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I’ve collected all my crochet and amigurumi tutorials into this master list! My tutorials take two forms: videos or step-by-step photos with written instructions.
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All video tutorials include both right- and left-handed versions on the same page. |
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As photo tutorials take up more screen space, some are split into separate right-handed (RH) and left-handed (LH) pages, and you’ll see both links below, in those cases. |
Scroll down through the tutorial list, or jump to a specific section:
- Amigurumi Essentials – To make great amigurumi, you need these techniques!
- Basics – New to crochet or amigurumi? Start here first.
- Embellishment – Add features to your amigurumi.
- Speciality – Advanced or less common techniques.
Amigurumi Essentials
To make great amigurumi, you need these techniques!
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Magic Ring for Crochet Start crocheting in the round with no hole in the middle. |
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Invisible Decrease for Amigurumi Decrease without leaving any bumps or gaps. |
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Ultimate Finish for Amigurumi Close up the remaining hole neatly with a smooth, gap-free finish.  |
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Changing Colour Clean colour changes for crochet. |
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Amigurumi Seamless Join Create a smooth, almost invisible join when you stitch an open-ended piece to a closed piece. |
Basics
New to crochet or amigurumi? Start here first.
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Crochet Basics Basic crochet stitches for amigurumi. |
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Which is the ‘Right’ Side? Which side of your work should face outwards? (And does it matter?) |
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Front, Back, Both Loops Which loop(s) should you work into to make a crochet stitch? |
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Yarn Over How exactly should you wrap the yarn over your hook for crochet? |
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Fastening Off How to fasten off open and closed pieces in amigurumi. |
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Flattened Pieces What does it mean when a pattern says to flatten a piece of an amigurumi after crocheting? |
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Joining Amigurumi The basic method for stitching open-ended pieces to closed pieces. |
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Chains and Slip Stitches Are your chs and sl sts difficult to work into? Learn how to avoid this. |
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Worsted Weight Yarn Comparison What is ‘worsted weight’ yarn, and are all worsted weight yarns the same? |
Embellishment
Add features to your amigurumi.
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Positioning Amigurumi Eyes Guidelines for positioning eyes on your amigurumi animals to give a realistic result. |
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Amigurumi Faces: Secure Stitching Easily hide the starting and ending tails of your thread and keep your stitches secure when embroidering noses etc onto amigurumi faces. |
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Eyes & Noses A rundown of options for creating eyes and noses for your amigurumi. |
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Eye Sources Online sources for two-part animal eyes (aka safety eyes or craft eyes) for amigurumi. |
Speciality
Advanced or less common techniques.
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Narrow Pointed Tubes for Amigurumi My tips for making thin pointy bits on amigurumi, such as spikes, legs, horns and tails. |
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Perfect Stripes for Amigurumi Two methods to minimise the seam when you work in joined rounds to make stripes for amigurumi. |
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Invisible Increase Reduce the size of the hole created by your sc increases with this optional technique. |
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Fuzzy Yarn Tips Advice on how to crochet amigurumi toys using fuzzy (aka eyelash or novelty) yarns. |
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Fuzzy to Brushed Crochet Create a furry crocheted animal with regular yarn by brushing the pieces after crocheting. |
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Sizing Up (and Down) How to adjust a pattern to scale the finished amigurumi up (or down) in size while keeping it in proportion. |
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Crochet Loop Stitch Loop stitch (aka fur stitch) is a decorative stitch with an added long loop of yarn formed on the back of the work. |
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Reverse Single Crochet Reverse single crochet (aka crab stitch) makes a decorative twisted cord edging for your crochet. |
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Crocheted i-cord Non-knitters can create i-cord (typically knitted) with a crochet hook – it’s an easy way to make fine tubes. |
Is something missing? I’m building this page into a reference library of crochet tips and techniques, and I’m always happy to hear your requests and ideas for new tutorials I can make! Let me know if you have requests for additional technique or stitch tutorials.
127 Comments »
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I read and appreciate every comment I receive - thank you! Please note that I only respond to comments here on the blog, so please return to this post to see my reply, or check the above box to subscribe to comments on this post by email.
Please also note that I only speak English and cannot respond to questions or comments written in other languages. - June
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Lynn said
I’ve been a long time fan of your site and appreciate all the tips and suggestions you have that are so easy to follow
I’m working on a project where someone likes a doll I made, but they want it twice as large. What are my options for doubling it’s size? I had a lot of headache laying out the stitches for my current pattern so I feel more than a bit intimidated about scaling them. I’ve seen elsewhere mention the simplest option being to double the yarn or use a thicker yarn and a larger hook, but what size hook should I go to in such a case? Currently I’m using a size G.
