how to make a seamless join in amigurumi
After winning the 2011 Flamie Award for Best Crochet Video (Amateur), I feel a little pressure to make my next videos even better, to live up to that honour, especially as I only started the channel last year and have very few videos as yet. So, from now on, my crochet tutorial videos will all be in HD quality, and I hope you’ll be able to see my demonstrations even more clearly. My first HD video is below; I hope you’ll leave me a comment if you liked it!
Amigurumi Seamless Join
Stitching the pieces of an amigurumi together has always been my least favourite part of making amigurumi, as it’s so time-consuming – you have to be extremely neat and careful to stop your stitches from showing and spoiling the look of the ami. That irk led me to develop and refine this new method that will easily create a practically seamless join between your pieces.
My Amigurumi Seamless Join technique allows you to create an almost invisible join in amigurumi when you stitch an open-ended piece to a closed piece. This is the type of join you’ll use for almost all amigurumi joining, for example: joining a muzzle and ears to a head; or joining a head, legs, and a tail to a body. (The only time you can’t use this method is when a pattern calls for you to join two open pieces together; in that case, whipstitching makes the best join.)
I hope you’ll watch the video and then give my Seamless Join method a try on your next amigurumi: I guarantee that your joins will look smoother and neater, with much less time and effort on your part.
Amigurumi Seamless Join (right-handed)
Click to watch this video on YouTube.
Amigurumi Seamless Join (left-handed)
Click to watch this video on YouTube.
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And, in case you missed my announcement last week, the crochet pattern for the Dimetrodon dino featured in this video is now available in my shop, both individually, and as part of my new pattern set: Dinosaurs Set 3.
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Judy said
Thank you! I
Ineke said
Thanks you so much for showing the details for left- handed people
Joe Majury said
I had literally just set down to join arms and legs onto a soft toy I was making, when I came across your tutorial. So I
Ann said
Thanks June, this method made such a difference to the final product and has restored my confidence in joining the pieces together.
Alisa Licking said
WOW! thank you! I hated Amigurumi and avoided it until now. Thanks to you I feel like I just won the lottery!!
Olga said
THAT IS JUST BRILLIANT!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! as it too is my worst thing to do. So glad I found you. Well thanks to the Nerdy Knitter Design too.
Olga
Cathryn said
Thanx, June! I’d given up amigirumi when my grey tabby cat turned out looking like a weasel after electric shock : / Your voice is so soothing! Cathryn
Maya said
Totally awesome tutorial. Ingenious to show with a different color, thank you it was really helpful.?
JudyB said
This was incredibly helpful. My joins have been messy until now. I really loved seeing it left handed. It has always been really fiddly for me. Do you always sew the pieces onto the main body which has been stuffed first? I was instructed to sew the parts on before stuffing but then sometimes they don’t look correct after stuffing.
June said
Oh no, you should definitely stuff before you attach any pieces! The crocheted stitches stretch when you add the stuffing, and if you’ve already sewn something onto the body, the body stitches won’t be able to stretch in that area, which may lead to a pinched or uneven result. (Exception – as there’s always an exception to every rule: if a pattern specifies you should attach a specific piece before stuffing, you should follow the pattern instructions, as there’s probably a good reason for it!)
AL said
Very detailed tutorials….THANK YOU!
goverdien said
What a very good idea to stitch the amigurumi that way. I thank you for this video
Jenny said
I am just wondering what you do to finish off the yarn once the limb is attached? Thank you.
