Lupita the Crochet Doll

“A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.” (Allan Beck).

A lazy Sunday afternoon, with a rainy weather outside and a long forgone week filled with projects. So why not crocheting a bit and why not involving mom? That’s what I thought yesterday afternoon. Some days back I saw some crocheted dolls posted in another’s blog which did inspire me to make my own one.

In this post, I would like to give you some short advices on how to create your own doll. It takes around 3 hours (it all depends how fast you are at crocheting) and you will have a bunch of fun while making it.

Last but not least: Thanks Mom for your patience and for sharing your knowledge with me. 

So let’s get started….

Get a crochet hook and knitting yarn. Choose a main color for the doll’s skin and hair. Contrasting colors are preferred for the dress and accessories.
	Head Start by making the doll’s head. Make 4 chains and join them into a ring. For the first round fill the ring with single crochet (the number of how many single crochet you have to do depends on the thickness of the yarn). Continue increasing the number of single crochet on each round. Once you have achieved the desired size of the head you work one round without increasing the number of single crochet. Further, start by decreasing the number of single crochet. Keep in mind that you have to be able to get a ball shape.
Dress/body Start at the waist of the doll. Make chains into a ring. (Hint: The ring size should be as big as the middle of the head). (For crocheting the skirt of the dress follow the pattern shown in the picture). Follow the aforementioned pattern and do three rounds. Go back to the waist of the dress (where you started from) and start crocheting rounds (they should look like rows). For the sleeves and neck you follow the same pattern you used for the skirt. Remark: the dress is done with half-double crochet stitch.
	Crochet Pattern for the Skirt of the Doll. (half-double crochet stitch)
Legs You have to begin at the foot. Make four chains into a ring. For the first round fill the ring with single crochet (remember that the number of how many single crochet you have to do depends on the thickness of the yarn). Continue by increasing the number of single crochet till the third round. Work as many rounds as you think necessary in order to have a proper leg’s length. You have to repeat the same steps for doing the second leg.
	Arms Make four chains into a ring. For the first round fill the ring with single crochet. Increase the number of single crochet in the second and third round. Work on more rounds (starting from the fourth round) without increasing. Again work as many rounds as you think necessary for the desired arm’s length. Repeat the same steps for doing the second arm.
Once you have finished off all parts (i.e. arms, legs, head, and dress/body). Stitch hair, eyes and mouth to the head and then proceed with the filling either foam or cotton. Do the same for legs, arms, and dress/body. Stitch all top openings together.   You can also decorate the doll with shoes, flowers, or some hair accessories. I leave it up to your imagination.