Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Crochet Amigurumi Stuffed Animals

The Rainbow Unicorn

I first got the idea to create this Rainbow Unicorn when a customer contacted requested me to make one for her newborn daughter.  She sent a photo of what she had in mind, and I Googled it to see if there were more photos online to get a better view of the design.  That's when I found this pattern from One Dog Woof for the "Rainbow Cuddles Crochet Unicorn".  Although I didn't use the creator's original pattern, I did reference the design to create my own version, which is a little more plump and shorter than the original.  This guy is also made in off-white (instead of bright white) with a mane and tail in softer colors (instead of the original version's bright colors).


My customer is very pleased with her daughter's unicorn.  She will be taking monthly milestone photos of her daughter and pudgy unicorn friend.  She was sure to send me a copy of the first photo with her baby girl gazing at it and told me they've named it "Rebecca" after it's creator.  How sweet!



While making this little guy, my children "oohed" and "aahed" over it.  I just knew they'd want snuggle buddies of their own made by mommy, and they certainly did.  Sure enough, they made their own requests, which I will share here as well.
 

The 2nd Rainbow Unicorn Made for My Daughter


My daughter's rainbow unicorn is finished! Her name is "Penelope, the Purple-Horned Unicorn". For this pudgy bedtime pal, I wanted to create a different and more mature-looking unicorn compared to the first I made. 


Instead of a straight yarn fringe mane in pastels, she has curly-cues in bright rainbow hues. She also has lavender hooves and a muzzle (instead of light pink), a sparkling purple horn (instead of yellow) and button eyes and nostrils (instead of appliques/embroidery). My daughter is very pleased.  She couldn't wait until I was done making it, so she slept the first night with it when the mane was only half finished.


The Dragon Made for My Son


My son's dragon is a completely original design created by me.  This pudgy little dragon may not be perfect, but my boy loves him.  He has claws on his feet & paws, wings, horns, ears, buggy eyes, a mouth that opens and closes with pointy teeth, a long tail, spikes from the top of his head to the tip of his tail and a flashy flame applique on his chest instead of coming from is mouth (because my son didn't want him to be always be a mean, fire-breathing dragon).



The Super Fuzzy Teddy Bear


This fuzzy, little teddy bear is an original creation made by me using my favorite luxury yarn, Bernat Pipsqueak.  He measures 8 inches tall and 12 inches around, which is the perfect size for a small child's nap time snuggle buddy.  


He is super cuddly-soft and embellished with detailed features.  He has appliqued blue eyes, an appliqued nose, a shaped muzzle, an embroidered mouth, embroidered paws and appliqued heart-shaped pads on his feet.  He can be found in my Etsy shop HERE.


Snuggle Bunnies


The Pink Snuggle Bunny


The first snuggle bunny I made was for my new baby girl, who is expected to arrive this summer.  I made a super soft chevron baby afghan using Bernat Pipsqueak yarn and decided to make a coordinating snuggle bunny buddy to accompany her during nap times. 



The second snuggle bunny was made to coordinate with a cream, blue, green and brown chevron afghan for a little boy.  This afghan and snuggle bunny set is available in my Etsy shop HERE.

These snuggle bunnies are embellished with fuzzy ears from the same yarn used in the coordinating afghans, embroidered sleepy eyes and mouth, a heart-shaped noses and bow tied around each of their necks.




The first bunny, the pink bunny, was the first I made and was an experiment. I created the head with a 3D puffy-cheeks appearance and used the same fuzzy yarn as the afghan to line the interior of the ears and to add a fluffy bunny tail. Then I appliqued a pink heart-shaped nose onto the face and embroidered the sleepy eyes and mouth in grey. 

These were the 3rd and 4th amigurumi crochet projects I've made without a pattern. I'm starting to love amigurumi when it used to seem so intimidating. I've found the key to creating seamless body pieces is working in a spiraling round. It's also important to keep tight, uniformed stitches and undetectable increase & decrease stitches. It takes practice but gets easier with each experience.

Crochet Newborn Baby Mermaid Cocoon and Headband with Starfish, Seashells and Pearls

This Newborn/0-3 Month Size Baby Mermaid Tail Cocoon is an original design created by me in super soft satin yarn. This would be so adorable for a baby's first photo shoot, as a show-stopper baby shower gift or both!  Find it in my Etsy shop HERE

My Little Mermaid


The set includes the Mermaid Tail Cocoon made in my personally-designed texturized scale stitch in shades of peach, dark coral, strawberry pink, ivory, Heather grey, mint green, aquamarine and buttery yellow. 

The grey top of the mermaid tail is created in a delicate, feminine shell stitch with lacy edging and adorned with two starfish, a conch shell and pearl beads. A newborn baby can snuggle down into the cocoon with the top pulled up beneath her underarms.



The bottom of the mermaid tail includes a mint green tail fin.

The set also includes a lacy headband made in grey, peach and mint green. It is also adorned with a starfish, two seashells and pearl beads.