Free Crochet Boy Doll Pattern With Step-by-Step Video Tutorial

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This cute crochet boy pattern is an easy crochet pattern made with basic stitches. This free crochet boy doll pattern includes the written pattern that is viewable for free on the blog and a step-by-step video tutorial. Advent Adam makes a great gift and can be easily customized using your favorite colors.

This page will house Weeks 1 – 3 of the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calendar Crochet Along (CAL).

  • In Week 1, we will start off our crochet along by crocheting the legs and upper body of our amigurumi boy doll Advent Adam.
  • In Week 2, we will crochet the doll’s head and give our new doll some hair.
  • In Week 3, we will finish off by crocheting the doll’s arms and adding facial features to Advent Adam with some embroidery.

Haven’t heard of the Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL yet? Check out the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calender Crochet Along home page that contains the pattern release schedule, a run down of all the excitement we’ll be working on throughout the year and most importantly, how you can join in all the fun!

For our crochet along, we’ll be making little boy crochet dolls and throughout the year I’ll be sharing enough removable doll clothing patterns for our little dolls, accessories and toy patterns to fill a DIY advent calendar. It’s easy to follow along and it’s one CAL you definitely don’t want to miss out on.

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*This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through these links. All opinions are my own.*

hands holding a crochet boy doll with text underneath that says Free Crochet Boy Doll Pattern Plus Video Tutorial

Where Can I Get a Printable Copy of this Doll Pattern and their clothing?

  • Grab an ad-free PDF, printable version of the complete doll pattern (all three parts of the doll together) and 1 full outfit pattern in one convenient pdf file in my Ravelry and Etsy shops

    OR

  • Buy the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL Bundle in my Ravelry or Etsy shops and get this pattern and all the CAL patterns in printable bundle files PLUS the following bonus patterns exclusive to the bundle:
    • Extra hair cap pattern & added embroidery instructions to make Advent Addy (a female doll) with photo tutorials.
    • Chef’s Hat & Apron pattern for the dolls
    • Swim top pattern (for Advent Addy)
    • Additional, exclusive bonus patterns with the release of each part of the bundle (there will be a minimum of 8 bonuses this year! (incl. the above listed bonuses))
blue square with text 2023 amigurumi advent calendar CAL bundle

Other Free Crochet Doll Patterns You’ll Love

Crochet doll made with this amigurumi doll pattern with a text overlay indicating this is a free crochet pattern

Important Note About The Supply List for this Doll Pattern:

We will not be utlizing all of the supplies listed in the supplies list this week. We will be using them to complete our crochet doll and the clothing that we will crochet for our doll over the coming weeks. This is not an exhaustive list of all of the supplies we will need. This is everything we will need for Weeks 1 – 11 of the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calendar Crochet Along.

Disclaimer:

Feel free to sell the item created by this pattern but please provide pattern credit back to me when posting online, and please provide a link to my blog: https://www.theloopylamb.com.  Please do not resell, distribute, duplicate, or share this pattern in any printed or digital form, or claim this pattern as your own original design.  Please do not use my photos when selling your finished items.  This pattern is for personal use only. 

Skill Level:

  • Easy

Terminology:

  • U.S. Terminology

Supplies:

Abbreviations:

Special Stitches and Techniques:

  • Invisible Finish / Join: FO leaving a long tail. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle.  Skip a stitch and place the tapestry needle through the top of the next stitch from front to back and pull through.  Place tip of needle into top of the last ST worked under the back loop of the stitch and pull through to the back of the work.  Weave in the end. Learn how to do this with my invisible finish/join tutorial.

  • Single Crochet (SC) Join: With a slip knot already on the hook, insert hook into the designated stitch. YO and pull up a loop.  YO and pull through both loops on the hook.

Finished Size:

  • Doll is approximately 10.5” tall


Gauge:

  • Clothing: 4 sts across x 6 rows = 1” square

  • Doll: Rounds 1 – 4 of the Leg = 1.5” across at widest point.

Notes:

  • Gauge is important for ensuring that all of the parts of your doll fit appropriately.  If you don’t plan to match gauge, ensure that you maintain a consistent tension throughout each project.  Using the same yarn line and hook throughout each project can also assist with minimizing gauge/tension changes.

  • The doll pattern is worked in continuous rounds (unless stated otherwise).  Do not join at the end of the round, unless indicated.  A stitch marker is used to keep track of the beginning of the round.

  • For a cleaner SCDEC on pieces worked in continuous rounds, do your SCDEC under the front loops only of each ST rather than under both loops.  This is often referred to as an invisible decrease.  Check out my invisible decrease tutorial on to see it done.