Thank you for taking the time to read and reply.
June said
Lynn, I’ve written a post about just this topic! http://www.planetjune.com/blog/sizing-up-and-down/
If you look at Method 3 there, that’s exactly what you were planning to do: double the yarn and go from a G hook to a larger hook. I used an L, so you could probably do the same. The bad news (for you) is that it only increased the size of the finished piece by 1.5x, not 2. And of course the stitches are much chunkier and the gaps between each stitch are much larger – I don’t think I’d use this method with any thicker yarn and hook than that. I think to go as large as twice the size, I’d just start over with a new pattern – sorry I don’t have better news for you! But read my post anyway – it may give you some ideas for how to tackle it. Good luck!
Lynn said
Thank you very much for your experienced knowledge!
Tinka said
Hello June,
Thank you for taking the time to post such great tutorials. Your apple pattern was one of the very first patterns I ever followed when first learning to crochet.
Would you consider doing a tutorial on crocheting in the round…not as a spiral, but as rounds? I have trouble with that awful seam. It’s crooked too!
Thanks
Tinka
June said
I agree about the seam, Tinka… there’s a reason why I don’t use joined rounds in my patterns, unless I can help it! I won’t create tutorials for techniques I don’t use or recommend, but I do have techniques for joined rounds as part of my Perfect Stripes video tutorial – to make neatly-joined rounds, you could follow one of my methods (I’d recommend the No-Cut Join in this case) and just not change colour
Cheryl said
Hello,
I love your patterns!! You are so talented!!
I bought your ami-boxer pattern and am confused on the ears. If I follow the pattern and make a magic ring….how does the ear end up looking like yours? I have made it following your instructions and it ends up looking like a cup!! I have been crocheting for 40 years and ears always seem to be my downfall.
Thank you!
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated!
June said
Cheryl, you’ll need to flatten each ear with the magic ring at the tip – look at Figure 5 (p6) to see the initial shape of the ear. (The magic ring is at the top of the ears in Figure 5.) If your ear looks like a cup it may be that you didn’t notice the repeats (Rnds 5-8) on the Ear instructions – it should be an elongated shape after crocheting it and before you flatten it. If you still have problems, email me a photo of your ear and I’ll be happy to advise
Daianna said
Oie!Me caso agora em dezembro e gostaria de pedir a receita dos pombinhos!!!Ameeeeei mas ñ tenho grana para encomendar um e minhas tentativas estão sendo frustradas!!!
Agradeço se pudesse postar em seu blog, algum tutorial para construção de pombinho!
Desde já grata!!!
June said
(Thank you Marcia, for translating Daianna’s message for me!)
Daianna, I hope you can read my response in English, as I don’t speak Portugese at all! I’ve never made a dove pattern, so I don’t have one to share with you. I’d be happy to design a pair of wedding doves for you if you’d like to commission me, but I’m afraid I can’t do that for free. If you’re interested, please email me (june@planetjune.com) and we can figure out the details of the commission. If not, I hope you can find an alternative idea. Either way, have a lovely wedding!
Marcia said
Hi June
First of all congratulations for your great work.
Daianna is getting merry next december and she love very much the wedding couple little birds. Since she cant afford buy them she is asking you to post the wedding birds pattern. Hoping help you both.
Crochethappy said
That is not really my email… There is no comcast.com but hey! Who cares! What I want to know is how to make the amigurumi legs ( like the skinny kind). I am having trouble trying to create then so help would rock! Luv your work by the way. Awesome. Simply awesome.
June said
I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean by the skinny kind of legs. I’d email you to ask, but you gave me a fake email address…
Ashley said
Hi June,
Amigurumi is such a cute hobby to start! I have been having difficulties finding a “beginners tool kit” online – can you send me in the right direction? I’d love to start as soon as I can
Thanks!
June said
Ashley, you might like to take a look at my Amigurumi Accessory Kit – it has everything you need apart from the basics (hook, yarn, stuffing, yarn needle, scissors) that you can pick up at any craft store!
Valerie said
What am I doing wrong? I am working on a beanie ending with, join in top of beginning ch 3. Ch 3 hdc in next st. There is a crooked seam look to this beanie. Shouldn’t the join sl st in the beginning ch 3 be straight down the back? I hope you can help me
Anne said
Hello, June.
I have absolutely no crochet experience. What tools do I need to begin creating amigurumi? I see a whale pattern on your site. Is that a good place to start? Any help is appreciated!
