Materials you’ll need:
Crochet hook size 1.3 mm
Toy stuffing (I use polyester fiberfill)
Black and white sewing threads for eyes
Buttons for decoration (I used 8 ladybug buttons on legs and 1 plain button)
Yarn: 100% mercerized cotton, 200 m/50 g or 392 m/100 g. Brands like Kamtex, Semenovskaya Yarn Lily, Narcissus, or any other with similar yardage and weight will work. You can substitute this yarn with another, as long as the thickness for the body and dress remains the same.
Yarn colors from Kamtex, 200 m/50 g, that I used: white, apricot for the body (beige), a bit of green for cords, and brown – mine is somewhat reddish-brown, unfortunately, I don’t remember the exact name of this color as the label is lost, but you can also use chocolate or dark chocolate color.
Optional: Granulate for weighting the toy’s legs on row 6.
Abbreviations:
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
sl st – slip stitch
ch – chain
inc – increase, work 2 single crochets in one stitch
dec – decrease, single crochet 2 stitches together
(1 sc, inc)*6 – repeat what’s in the parentheses 6 times
PATTERN
Head:
Begin with beige yarn.
Row 1: 6 sc in magic ring.
Row 2: inc*6 = 12
Row 3: (1 sc, inc)*6 = 18
Row 4: (2 sc, inc)*6 = 24
Row 5: (3 sc, inc)*6 = 30
Row 6: (4 sc, inc)*6 = 36
Row 7: (5 sc, inc)*6 = 42
Row 8: (6 sc, inc)*6 = 48
Row 9: (7 sc, inc)*6 = 54
Row 10: (8 sc, inc)*6 = 60
Row 11-16: 60 sc (6 rows)
Row 17: (8 sc, dec)*6 = 54
Row 18: (7 sc, dec)*6 = 48
Row 19: (6 sc, dec)*6 = 42
Row 20: (5 sc, dec)*6 = 36
Row 21: (4 sc, dec)*6 = 30
Row 22: (3 sc, dec)*6 = 24
Row 23: (2 sc, dec)*6 = 18
Do not cut the yarn; we’ll continue with the neck.
Neck:
Rows 24-27: 18 sc (4 rows)
Stuff the piece firmly.
Body:
Row 28: (2 sc, inc)*6 = 24
Row 29: (3 sc, inc)*6 = 30
Rows 30-31: 30 sc (2 rows)
Change to white yarn.
You can change the color later, after row 38 – I did it to make it look like panties, but in the end, the body color showed through the holes in the dress, which I didn’t like. So, if you change to white now (or the color you’ll use for the dress), it will look neater.
Rows 32-45: 30 sc (14 rows)
Stuff the piece tightly; do not cut the yarn. We’ll move on to crocheting the legs.
Legs:
Work 15 sc, then join the 16th loop with the 1st using a sc. Each leg has exactly 14 loops. Without cutting the yarn, continue to crochet the left leg.
Left Leg:
Continue with white yarn.
Rows 1-3: 14 sc (3 rows)
Row 4: 14 sc + 3 sc with the same color
Change to beige yarn.
Rows 5-14: 14 sc (10 rows)
Change to white yarn.
Rows 15-18: 14 sc (4 rows)
Stuff the leg firmly.
Row 19: dec*7 = 7
Cut the yarn, tighten the loops, thread the yarn through each of the 2 loops, secure, and hide the yarn tail inside the piece.
Right Leg:
Attach white yarn at the joining point of the legs and continue crocheting using the same pattern. In the 4th row, crochet 11 sc before changing to beige yarn.
The color changes should always be at the back of the toy.
Stuff the leg firmly, finish it, tighten the loops, and hide the yarn tail inside the piece.
You can put granulate in the legs to weight the toy since the head with curls can be a bit heavy and may tip over.
Arms:
Crochet with beige yarn.
Row 1: 6 sc in magic ring.
