Greetings, fellow crafters! I'm Jade over at Sweet Softies, and I'm an amigurumi and crochet enthusiast who just loves celebrating the sweet things in life! My favorite items to design are dolls, animal toys, home décor, accessories, and clothing.
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I first learned how to crochet back in grade school, when my friend's mother taught the two of us how to crochet a little cup coaster. It was such a satisfying activity that I churned out dozens of little coasters until my large skein of Super Saver yarn had been depleted! While I put crocheting on a hold after that, I got back into it during my graduate school years when I felt the itch to pick up a new craft. At the time, I was awed by cute photos of amigurumi, and decided to try my hand at it, relearning the basic stitches through photo and written tutorials. I got hooked, needless to say, and began blogging, sharing my work on Instagram and Facebook, selling on Ravelry and Etsy, and even creating tutorials and vlogs on Youtube!
While I've expanded from amigurumi to designing a variety of crocheted items, amigurumi will always have a special place in my heart. Thus, I'm so happy to present to you my holiday design, the Ornament Bear!
Supply List
Worsted medium weight (4) yarn in desired colors (Refer to 'Color Guide' below for the colors I used, but feel free to pick your own color combinations, of course!)
Color Guide
C1: Brown (Bear head, ears, arms, legs)
C2: Off-white (Bear muzzle)
C3: Green (Ornament)
C4: Red (Ornament, scarf)
C5: White (Ornament)
Scraps of darker brown yarn for sewing the nose and mouth
3.25 mm crochet hook (used for bear and ornament parts)
6.00 mm crochet hook (used only for the scarf)
Fiberfill stuffing
Pair of 6mm plastic safety eyes
Yarn needle
Scissors
Key
MR - Magic ring
Sc - single crochet
Inc - increase
Dec - decrease
Fhdc - foundation half double crochet
Pattern
Head
Begin with C1 yarn (brown) and the 3.25mm hook.
R1: 6 sc in MR. (6 sts)
R2: Inc around. (12 sts)
R3: (Sc, inc) x 6. (18 sts)
R4: (Sc 2, inc) x 6. (24 sts)
R5: (Sc 3, inc) x 6. (30 sts)
R6: (Sc 4, inc) x 6. (36 sts)
R7-R12: Sc around. (36 sts)
R13: (Sc 4, dec) x 6. (30 sts)
R14: (Sc 3, dec) x 6. (24 sts)
R15: (Sc 2, dec) x 6. (18 sts)
Fasten off and weave in the ends.
Muzzle
Begin with C2 yarn (off-white) and the 3.25mm hook.
R1: 6 sc in MR. (6 sts)
R2: (Sc, inc) x 3. (9 sts)
Fasten off with a long tail for sewing to the head later.
Ears (x2)
Begin with C1 yarn (brown) and the 3.25mm hook.
R1: 6 sc in MR. (6 sts)
R2: (Sc, inc) x 3. (9 sts)
R3: (Sc 2, inc) x 3. (12 sts)
Fasten off with a long tail for sewing to the head later. Make two.
Arms (x2)
(Note: Lightly stuff the arms as you crochet.)
Begin with C1 yarn (brown) and the 3.25mm hook.
R1: 6 sc in MR. (6 sts)
R2: (Sc, inc) x 3. (9 sts)
R3-R4: Sc around. (9 sts)
R5: Sc 7, dec. (8 sts)
R6: Sc around. (8 sts)
R7: Sc 6, dec. (7 sts)
R8: Sc around. (7 sts)
R9: Sc 5, dec. (6 sts)
R10: Sc around. (6 sts)
Fasten off with a long tail for sewing to the body later. Make two.
Legs (x2)
(Note: Lightly stuff the legs as you crochet.)
Begin with C1 yarn (brown) and the 3.25mm hook.
R1: 6 sc in MR. (6 sts)
R2: (Sc, inc) x 3. (9 sts)
R3: (Sc 2, inc) x 3. (12 sts)
R4-R5: Sc around. (12 sts)
R6: (Sc 4, dec) x 2. (10 sts)
R7-R8: Sc around. (10 sts)
R9: (Sc 3, dec) x 2. (8 sts)
R10: Sc around. (8 sts)
Fasten off with a long tail for sewing to the body later. Make two.
Ornament Body
Begin with C3 yarn (green) and the 3.25mm hook.
R1: 6 sc in MR. (6 sts)
R2: Inc around. (12 sts)
R3: (Sc, inc) x 6. (18 sts)
R4: (Sc 2, inc) x 6. (24 sts)
R5: (Sc 3, inc) x 6. (30 sts)
R6: (Sc 4, inc) x 6. (36 sts)
R7: (Sc 5, inc) x 6. (42 sts)
R8-R9: Sc around. (42 sts)
Switch to C5 yarn (white).
R10: Sc around. (42 sts)
Switch to C4 yarn (red).
R11-R14: Sc around. (42 sts)
Switch to C5 yarn (white).
R15: Sc around. (42 sts)
Switch to C3 yarn (green).
R16-R17: Sc around. (42 sts)
R18: (Sc 5, dec) x 6. (36 sts)
R19: (Sc 4, dec) x 6. (30 sts)
R20: (Sc 3, dec) x 6. (24 sts)
R21: (Sc 2, dec) x 6. (18 sts)
Fasten off with a long tail for sewing to the head later. Stuff well but be careful not to stretch the stitches.
Scarf
Begin with C4 yarn (red) and the 6mm hook.
Ch 3. Fhdc until the scarf is as long as you'd like it to be. (I crocheted 34 fhdc and my bear's scarf measured 9 inches in length to wrap twice around the neck.)
Note: Click here for a video on the fhdc
Finishing Directions
Insert plastic safety eyes into the bear's head, leaving a gap in the middle for the muzzle. (I inserted 6mm eyes between R9-R10, 7 sts apart.)
Using some darker brown scraps of yarn, sew a nose and line for a mouth onto the bear's muzzle.
Sew the muzzle to the bear's head.
Sew the two ears to the top of the bear's head.
Using white yarn, embroider a design such as snowflakes onto the ornament.
Check out my easy tutorial with photos for sewing snowflakes!
Sew the legs to the closed bottom of the ornament. (The opening is on top.)
Sew the arms to both the sides of the bear, near where the top opening is.
Finally, sew the head and body together using the long yarn tail from the body. If needed, add additional stuffing before closing up the opening.
If desired, you may sew or fasten a loop to the top of the bear's head so that he can be hung on a tree as an actual ornament.
Congratulations on finishing your adorable Ornament Bear! You can give him a little kiss on the nose as you finish bringing him into the world! He's quite a lot of fun for little ones to play with as a stuffed animal toy.
Alternatively, he can also be turned into an actual ornament and be hung on a Christmas tree. There are so many ways to customize him to make him "your own" too, such as changing the colors and designs for the ornament portion, adding embellishments and appliques on the bear's head, and more! Ornament Bear makes a great Christmas gift, or to keep for yourself because he might be too cute to give away. I hope that this adorable décor will bring you and your friends and family lots of joy!