Karri said
I would like to see the magic circle, the pictures didn’t get it across to me. I have no idea how to start the circle even with the pictures I tried, twice, got mad and gave up, videos ate better for me, so that would be great if you ate making tutorial videos for watch and learned like me:)
June said
Don’t worry, Karri, that’s right at the top of my to do list!
Nana said
Hi! I’d like to know how to make a cone shape like the horn of the unicorn. Thanks
June said
Nana, there isn’t one set formula – it depends on the length and thickness of the horn you want! But, basically, start with very few stitches in your magic ring to make the pointy tip (4 if you can manage it, otherwise no more than 6). Then increase gradually using the same pattern of increases to make the cone smooth and non-lumpy (for example, try increasing by 1 stitch per round, or 1 stitch every other round). The more often you increase, the faster your horn will widen. Continue until the horn is long enough.
Angela Hicks said
Do you have a video showing how to do a left-handed version of a popcorn or bobble stitch? Thanks.
Eleanor said
Hi June,
I am a huge fan of your patterns and tutorials! I’d like to make a request for a video tutorial on stuffing amigurumi of various sizes. In principle, stuffing seems straightforward, but I often find after stuffing and closing my pieces that they don’t look at even and polished as your creations. I want to get an idea on the ideal size of stuffing pieces I should be inserting in order to get a very even stuffing of ideal firmness.
Thanks!
Eleanor
PS. What are your favourite yarn suppliers? Do you know any good online suppliers?
Tonja said
Yes, I would love a Magic Circle Video Tutorial too. Love your site!
Emmy said
I love all your wonderfully made patterns and you have inspired me to start creating my own patterns! I am wondering if there is a way to make the crochet icord curly? I guess my problem is that I don’t want to do the simple chain then increase back to create squiggly octopus legs, I would like something a lil rounder. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :3
Tiffany.huynh4 said
Hi June I just found out about amigurumi and I found it very interesting and cute . But I’ve been having some problems finding where the tools are sold in Sydney . And I’m not sure if they sell the tools kit or not and I hope that you could help me . Thanks
Tiffany
June said
Tiffany, I’m not sure what you mean by tools; all you really need to start making amigurumi is a crochet hook and some yarn! I’m sure you can buy those from a craft or wool shop in Sydney.
If you’re talking about my amigurumi tools (Detail Stuffing Tool, my Stitch Markers, Amigurumi Essentials Kit), those are PlanetJune-exclusive products and you can only buy them from my shop (www.planetjune.com/shop) – I do ship worldwide though
teresa nadal said
Quisiera un patron para hacer un delfin, como podría obtenerlo?
Teresa
Beth said
A video tutorial showing your ultimate finishing method would really help, if you wouldn’t mind! Haha
thanks!
June said
No problem, Beth, that’s already on my to-do list!
Archived Diversions and Amusements | Soft Like Kittens said
[...] If you’re looking to improve your amigurumi skills Planet June has a series of excellent tutorials on the best ways to start, finish, decrease, join and embellish. If every budding amigurumist read [...]
Maddy said
Hi! I am new to crocheting and I am picking up some skills quit quickly while others not so much.. I am confused on how you read the amigurumi patterns. I don’t understand how at the end of a round that starts off with 2 chains how you can end with 6 stitches. Thank you! -Maddy:)
June said
Maddy, I expect the pattern tells you to make 6 stitches into the 2nd chain – so that’s where the 6 come from. If you’re having trouble, I suggest you contact the designer of the pattern you’re using to ask for help
Anita Peens said
I am so happy to get hold of a website with all your wonderfull explaining and patterns.
Can you please explain what is Amigurumi crochet is – how do you do it – is it only single crochet?
Do you perhaps have Bavarian crochet?
June said
Anita, amigurumi is typically crocheted all in single crochet, in continuous spiral rounds without joining or turning, with increases and decreases for shaping. If you look at my patterns, they are almost all amigurumi (although I also have an accessories range). Essentially though, amigurumi is just a word to describe crocheted (or knitted) toys – not all patterns are worked in exactly the same way; for example, many Japanese amigurumi patterns are worked in joined rounds, not a continuous spiral.
I create tutorials to accompany my patterns, and I haven’t designed anything using Bavarian crochet (yet!) so I don’t have a tutorial for that technique at present.
