{"id":1347,"date":"2021-05-17T00:09:22","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T05:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/littleworldofwhimsy.com\/?p=1347"},"modified":"2024-01-06T21:18:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-07T02:18:41","slug":"juliet-the-mini-doll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littleworldofwhimsy.com\/juliet-the-mini-doll\/","title":{"rendered":"Juliet the Mini Doll Free Crochet Pattern"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Juliet the Mini Doll\u2014an easy amigurumi doll\u2014is my newest free crochet pattern!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Storybook Princess<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been loving making so many amigurumi dolls like the Sugar Plum Fairy<\/a> and Carmen<\/a>, and Juliet is the next one in line! She has a chibi stature just like Carmen, and features a gorgeous yellow dress with gold accents and embroidery details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doll hair can be extremely complex and frustrating to create, but I love that Juliet’s hairstyle is simple and no more difficult than any other part of the doll. She has an elegant hair cap and bun that come together to form her ballerina hairstyle, with two small braid accents. Juliet is perfect for a confident beginner who has made a teddy bear or two and maybe even a doll, but she can be simplified or embellished as you wish! Of course, the best part of amigurumi dolls is that they can be customized to match anyone or any outfit you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Another Musical Design!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Juliet’s outfit was inspired by the ballet of Romeo and Juliet<\/em> scored by Prokofiev (and the Macmillan choreography). She has a bun because she’s a ballerina, and the two little braids on either side of her head interestingly appear to be a common theme across productions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romeo and Juliet<\/em> (the play) was first produced by Shakespeare in 1597, but has origins in a story called Pyramus and Thisbe<\/em>, related in Ovid’s Metamorphoses<\/em> in 8 AD. This story in turn had roots prior to that time in an etiological myth to explain the color of mulberries. All that is to say, this is a tale nearly as old as time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, the classical composer Sergei Prokofiev wrote a score for a ballet production of Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, premiering in 1940 in Soviet Russia, to which English choreographer Kenneth Macmillan later choreographed his own performance in 1964 for the Royal Ballet, resulting in a gripping, ethereal rendition of an ancient story. In this version, Juliet is commonly costumed as a young woman with her hair coiled in a bun and braids as well as a white or yellow dress with gold accents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Romeo and Juliet during the ballroom scene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here’s another version from the same choreography, where the ballerina dancing Juliet wears a slightly different dress (still white and gold), and appears to have a similar hairstyle. The version that I crocheted does not have quite as many embellishments, but the bands across the body attempt to echo the kind of finery that Juliet is wearing in this scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see Juliet’s costume in action, watch the famous balcony scene (“but soft, what light through yonder window breaks?”), where Juliet and Romeo meet for the first time as themselves, rendered heartbreakingly beautiful through ballet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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