  • For pieces worked in turned rows, use a normal SCDEC stitch instead of the invisible decrease.

  • In Round 1 of the Body of the doll only, the CH 1 is counted as a ST and should be worked into in Round 2 of the body.

  • Color changes are done using the last YO of the previous stitch (except where otherwise indicated).

  • Tip: If you don’t want to use/buy embroidery thread for the freckles, use a strand of your hair color and split the plies of yarn and use one ply in lieu of embroidery thread.

You can purchase an inexpensive ad-free PDF version of this pattern with all three parts of the doll together + 1 outfit in one convenient file in my Ravelry and Etsy shops
OR
Buy the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL Bundle in my Ravelry or Etsy shops and get updates in your Ravelry library or Email (for Etsy buyers) when new parts become available.

Advent Adam Free Crochet Boy Doll Pattern Video Tutorial Part 1

Two Advent Adam dolls with an Advent Addy doll in the center
Two Advent Adam dolls with an Advent Addy doll in the center

Advent Adam Pattern – Week 1

Leg 1

Round 1: Using Color A, make a MC and SC 6 into the MC. (6)


Round 2: (SCINC) x 6. (12)


Round 3: (SC, SCINC) x 6. (18)


Round 4: SC, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) x 5, SC. (24)


Gauge Check: Piece should measure 1.5” across at widest point.


Round 5: In FLO, SC around. (24)

Round 6: SC around. (24)


Round 7: (SCDEC) x 6, SC 12. (18)


Round 8: (SCDEC) x 3, SC 12. (15)


Round 9: (SCDEC) x 2, SC 11. (13) – Add stuffing to foot.


Round 10: SCDEC, SC 11. (12)

Rounds 11 – 21: SC around. (12) – Continue to add stuffing as you go. Stuff firmly.


Round 22: SC 10, change to Color B, BLO SC 2. (12)


Round 23: In BLO, SC 10, working under both loops, SC 2. (12)


Round 24: SC around. (12)


PM into the 3rd ST of the last round of the leg.  FO.

Leg 2

Rounds 1 – 24: Repeat instructions for Rounds 1 – 24 of Leg 1 but Do NOT FO.  We will continue onto the body.

Body & Head

Round 1: Working into the top of the 2nd leg, SC 8, CH 1, SC into the marked 3rd ST of the first leg.  SC 11 around the first leg, SC in the CH and SC in the last 4 STs of the 2nd leg. (26)


Round 2:  SC around. (26)


Round 3: SC 7, SCINC, SC, SCINC, SC 7, SCINC, SC 3, SCINC, SC 4. (30)


Round 4: SC around. (30)


Round 5: (SC 4, SCINC) x 6. (36)


Round 6: SC 32, Change to Color A, BLO, SC 4. (36)


Round 7: BLO SC 32, working under both loops, SC 4. (36)


Rounds 8 – 9: SC around. (36)


Round 10: (SC 4, SCDEC) x 6. (30)


Rounds 11 – 12: SC around. (30)


Round 13: (SC 3, SCDEC) x 6. (24) – Continue to add stuffing as you go. Stuff firmly.


Round 14 – 15: SC around. (24)

Round 16: (SC 4, SCDEC) x 3, SC 6. (21)


Rounds 17 – 18: SC around. (21)


Round 19: (SCDEC, SC 4) x 2, SCDEC, SC 7. (18)


Round 20: (SC, SCDEC) x 6. (12)


Round 21: SC around. (12) – Continue to add stuffing as you go. Stuff firmly.

We are going to leave off on our doll here for now. Come back next week on January 20th for the next part of this free crochet boy doll pattern. If you don’t want to wait, the printable version of the pattern contains the full doll pattern and can be purchased in my Ravelry and Etsy shops.

Week 2 Video Tutorial – Doll Head & Hair Cap

Week 2

It’s Week 2 of the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calendar Crochet Along and this week we will be continuing to add to the body of this free crochet doll pattern. Last week we made the first and second leg and torso of our dolls. This week we will be crocheting the head and then the hair cap of our dolls.

I’ve shared tips below for troubleshooting the fit of your haircap for your doll as well.

Doll Body Continued:

Round 22: (SC, SCINC) X 6. (18)


Round 23: SC, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) X 5, SC. (24)


Round 24: (SC 3, SCINC) x 6. (30)


Round 25: SC 2, SCINC, (SC 4, SCINC) x 5, SC 2. (36)


Round 26: SC around. (36)


Round 27: (SC 5, SCINC) x 6. (42)


Round 28: SC 3, SCINC, (SC 6, SCINC) x 5, SC 3. (48)


Rounds 29 – 35: SC around. (48) – Place safety eyes in Round 32 with 7 sts in between them.


