Jackie the Cellist is my newest free doll crochet pattern!
Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration, or scroll to the end to get the free pattern. If you’re in a hurry and need to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.
Table of Contents
The cellist behind the doll
This doll was inspired by my favorite cellist, Jacqueline du Pré, who was a brilliant and virtuosic cellist during a time when women were not as welcome in the classical music scene.
I’ve based her dark red dress off of her recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor, which she singlehandedly propelled to the forefront of cello repertoire.
Classical music is a foundational part of my life and has carried me through many difficult eras. Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is one of my all time favorite pieces, which I first played several years ago.
It was the last notable work that Elgar composed, towards the end of his life, and was received terribly upon its premier.
I found a deep connection to this piece because of how the piece starts out melancholic yet hopeful, meanders, and then finishes off victoriously. Each movement of the piece has become a favorite for me at different points of my life.
During a difficult time of my life, the first movement showed me that it’s possible to hold despair and hope at the same time, and while the last movement’s opening bars are triumphant, they still hold the memory of bygone suffering.
I love the story that this piece of music tells and I feel that it is universally relatable to the human experience — and definitely to me.
Jacqueline du Pré’s recordings are one of my biggest inspirations and although her career tragically ended too early with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, her impact on cellists everywhere can still be felt.
My cello free pattern is now also available at this link!
Tips for crocheting a doll (for beginners!)
I love crocheting dolls because they allow me to make adorable depictions of some of my favorite characters people (like Jackie!). However, dolls tend to be on the more difficult end of the amigurumi spectrum because they have many more parts than animals, sometimes including tiny clothing.
One additional challenge that dolls often pose is their hair. Jackie’s hair is one of the more complex types of hair to create because each individual strand is crocheted from scratch, but don’t worry!
I’ve provided detailed photos and carefully labeled diagrams below so that you can’t go wrong.
If you’re a beginner tackling this pattern, I would recommend that you pay particularly close attention to the orientation of your hook and each piece as you attach it.
The hair is the most complex part, and I’ve labeled each strand with a number. I recommend and instruct you below to pin each strand of hair before you sew or glue it down so that you can visualize the final product first.
More free crochet doll patterns:
- Carmen the Mini Doll (a flamboyant dancer!)
- Kitsune the Fox Doll
- The Little Prince
- The Sugar Plum Fairy (one of my favorites!)
- Juliet the Mini Doll
The Pattern
- If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!
Description
Jacqueline the Mini Doll is a petite sized doll with an elegant concert dress who fits in the palm of your hand. This doll is inspired by the legendary English cellist Jacqueline du Pré (1945-1987). During her short career, du Pré achieved mainstream popularity and is credited with cementing the Elgar Cello Concerto into the modern cello repertoire. She is an intermediate amigurumi because of the technique necessary to create her hair, along with creating the collar of her dress.
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)
- (<1 skein) Cream (fair skin color)
- (<1 skein) Almond (light brown)
- (<1 skein) Wine (dark red)
- (<1 skein) Blush
Notions
- Size D 3.25mm Clover Amour hook
- 6.0mm safety eyes
- fiberfill stuffing
- tapestry needle
- stitch markers
- (optional) hot glue gun
Abbreviations
- BLO: back loop only
- ch: chain
- CC: contrast color
- dec: decrease
- hdc: half double crochet
- inc: increase (work two single crochets in one stitch)
- MC: main color
- MR: magic ring
- rnd: round
- S: strand (of hair)
- sc: single crochet
- sk: skip
- 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
- 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.
- When filling with polyester stuffing, pull apart each large chunk into many smaller chunks. This ensures an even distribution of firmness within the amigurumi.
- To avoid large holes in the crochet fabric, increase tension until the holes cannot be seen, or choose a crochet hook a size down.
- Stuff the head and the body firmly at the openings so that the neck is stable upon completion.
- Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.
Color Coding
For this pattern, the MC is Cream, CC1 is Almond, CC2 is Wine, and CC3 is Blush.
Special Stitches
- Invisible finish off: click here for tutorial
- FSC (Foundation Single Crochet): click here for tutorial
Final Size
4.5″ x 2″
LEGS (in MC. Watch this video tutorial for help on connecting the legs.)
- 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)
See this video tutorial for help on connecting the legs.
BODY (in MC)
- Round 1: inc x2, 7 sc, inc x2, 7 sc (22 sts)
- Switch to CC2.
- Round 2: inc, sc 10, inc, sc 10 (24 sts)
- Round 3: BLO, sc around (24 sts)
- Round 4: (dec, 2 sc) x6 (18 sts)
- Round 5-8 (4 rnds): sc around (18 sts)
- Stuff lightly.
- Round 9: FLO, 7 sc, 2 hdc, dc, chain 3 and slst, chain 3 and dc, 2 hdc, 6 sc (22 sts, counting each chain 3 as one stitch)
Invisible finish off (see Special Stitches), leaving a tail for sewing. See Fig. 1 and 2 for front and back view of the body at this point.
DRESS (Worked in joined rounds in CC2.)
- Begin: Orient the doll body so that the legs are pointed away from you (see Fig. 3). Insert the hook through one of the front loops visible from round 3 of the body, and pull yarn through and chain once to attach.
- Continue working around the body, picking up stitches by inserting the hook into each new loop and crocheting as usual.
- See this video tutorial for help on picking up stitches and attaching yarn!
- Round 1: chain 1 and hdc all around, slst to the first stitch (24 sts)
- Round 2: chain 1, hdc inc x24, slst to the first stitch (48 sts)
- Round 3-4 (2 rnds): chain 1, hdc around, slst to the first stitch (48 sts)
- Invisible finish off (see Special Stitches). See Fig. 4 for completed dress.
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.
- 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.
HAIR (in CC1)
The hair is created by first crocheting a small circle, and then crocheting many hair strands stemming from the circle.
- 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)
We will now create 22 strands (S) of hair.
- S1-8 (8 strands): chain 25 and beginning in the second chain from the hook, sc 24 back. Slip stitch into the next stitch on the circle to secure the hair strand.
- S9-22 (14 strands): chain 19 and beginning in the third chain from the hook, hdc 16 back. Slip stitch into the next stitch on the circle twice (one slst in each stitch).
Finish off and weave in end. Glue the hair circle (not the hair strands) to the head with the right side downwards and continue following directions to pin down all the hair strands until you are satisfied with the hair style.
Arrange the hair strands so that strands 1-8 are oriented at the forehead (Fig. 8). Pin down strands 6 to 18 around the back, framing the face; these will form the main hair layer. (Fig. 5).
Pull back strands 1-6 over the top of the head and then tie them together with a scrap piece of CC1 yarn in a ponytail (Fig. 6, 7, and 8). Leave strands 7-8 on the side.
Strands 7-8 are secured to the right side of the face, left curly, acting as side bangs (Fig. 9 and 10). Glue down all hair strands using the hot glue gun, carefully removing each pin one by one. Begin with the base layer of hair strands (6-18), then secure the side bangs (7 and 8). Strands 1-6 are tied together in a ponytail.
BLUSH (in CC3)
- Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
- Invisible finish off and weave in end, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically. Sew to the face directly beneath and to the right and left of the eyes (Fig. 11).
If you want to make the cello as well, here’s the free pattern!
Jacqueline the Cellist is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting her 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.
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