Row 2: (1 sc, inc)*3 = 9
Rows 3-6: 9 sc (4 rows)
Row 7: (2 sc, dec)*2, 1 sc = 7
Rows 8-18: 7 sc (11 rows)
Fill the piece with stuffing about 1/3 full, fold it in half, crochet 3 sc, cut the yarn, secure, and hide the yarn tail inside the piece. When crocheting the second arm, leave a yarn tail to sew both arms to the body.
Now, you can sew the arms to the body.
Dress:
Crochet with white yarn.
Chain 27 stitches, starting in the 4th chain from the hook.
Row 1: 1 sc, (hdc, 4 sc)*4, hdc, 2 sc = 30
Row 2: Ch 2, 1 sc, hdc, (4 sc, hdc)*5, 2 sc = 36 (including the initial 2 chain stitches)
Row 3: Ch 2, 1 sc, (1 ch, skip one stitch, 1 sc)*alternating to the end = 36 (including the initial 2 chain stitches). The pattern for this row is the same as for row 8, see below.
Row 4: Ch 2, in each chain space from row 3 and each sc, crochet 1 sc = 36 (including the initial 2 chain stitches)
Row 5: Crochet this row into the front loops of the stitches as follows: Ch 3, sl st into the next stitch. Put this “dress” onto the doll and join the beginning and end with a slip stitch.
Row 6: Now we will divide our work into the back, front, and sleeves of the dress. Crochet 4 rows into the remaining back loops of the stitches: Ch 2, 5 sc, 4 ch, skip 6 stitches, 12 sc, 4 ch, skip 6 stitches, 6 sc, sl st.
Our dress front is almost done, the arms should be inside the sleeves, the front should be in the front, and the “seam” should be at the back. The pattern for this row and what it should look like is shown in the photo below.
Row 7: 32 sc
Row 8: Ch 3, skip 1 stitch, then crochet as follows: (1 sc, 1 ch, skip 1 stitch) to the end of the row, finish with a slip stitch. You’ll have small loops made from 1 ch at the end of this row. The pattern for this row is shown in the photo below.
Row 9: Make 1 slip stitch into each loop made from 1 ch, here also crochet: 3 ch + 1 hdc + 2 ch + 2 hdc, then crochet 1 hdc into the next loop. Continue alternating to the end of the row: 2 hdc + 2 ch + 2 hdc, then 1 hdc into the next loop.
In rows 11 and onward, we add 1 hdc between our pattern, in this row we have 3 hdc between the dress pattern, in row 12 – 4 hdc, in row 13 – 5 hdc. Continue this way until you have 9 hdc between the pattern. If you want the dress a bit longer, continue until you have 10 hdc between the pattern. If you want it shorter, finish a few rows earlier. Cut the yarn and secure it.
If you don’t want the dress to be too puffy, adjust the number of increases. For example, after row 12, do increases every other row. It’s up to your preference.
Dress Decoration:
Crochet a chain of 40 stitches with green yarn and thread it through the holes of the third row. Secure it and sew on a button. I used a small red button with two holes.
Crochet a chain of 25 cm with chain stitches and thread it between the stitches of the lower row of the dress. Secure the thread and cut it. Decorate the dress with buttons. I used ladybug buttons; you can choose any buttons you like. Create folds in the dress and secure them by stitching at the bottom.
Hair:
We will crochet with brown yarn. Start with a chain of 22 stitches, leaving a small yarn tail at the beginning of the chain for later attachment.
Crochet in each stitch starting from the second, crochet 3 sc, then crochet 1 sc in the last 2 stitches. Cut the yarn, leaving a small tail of about 5-6 cm for easy tying.
You need to make 50 such curls. If you run out, make more. The pattern is shown below.
Start sewing the hair on the 11th row: thread one end of the yarn through 2 stitches, tie knots, and hide the yarn tails inside the head.
Here’s what the first row looks like:
Skip 3 rows and start making the second row. Form all other rows in the same way, making sure the head doesn’t show through the curls. I used 13 curls in the second row.
Finish the hairstyle, embroider the eyes, and mouth.