Round 36: SC 3, SCDEC, (SC 6, SCDEC) x 5, SC 3. (42)


Round 37: (SC 5, SCDEC) x 6. (36)


Round 38: SC around. (36)


Round 39: SC 2, SCDEC, (SC 4, SCDEC) x 5, SC 2. (30)


Round 40: (SC 3, SCDEC) x 6. (24)


Round 41: SC, SCDEC, (SC 2, SCDEC) x 5, SC. (18)


Round 42: (SC, SCDEC) x 6. (12)


Round 43: (SCDEC) x 6. (6)

FO leaving a long tail.  Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle and weave through the FLO of the last round and cinch the top closed (See this done in my Ultimate Finish Tutorial ).  Weave in ends. 

close up image of two crochet boy dolls and a girl doll with their heads together

Getting Your Hair Cap to Fit Your Crochet Boy Doll

Once we’re done crocheting our hair cap for our boy dolls, it should slide onto the head of your Advent Adam doll easily. If it doesn’t, it could mean a couple of things:

  • Your gauge/tension changed between doing the doll’s head and its hair or,
  • You over/understuffed your doll.

The pattern parts for the head and hair cap of this doll design were split up deliberately to be worked in the same week in order to help minimize any fit issues that may occur. Crocheting your doll head and hair cap in the same sitting, odds are that your tension won’t change too much and your hair cap should slide on smoothly. But, sometimes, things still happen.

What to Do If Your Hair Cap Doesn’t Fit

If your doll’s hair cap does not fit, unfortunately, you’ll have to rip it out and try again. When you do try again, try adjusting your tension. If your cap was too tight, try loosening up your tension on the yarn or going up a hook size. If your hair cap was too big, try tightening up on your tension or going down a hook size.

Hair Cap for Adam

Round 1: Using Colour C make a MC and SC 6 into the MC. (6)


Round 2: (SCINC) x 6. (12)


Round 3: (SC, SCINC) x 6. (18)


Round 4: SC, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) x 5, SC. (24)


Round 5: (SC 3, SCINC) x 6. (30)


Round 6: SC 2, SCINC, (SC 4, SCINC) x 5, SC 2. (36)


Round 7: (SC 5, SCINC) x 6. (42)


Round 8: SC 3, SCINC, (SC 6, SCINC) x 5, SC 3. (48)


Rounds 9 – 12: SC around. (48)


Round 13: SC, HDC, DC 43, HDC, SC, SL ST. (48)


Round 14: SL ST, work the following stitches in the BLO (SC, HDC 43, SC), working under both loops, SL ST 2. (48)


Round 15: SL ST, work the following stitches in the BLO (SC, HDC 41, SC 2), working under both loops, SL ST.  

FO using invisible finish (see special techniques), leaving the remaining stitches unworked and leaving a long tail to sew onto the head.  Thread tapestry needle onto tail and sew the hair onto the head to secure.

Other Easy Amigurumi Patterns To Check Out

amigurumi ladybug in red and black made with this free crochet ladybug pattern
small crochet bird made with this amigurumi bird crochet pattern

Week 3 Video Tutorial – Doll Arms & Embroidery

Week 3

It’s Week 3 of the 2023 Amigurumi Advent Calendar Crochet Along and this week we will be completing our dolls by crocheting them some arms and then we will be using embroidery to add a little detail to their faces.  The embroidery step is totally optional however it really breathes a lot of life into the end product.

Part of the embroidery we will be doing is to add some freckles to our dolls. There is no right or wrong way or perfect number of freckles to add. Just have fun with it. I’ve included some tips for using yarn instead of embroidery thread for your freckles as well as a photo tutorial showing you how I’ve done them. There is also the video tutorial where you can watch me add freckles to my little boy doll as well.

This is the week to make your DIY advent calendar as well. While I chose to use the same configuration that I used last year, feel free to experiment with how you configure your boxes. Check out the video tutorial at the end of this page to see how I make my advent calendar.

Arms (Make Two)

Round 1: Using Colour A, make a MC and SC 6 into the MC. (6)


Round 2: (SCINC) x 6. (12)


Rounds 3 – 4: SC around. (12)


Round 5: TR, SC 11. (12) – pop the TR ST to the outside of the fabric.

Rounds 6 – 20: SC around. (12) – Add stuffing to the arms as you go.


FO leaving a long tail.  Whip stitch the opening of the arm closed and sew it onto the body of the doll, 1 round below the narrowest part of the neck.