June said
This will be the subject of my next video, Jenny! The most secure way is to tie a knot around the post of one of the stitches, then use your yarn needle to pass the end through your piece to the other side and pull, so the knot is drawn to the inside and isn’t visible. From there you can pull the yarn tight and snip off the end close to the surface, so the cut end retracts back inside the piece when you let go. I’ll demonstrate and discuss this (and other methods) further in the tutorial 😉
Timi said
Hi June, many thanks for the great tutorials 🙂 I’m just wondering whether the video is already available about how to finish off the yarn once the limb is attached ? Many thanks, Timi
June said
Not yet, Timi, but it’s on my to-do list for 2016! If you don’t follow my blog regularly (or even if you do!) you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any of my helpful tutorials or new patterns 🙂
Alex Maltby said
Hi June,
Your website is my go to for arigurumi tips. It is so clear and gives the neatest finish. I have a question about joining pieces. When I finish a piece, say an arm or an ear, the V’s of the last round sit ontop. So when i look at my piece fom the side I can only see the front loop as the back loop is hidden behind it on the inside of the circle. (I hope that makes sense). So when I try to do the seemless join I struggle to put the needle through both loops as the back loop is hidden behind the front loop. At the beginning I can usually get around this by leaning the ear / limb away from me to expose both loops. However this gets harder as towards the end when it’s nearly attached. Do you have a way to prevent this ? I saw in your video that it was really easy to see both loops of the piece you were attaching to the body.
Thanks
Alex
June said
It sounds like you have your pieces inside out – that’s why the front loops are obscured. See my Which is the Right Side? tutorial for more details. I bet that if you flip your pieces so they are right side out, you’ll find it much easier to see the loops!
Melanie said
Yes!!!
Mary Smith said
Thank you so much! I’m working on my very first ami piece and was a little overwhelmed. I was really pleased with the way my individual pieces are turning out since I have only been crocheting for 3 weeks now, but wasn’t sure how to sew them together. This video is awesome. Now I can finish my beautiful doll and not be disappointed with the results! Thank you!
Meg P said
Thank you, yet again, June! This video is a great addition to any ami-maker’s tool kit. Speaking of tool kits, when will those special PlanetJune stuffing tools be available again?
June said
I didn’t think it would take this long – being sick for so long really upset my plans. I still have a few logistics to overcome once my ribs are healed and I’m fully mobile again: I need to buy a printer, find out where I can source shipping supplies, and figure out how international shipping works from here. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer though!
Katherine Perry said
great patterns, love these little dinos and thanks for the tutorial.
Sonja said
Wow, really handy!
I kind of did that, but didn’t really know what I did. So somtimes it looked good and sometimes not…Now there is a technique for it! Thanks a bunch.
Sandy said
June, this is lovely, thank you so much! You have helped me with so many of the little details I never had quite right in making my creatures! Your video and blog entry inspired me to purchase all of your lovely little dinosaurs. Hope your move is going well! Best, Sandy
Rebecca said
Excellent!! 🙂
Millasew said
Thanks for a very detailed video instruction!!! I will definitely try this technique on my next project! Many thanks!
mrs. hemenway said
This is awesome! i’m almost finished the ankylosaurus and i’m going to use this new method to sew the parts together.
Julie said
Nice video! He’s so cute! All of your dinosaurs are! 🙂
Rachel Hansen said
Brilliant! I love it. Thank you so much!
Jessi said
Awesome tutorial! Such high quality video, I never miss a beat of what you’re doing!
Thanks June 😀
Sheryl Watson said
Brilliant technique, I will try this with my next ami project. Thank you so much! :o)
Dawn Peterson-Smith said
You have such a wonderful ability to solve problems and also create excellent visual aids to educate others! You definitely deserve to win a Flamie!
Cindy G. said
I love this technique! Thanks so much for showing how to do it. My least favorite part of making amigurumi is joining all of the pieces together (I’ve got a bag full of dragon bits that have been waiting to be joined for at least 4 years), so I’m thrilled to learn a technique that makes the seam look so neat. The video is wonderful (nice and clear, too!) and I love how you used a contrasting color to show how much the stitch really does disappear.
Simone said
Thank you for sharing this! A great way to join two pieces together. The sewing part is also my least favorite part of doing Amigurumi, since I’m always afraid to mess up. With your video, the difficulty is somehow lowered! 🙂
maryanne @ mama smiles said
This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing your technique!