How to Crochet the Easiest Small and Cute Doll Base (free!)

This crochet doll base pattern is my favorite pattern for medium sized amigurumi dolls about the size of your hand. It can be used with my other patterns, or you can come up with your own ideas for clothes!

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

This doll base!
I also regularly use this chibi doll base pattern, which you can find here

A simple and versatile doll pattern!

This is my favorite doll base to use since it’s the perfect size to hold in your hand — about 6 inches tall and 2 inches wide!

In my experience, this is a great size for a miniature doll that doesn’t take too much effort to create, but still allows for enough detail with any dress up crochet clothing items you choose to put on it.

This is the doll base I used for my Sugar Plum Fairy pattern which is one of my absolute favorite doll patterns.

I have some more dolls in the works, so I hope to have more options for cute hairstyles and dress up clothing in the future! For now, feel free to pick and choose from all my other doll patterns 🙂

More free crochet doll patterns:

Sugar Plum Fairy!

Tips for making this pattern for beginners!

I have a great video tutorial for this pattern which walks through all the steps! Watch it below for some extra guidance 🙂

A few concrete tips I have for beginners are familiarizing yourself with how to sew amigurumi parts together. I have a great tutorial where I teach you a method so that you’ll be able to sew any type of amigurumi part!

If you encounter problems with floppy heads, I would recommend you read my article here about how to stuff amigurumi the right way. I teach you all my tips and tricks to make sure that your amigurumi look nice and firm without being overstuffed or too squishy!

If you need more help on individual sections, please watch my video tutorial below — I worked really hard on it and I hope it’ll help you out!

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

The Pattern

Description

This adorable amigurumi doll base is the perfect size for playing dress up. It fits in the palm of your hand and can be adapted for all gender dolls.

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

Abbreviations

dec: decrease

inc: increase (work two single crochets in one stitch)

MC: main color

MR: magic ring

rnd: round

sc: single crochet

x sc: work x number of single crochets

sl st: slip stitch

st(s): stitch(es)

(x sts): total number of stitches for the round

(…) x: work all steps within parentheses x number of times

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

6″ x 2″

LEGS (in MC)

  • Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
  • Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
  • Round 3-11 (9 rnds): sc all around (8 sts)
  • Stuff lightly, using the back of a crochet hook or chopstick to push the stuffing down. Finish off the first leg and then create a second leg identically, but do not finish off the second leg. Continue to body.

Work after round 12 of body.

BODY (in MC)

  • Round 12: sc all around both legs (16 sts)
    • See my video tutorial here for help on this step!
  • Round 13-20 (8 rnds): sc all around (16 sts)
  • Round 21 (6 sc, dec) x2 (14 sts)
  • Round 22: sc all around (14 sts)
  • Round 23: (5 sc, dec) x2 (12 sts)
  • Stuff lightly. Finish off, leaving a short 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 8-16 (9 rnds): sc all around (42 sts)
  • Place 6.0 mm safety eyes between rounds 13 and 14, 8 stitches apart.
  • 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) Stuff.
  • Round 21: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
  • Round 22: dec x6 (6 sts)
  • Finish off and weave in end. Using the tail from the body, sew the head and body together.

ARMS (in MC)

  • Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
  • Round 2: (2 sc, inc) x2 (8 sts)
  • Round 3: sc all around (8 sts)
  • Round 4: (2 sc, dec) x2 (6 sts)
  • Round 5-9 (5 rnds): sc all around (6 sts)
  • Do not stuff. Finish off, leaving a short tail. Sew to the left and right sides of the seam between the head and body.

Your amigurumi 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.