Nose


Take a length of Colour A and embroider a nose in Round 30 across 4 stitches.  Sew over the stitches multiple times until the nose sticks out from the face slightly.  FO and weave in end.

Adding Whites to Eyes

  1. Using white embroidery thread held double, insert needle through back or side of head and out through the stitch located closest to the center-point at the top of the eye. 

2. Lay embroidery thread along the outside edge of the eye and insert the needle into the stitch located closest to the center-point of the bottom of the eye. 

3. Bring needle out through any stitch (ideally closer to the second eye, not catching any yarn) and pull the embroidery thread until it lays snuggly along the outside of the eye.

4. Insert needle back into same stitch you came out of (not catching any yarn) and out through the stitch located closest to the center-point at the top of the second eye.

5. Repeat with steps 2 – 3 on second eye. FO.  

Adding Freckles To Our Crochet Dolls

To add the freckles to our dolls, we’ll be creating a series of simple knots that will lay on top of the fabric. For Advent Adam, I used a brown embroidery thread that was similar to the hair colour I had chosen but for Advent Addy, I didn’t have an embroidery thread to match so I used the yarn that I used for her hair cap to embroider her freckles.

To use yarn instead of embroidery thread, I split the plies of my yarn apart and used two plies of the yarn held together in lieu of embroidery thread. For smaller freckles, use one ply of yarn but just be careful not to pull too tightly on the strand as it will be much weaker and could likely break when pulled tightly.

For my little boy doll, I did three freckles on each cheek and for my little girl doll, I did freckles that span from one side of her face to the other. How many freckles you do is totally up to you.

Adding Freckles

  1. Using brown embroidery thread held double (or whatever colour you’ve chosen for your freckles), insert needle through back or side of head and out through the stitch located in the cheek. 

2. Tie a knot in the thread as close to the fabric as you can.

3. Insert the needle back into the doll in the next closest stitch possible. The freckle should sit on top of the post of the stitch.

4. Bring the needle out in another spot on the cheek, where you’d like to place your next freckle.

5. Repeat Steps 2 – 4 until you have reached your desired number of freckles on that cheek.

6. Repeat Steps 1 – 5 on second cheek. (see image of completed embroidery below)


Feel free to experiment with your placement of your freckles.  As you see on Advent Addy, I have added freckles across her nose and both cheeks where Advent Adam has 3 freckles per cheek.

Making Our DIY Advent Calendar

Now that we have completed our dolls, our next step is to create our advent calendar that we will put all of the doll’s clothes and accessories in. It’s great to do this at the beginning of the project so you have a convenient place to store your completed projects throughout the year.

To make our advent calendar, you’ll need 24 cardboard boxes that measure at least 2.7” square (I got these advent calendar boxes on Amazon), a hot glue gun, glue sticks for the hot glue fun and any additional items to decorate your advent calendar you may wish to use.

DIY advent calendar video tutorial:

Decide on a configuration for how you would like to place your boxes. I placed mine in stacked on top of each other, with the boxes opening outward because I felt it was the sturdiest way to put them together. I did 4 rows of 5 boxes and 1 row at the top of 4 boxes. Last year, a few folks that were participating put their boxes into a Christmas tree configuration which was really cute.

finished diy advent calendar held in a woman's hands

Once you have decided how you’d like to stack your boxes, glue your boxes together. Once the boxes are secured and the glue has cooled, use the stickers provided in the kit (or use number stickers, a marker, etc) to mark the numbers 1 – 24 on the boxes. They don’t have to be in any particular order, just as long as all the boxes have their own unique number from 1 – 24.

Most advent boxes have the numbers mixed up so the kids have to work to find the numbers, making it part of the fun. For the youngest kids, I’d put my numbers in sequence to make it easier for them but kids that already know their numbers can handle having them mixed up.

At this point, you are done your advent calendar but should you choose, you can decorate the box further to make it more festive. Some fun additions to the boxes are ribbon, stickers, glitter, puffy paint and more. Have fun with it and don’t worry about being “perfect”. Kids don’t notice those things and they’re going to be too excited to notice the things we adults think are “wonky”.

Week 4 of the CAL is now live and we’re making amigurumi overall shorts for our dolls.

I’d love to see your crochet creations! Share your amigurumi dolls made with this free crochet boy doll pattern with me on social media by tagging me @theloopylamb or using #theloopylamb in your posts.

Join The Loopy Lamb Crochet Community Facebook Group to connect with other crafty friends and share your fabulous projects made with this free crochet pattern! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest so you don’t miss a thing.
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