crochet amigurumi tutorials

I really wanted to make some crochet tutorials for a long time, and I finally found the time to do so.
This is part one:

How to stuff your amigurumi

Last year I was a guest writer on crochet spot. I wrote a piece about stuffing your amigurumi. Today I realised I never added it to my blog. So even though it´s a year later, here it is!:

You just finished crocheting all parts of your amigurumi. So now you are ready to stuff them. This is a very important part of your work, because it determines what your finished doll will look like. I want to share some tips to help you get the best result.

First of all, stuffing actually begins before you even start with your amigurumi, by choosing the right crochet hook. You want to crochet as tight as possible, so the chance your filling will be showing through your crochet work is minimum. The tighter you crochet, the bigger hook you can use. For example, I am a very loose crocheter so I always choose a very small crochet hook.

Now back to your finished amigurumi parts. You have to use the right filling. Of course you can buy doll materials like fiberfill in your local shop but I like to use a more budget friendly version, filling from old cushions. I think it works great.

Try to stuff your amigurumi with one piece of filling, instead of adding a piece after piece. If you would add little pieces, your amigurumi would become very lumpy.

For a head or body, try to stuff as firmly as possible, but not overstretching it. You don’t want your filling to start showing through. For legs and arms, be gentle with stuffing, otherwise you could loose your shape.

When the opening of your arm or leg is very small, use something pointy to get the filling all the way down to hands or feet. I always use my scissors for this, but be careful, not to hurt yourself.

Stuff the feet more firmly then the legs, to ensure you get a nice shape.
If you have too much filling in, just pull out what you don’t need.

When you have the filling in, start ‘moulding’ the doll’s parts, it’s amazing what you can do to the shape of your doll.

Now your doll part is finished!

The last tip: Have fun making your amigurumi!

What´s going on.....

As you can see I have changed the layout of my blog and made a logo for funandfang.
What do you think??? Do you like it?? Please give me some feedback!!!

Besides this I am working on a new pattern (christmas is coming!!) and new tutorials.

If you are wondering about the little pregnant cat I told you about earlier...... she is still pregnant! (If you don´t know what the */% I am talking about: I have a little cat from the shelter in my home. When the kittens are old enough they will be given up for adoption.)
I will keep you posted on this too. (just because she is so cute!).

This is her, her name is Raafje, which means Raven in dutch.

So keep checking my blog and bring on the feedback!

How to decrease invisible?

Ever wondered how to decrease without leaving a knot or a gap?? I am going to try to explain it to you. Please let me know if you find this usefull, so I could do more how to´s... in the future.

Decrease!

1. Start by putting your crochethook through the Front loop of the first stitch, DO NOT pull the yarn through the loop, instead......

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2...... Put your hook through the Front loop of the second stitch. This could take some practice, twist your hook to slide it through.

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3. Now you have the two front loops on your hook and the loop that was already there, take up your yarn and pull through the two front loops at the same time.

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4.Now you can finish your stitch as normal. You have now 2 loops on your hook, take up your yarn and pull through both of them. Now you are finished. You shouldn´t be able to see anything on the outside of your work.

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This is a trick you need to practice a bit. In the beginning I couldn´t get the hang of it, but just hang in there, because the result is worth it.

Your work will look better and more professional.

I am a guest writer on crochet spot!!

Hi Everyone,

I have written a post on how to stuff amigurumi on www.crochetspot.com!
Go and check it out!
Thanks to rachel for posting it!!!

In the future I will add some of this tutorial on my blog! So keep posted!