Skill Investigation: Crochet Cat Plushie

Intention

I've known how to crochet and knit for a while, but I've never made anything other than a scarf before. In this project, I want to explore making 3D shapes, like stuffed animals, by using crochet.

Process

I remember seeing a project on Pinterest that was made out of two flat pieces and sewn together to make a cat. I decided to adapt what I had seen (a knitted and sewn piece) into a crochet piece, without a pattern.

For this project, I used a size D, 3.25mm crochet hook and some blue Caron Simply Soft yarn that I already had for this project. I also used some hypoallergenic stuffing I had bought a while ago, and some craft scissors.

Making the head and the body

The first crochet piece was the body, which was a single rectangular piece. I would fold the corners together to make sure it made a reasonable shape for the body of a cat.

The second piece was the head, which was 3 rows of 11 stitches, then 3 rows each reduced by one stitch on each end.

Stuffing the body

I sewed the corners of the body together using the leftover yarn attached to the piece, then stuffed the piece slowly. I would progressively stuff and sew so that there wasn't too much or too little stuffing in the animal at any time.

Stuffing and sewing the head

I then did the same thing for the head. One added level of complexity for the head is that I sewed part of the head closed on both sides to form ears. These ears had no stuffing in them and thus appear more flat and pointed than other areas of the head piece.

Sewing the pieces together, adding details

I then sewed the head to the body and used some pink thread to make eyes and a nose. After looking at the cat, I decided to add a tail (made from 2 rows of a 12 chain), and sewed that onto the cat as well. Below is the final piece.

Product

Reflection

I really enjoyed this project because it gave me a way to work in a material and craft area that I had always wanted to try! It was a great first foray into making stuffed animals, and I would love to continue working on projects like this in the future. One thing to consider if I tried this again is to use a needle or yarn of a lower gauge, because there were some areas of the fabric that ended up having large holes or gaps due to the large hook size and bigger crochet stitches.