How to Crochet the Easiest Mini Doll Base (free!)

This mini doll base pattern is my go to pattern for miniature crochet dolls (about four inches tall). I use it in several of my patterns and you can use it for your own projects (personal use only)!

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern.

A super sweet mini doll base!

This mini doll base is the smaller complement to my medium sized doll base. I love making dolls, but it’s nice to have a doll base to work off of so that I don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time.

The doll base might be a little too small if you’re looking for a larger doll to play dress up with, but this is my go to for a palm-sized amigurumi that you can still fit a dress over.

Two of my designs (Carmen, left, and Juliet, right) use the doll base and I’ve loved how they turned out. I elected to use a simple hairstyle for both of them to eliminate the need to crochet individual hair strands.

You can make both of them by clicking the links in the captions.

Tips for making this pattern!

This doll base is an intermediate level pattern because there’s a fair amount of detail involves. The most challenging or confusing step is connecting the legs to form the body.

I’ve made a general tutorial for the technique I use for connecting amigurumi doll legs. The video below goes over the general process, but is not specific to this mini doll pattern. I would recommend that you watch this video first to see what the goal of each step is before attempting the pattern below.

Some amigurumists also struggle with sewing amigurumi pieces together. There’s a little bit of sewing in this pattern for attaching the head to the body as well as attaching the arms to the left and right sides of the body.

If you struggle with sewing, I recommend you watch the video below to review how to sew amigurumi pieces together in the most efficient way, or read through the photo tutorial I have here for how to sew amigurumi together.

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

• Easiest Crochet Whale for Absolute Beginners!

• My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
• What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
• How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)

The Pattern

Description

This mini doll base is a great starting point for a petite sized doll. You can adapt it to your projects by creating clothes using color changes, adding dresses or jackets, or whatever else you can imagine. If you use this doll base, please credit me and do not publish any designs using this doll base pattern.

Yarn

Confused about materials? For all my personal recommendations of my most-used tools, yarns, and supplies, check out my favorites in this complete guide!

• WeCrochet Brava Sport (sport)
  • Color: Cream (<1 skein)
    • Fair skin color; you can use any skin color

Notions

• Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
• 4.0mm safety eyes
• brown embroidery thread
• fiberfill stuffing
• tapestry needle
• stitch markers

Technical Notes

1. Crochet in continuous spiral rounds, unless specified otherwise. Use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to keep track of the last stitch in each round.

2. When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
3. To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
4. Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
5. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Color Coding

For this pattern, the MC is any skin color yarn.

Special Stitches

Final Size

4″ x 2″

LEGS (in MC, make two)

• Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5 sts)
• Round 2: sc around (5 sts)
• Round 3: sc, inc, 3 sc (6 sts)
• Round 4: sc around (6 sts)
• Round 5: 2 sc, inc, 3 sc (7 sts)
• Round 6: sc around (7 sts)
• Stuff very lightly. Finish off and weave in the end. Make another identically but do not finish off.

Chain 2 off the side of the leg, attach yarn to the remaining leg and sc 7 around the leg you just attached the yarn to. Sc 2 in the connecting chains, sc 7 around the first leg, sc 2 in the connecting chains. (18 sts)

Watch this video to see how the legs connect. The tutorial does not include the two chains in the middle of the leg, but the other steps are the same.

BODY (in MC)

• Round 1: inc x2, 7 sc, inc x2, 7 sc (22 sts)
• Round 2: inc, sc 10, inc, sc 10 (24 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (24 sts)
• Round 4: (dec, 2 sc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 5-8 (4 rnds): sc around (18 sts)
• Stuff. Finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

HEAD (in MC)

• Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
• Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
• Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 7: (5 sc, inc) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 8: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
• Round 9-15 (7 rnds): sc around (48 sts)
• Insert 6mm safety eyes between rounds 12 and 13, 8 stitches apart.
• Embroider a nose using MC directly between the eyes, 2 stitches wide (tutorial here).
• Round 16: (6 sc, dec) x6 (42 sts)
• Round 17: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
• Round 18: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
• Round 19: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
• Round 20: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
• Round 21: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
• Stuff.
• Round 22: dec x6 (6 sts)
• Finish off and weave in end. Using the tail from the body, sew the head to the body.

ARMS (in MC)

• Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5 sts)
• Round 2: 2 sc, inc, 2 sc (6 sts)
• Round 3: sc around (6 sts)
• Round 4: 2 sc, dec, 2 sc (5 sts)
• Round 5-6 (2 rnds): sc around (5 sts)
• Do not stuff. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. Sew to the left and right sides of the seam between the body and the head.

Your Mini Doll Base is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting it and found the pattern helpful. I would love to see your finished amigurumi, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy.