Soldier Teddy Bear Free Crochet Pattern

This Soldier Teddy Bear is my newest free crochet pattern, just in time for Veteran’s Day!

If you are from Singapore, this Soldier Teddy Bear is also the perfect gift for your son or loved one when they enter National Service or during their Operationally Ready Date (ORD) parade. The beret can be swapped out to match the vocation of your recipient.

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.

An outfit as cute as it is effortless!

I had so much fun designing this teddy bear in a soldier uniform — but because I also wanted to make it easy, most of the outfit is made with a simple color change!

This means that you don’t have to make any extra layers for the uniform, and the collar is made with a clever back loop only technique which is one of my favorite features to add.

I chose a camo green for most of the uniform, but you can switch it up and customize it to whatever uniform you’re trying to match most closely.

I love the little beret pattern that I came up with, and you can add any crest you like to the front!

Tips for success with this pattern!

This pattern is very similar to a few other patterns I’ve designed, namely my Strawbeary pattern. Most of the elements are fairly straightforward and similar to other teddy bear patterns, you might have made, but there are a few things to watch out for.

The first thing is working around a foundation chain for the legs. This is one of my favorite techniques because it allows you to start from an oval, as opposed to a circle. This results in super cute shaping for the limbs, and is my favorite way to make legs. If you’ve never encountered this technique before, be sure to read up about it in my blog post (which includes a video tutorial!).

The second thing to watch out for is my technique for creating the collar. This portion is worked back loop only around the last round of the body, and uses a mixture of half double crochets, slip stitches, and single crochets to create the effect of a collar. This can be tricky just because there are so many instructions in one row, so just make sure to read it carefully and count your stitches carefully!

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

The Pattern

  • If you want to take this pattern offline, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here!

Description

This adorable army bear is at the ready with a smart removable beret and camouflage colored uniform. You can customize his crest to any design you like, as well as adjust the color of the beret. This is an advanced beginner pattern because of BLO techniques and some extra sewing.

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) Almond (light brown)
    • (<1 skein) Dublin (camo green)
    • (scrap) Red
    • (scrap) Custard (gold)

Notions

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

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
  • RS: right side
  • sc: single crochet
  • sk: skip
  • x sc: work x number of single crochets
  • sl st: slip stitch
  • st(s): stitch(es)
  • WS: wrong side
  • (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.
  1. Use sewing pins to secure parts of the amigurumi before you sew them.

Color Coding

For this pattern, the MC is camo green, CC1 is light brown, CC2 is gold, and CC3 is red.

Special Stitches

  • How to embroider a nose: see this tutorial

Final Size

3.5″ x 2.5″

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 8-9 (2 rnds): sc around (42 sts)
  • Round 10: (6 sc, inc) x6 (48 sts)
  • Round 11-12 (2 rnds): sc around (48 sts)
  • Insert 4.0mm safety eyes between rounds 11 and 12 (counting from top), 6 sts apart.
  • Round 13: (7 sc, inc) x6 (54 sts)
  • Round 14: (7 sc, dec) x6 (48 sts)
  • Round 15: (6 sc, dec) x6 (42 sts)
  • Round 16: (5 sc, dec) x6 (36 sts)
  • Round 17: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30 sts)
  • Round 18: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts)
  • Round 19: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
  • Stuff.
  • Round 20: (sc, dec) x6 (12 sts)
  • Round 21: dec x6 (6 sts)
  • Finish off and weave in end. See figure 1.
Fig. 1: Finished head (eyes not shown).

MUZZLE (in CC1)

  • Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
  • Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
  • Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18 sts)
  • Invisible finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Using brown embroidery thread, embroider a nose (fig 2). See Special Stitches for tutorial.
  • Sew to the head between rounds 10-15 (counting from the top). The top of the muzzle should be level with the eyes.
Fig. 2: Finished muzzle.

EARS (in CC1, make two)

  • Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
  • Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
  • Round 3: sc around (12 sts)
  • To finish the ear, squash the opening flat and insert hook through both loops of each side and sc 6 across to close the opening (6 sts). See figure 3.
  • Make another identically. Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing, and sew to the head between rounds 4-7 (counting from the top). Curve the ear slightly when sewing (fig 4).
Fig. 3: Finished ear.

BODY (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 6-10 (5 rnds): sc around (30 sts) Round 11: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24 sts) Round 12: sc around (24 sts)
  • Round 13: (2 sc, dec) x6 (18 sts)
  • Round 14: FLO, chain 2, skip one stitch, and hdc 5 times. Continuing along the round, hdc inc, dc, chain 3, slst in next stitch, chain 3, dc, hdc inc, hdc 5 times, and slst to the first stitch in the round to join. See figure 5. There should be a total of 18 stitches in the collar round, counting each chain 2 as a stitch.
  • Stuff. Invisible finish off, leaving a tail for sewing, and sew to the head.
Fig. 5: Finished body.

LEGS (in MC)

  • Begin: Chain 4. Beginning in the 2nd chain from hook, work 6 single crochets around the foundation chain. See figure 7 for visual representation. I wrote a whole blog post here all about this technique as well! (6 sts)
  • Round 1: inc x6 (12 sts)
  • Round 2-4 (3 rnds): sc around (12 sts)
  • Stuff lightly.
  • Round 5: (sc, dec) x4 (8 sts)
  • Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing. Make another identically (fig. 6). Sew between rounds 5-7 of the body (counting from the bottom), 4 stitches apart.
Fig 6: Two legs.
Fig 7: Crochet chart of the first step for the legs. Single crochet 6 around the foundation chain.

ARMS (begin in CC1)

  • Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6 sts)
  • Round 2: inc x6 (12 sts)
  • Round 3-4 (2 rnds): sc around (12 sts)
  • Switch to MC.
  • Round 5: (2 sc, dec) x3 (9 sts)
  • Round 6-7 (2 rnds): sc around (9 sts)
  • Stuff lightly if desired. Insert hook through both loops of both sides and sc 4 across to close the opening (4 sts). See figure 8.
  • Make another identically. Do not stuff or stuff very lightly. Finish off, and sew each arm horizontally to the side of the body (see figure 9).
Fig 8: To complete arm, squash opening flat and insert hook through both loops of each side and sc across.

Fig 9: Each arm should be oriented horizontally on the body.

BERET (in MC)

  • Round 1: 8 sc in MR (8 sts)
  • Round 2: inc x8 (16 sts)
  • Round 3: (sc, inc) x8 (24 sts)
  • Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x8 (32 sts)
  • Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x8 (40 sts)
  • Round 6: sc around (40 sts)
  • Round 7: (4 sc, inc) x8 (48 sts)
  • Round 8: (5 sc, inc) x8 (56 sts)
  • Round 9-11 (3 rnds): sc around (56 sts)
  • Round 12: sc 8, place stitch marker (this is where the crest will be), sc 24, (2 sc, dec) x6 (50 sts)
  • Round 13: (6 sc, dec) x4, (sc, dec) x6 (40 sts)
  • Round 14: sc 40 (40 sts)
  • Round 15: sc 25, sl st, leave the rest of the round unworked (30 sts)
  • Invisible finish off and weave in ends. See figure 10 and 11.
Fig 10: Finished beret, side view.
Fig 11: Finished beret, view from bottom.

CREST (in CC2)

  • Round 1: 6 sc in MR, slst to first stitch (6 sts)
  • Invisible finish off. Using CC3, embroider a triangle shape in the center of the crest. Remove stitch marker from beret and sew crest in place.
  • Place beret on bear, with the excess fabric on the left side. Squash the fabric on the left flat, and crease it into a diagonal, with the top of the crease ending immediately above the crest. The crest should be in line with the right eye (fig. 12).
Fig 12: Finished crest and beret positioned correctly on teddy bear.

I hope you enjoyed making this Army Bear! If you run into any problems feel free to ask me a question in the comments section below or through email at littleworldofwhimsy@gmail.com.

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