Niler Fernandez said
Hermosisimo blog, felicitaciones !!! AMO EL CROCHET ..saludos
Lorene said
I love your tutorials…thanks so much…I am a lefty…sometimes its hard to learn new stitches…I taught myself how to crochet when I was 19 and I am now 65…back then there were no left handed directions…so I propped up a crochet magazine in front of a mirror…and that is how I learned the basic
stitches…what you see in the mirror is left handed…thank heaven for computers where I now can get all kinds of help for lefties…thanks so much for all your help…I just learned to do the lovers knot and I love it…now I am going to try your I-cord…keep up the great work…
Cheryl said
June can you do a crocodile stitch tutorial??? I am so interested to learn it but no tutorial.I can find makes as much sense as yours do!!!!! Love you!!!! X
Cara Louise said
A great website, and a great master list June. Thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful tutorials! I am linking back to you in my blog post today at Cara’s Handcrafted Crocheted Ornaments. Love and prayers, Cara Louise
Heather said
Do you have any tips for attaching beads to a finished piece? I plan to add beads as “sprinkles” on a cupcake I am crocheting, but I am not certain how to sew them on securely and neatly.
June said
Not exactly, Heather – my tutorials are all to support my patterns, and I don’t have any designs that require small beads to be stitched on! But I think you’d find my Amigurumi Faces: Secure Stitching video useful – just substitute sewing thread for the embroidery thread, keep your stitches small, and add a bead on each stitch. The video shows my recommended way to fasten off the thread ends securely – the method is the same whether you’re using beads or not
Heather said
thank you!
Maryann said
I just started crocheting again and stumbled across amigurumi… I am in love but i am really rusty so thank you for having easy to understand instructions.
Rosalyn said
Looking for definition and directions for a “wa”. I was directed to your blog for help but I cannot find what I’m looking for….please help!
June said
I’m sorry, Rosalyn, but I’ve never heard of a ‘wa’! I suggest you try asking in the Crochet group on Ravelry.
Rosalyn said
Okay, thank you!
Mar said
this is so helpful thank you!
i appreciate tutorial about half double crochet, double crochet and triple crochet! =)
Kim said
Thank you for your wonderful tutorials! My amigurumi look so much better after learning how to do the invisible decrease. Could you please make a video tutorial showing how you make the foundation single crochet (fsc) that you use in your scalloped scarf pattern?
June said
Will do, Kim! It’s actually already on my to-do list
Carla said
I have trouble with front and back post stitch. I’m not always sure which post they talk about on the patterns. Could you add a tutorial on how to do this stitch. Please.
Thank you.
Carla
June said
Will do, Carla – actually, making a post stitches video tutorial was already on my to-do list!
Melanie said
June:
What techniques do you employ to minimize the size of holes that appear at the point of insertion in regular sc (worked under both loops)?
I have switched to fluffier yarn, (not bulkier, just springier in any weight), moved to a smaller hook, and have tightened my stitches a bit. Each of these changes has helped a little, but I am still not satisfied. As you point out, BLSC & FLSC actually create larger holes than regular (both) sc.
I’ve considered using similarly dyed roving as stuffing, (for example, brown roving in a brown bear, but I’m not sure it would hold up/stay well rounded with use & cleaning), working over an extra strand throughout the piece (tedious and adds very little to the stitches) or even lining the pieces which is really carrying perfectionism a little over the top. The only real success I’ve had is with increasing length of the second loop (one closest to hook) while keeping first (working) loop snug: this adds extra yarn to middle of stitch while keeping the all important top loops tight for next round. But, I’m courting disaster if the Ami is washed or handled a lot since the top loops will get bigger if the tension begins to even out, so this won’t work at all for toys/baby gifts.
But seeing those little windows of white stuffing really does bug me and I keep thinking there must be an elegant answer. Your solutions for other Ami issues are so well thought out and executed, so I’ve climbed the mountain, bowed respectfully with my hands clasped together, and am requesting your wisdom, sensei!
June said
You may be asking for the impossible, Melanie – you’ve already tried my suggestions (as you said, smaller hook and springier yarn)! But, for what it’s worth, here’s my advice:
1. I find that a thick but compressible yarn with the smallest hook possible (without the hook being so small that it starts to split the yarn) give the smallest holes, as the yarn can bounce back to fill the holes once the hook has moved on. Vanna’s Choice is a good example of this, and the absolute best yarn I’ve used to give no holes at all was a roving yarn (unplied) – you can see that my crazy-coloured octopus and squid have no gaps at all between/beneath the stitches; that’s just because the hook was small and the yarn is extremely compressible and springs back to full thickness when released.
2. Use my invinc technique if you want to minimise the extra-large holes caused by increasing.
Florence said
The Amigurumi essentials kit that you put together is really good and well thought out. The quality of the items in the kit are good. Very useful for beginners like me and also for anyone who want a set of basic and essential tools.
I also enjoy reading your book and learning from your online tutorials.
Thank you
Lyn said
Is there a pictorial for Amigurumi seamless technique? I find them easier to follow than the video. Thank-you.