I’m working up a draft of an amigurumi pattern while I wait for the yarn I want to use to arrive and I thought I’d share a bit of my process and share some of my favourite tips to help improve your amigurumi crochet projects. What if I told you that you most likely have something in your home right now that can make the difference between your amigurumi crochet project looking haphazard and it being profesionally done? What if I told you that if you don’t have some of these items in your home, that you could get them for probably under $5? You’d probably be saying “shut up already and tell me what it is!”, right?. This magical little item that is often overlooked is sewing pins. Simple, sewing pins. Keep reading and I’ll tell you how to use them to improve all your amigurumi crochet projects.
Pin these Amigurumi Crochet Project Tips for Later Save
Sewing pins may seem like they don’t have a place in the crochet world but these little guys are incredibly handy when it comes to amigurumi projects. They can save you a lot of time and frustration when the time is taken to use them in an amigurumi project. It can make the difference of a polished and professionally done amigurumi project and one that looks a bit sloppy. I’m not saying everyone is looking to sell their items or be professional crocheters (ok, we might actually want that last part) but we all want the best results from our projects and sewing pins can help you get them with little to no investment.
TIP 1: Get Those Limbs in Line!
This little guy may look like a bit of a mess but this mess helps me not only visualize how he will look with the pieces I’ve made attached but it helps me get the ultimate placement for my arms and other attachments that are being sewn on. Sometimes one crooked or ill-placed piece on an amigurumi project can be the difference between your project looking cohesive and polished or sloppy and rushed. So use your sewing pins to pin those pieces onto your project before jumping into sewing. Take your time and be sure you’re happy with the placement before you sew and you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache later.
TIP 2: Use Them to Outline Your Embroidery
Full disclosure: I am not very good with embroidery. I’m a Type A perfectionist and embroidery can be frustrating for me. So, to make things easier for myself, I outline where I want to embroider with sewing pins. I’ve gone a little overboard in my picture here to make it more obvious but that line of pins across his face? That’ll be where his mouth goes. That pin right under the mouth? That’ll be an itty bitty tooth stitcking out. The pins help me know where I want to place them and visualize what it’ll look like before I get started.
Use these Tips to Make These Amigurumi Projects:
TIP 3: Use Them to Create Consistency When Making Multiple Amigurumi Crochet Projects
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re making multiple projects from the same pattern, create all your pieces for your projects first and get your pins ready. Pin the pieces to each body and line them up to see if you find any noteable differences. If you find one that doesn’t match, simply pull the pins and readjust that piece. Once you’re satisfied with how they all look, sew on the pieces and at the end you’ll have items that should all look nearly identical. This is a great tip for those creating to sell for shops or markets.
It is crazy how something as small and simple as a sewing pin can help to improve your amigurumi crochet projects so much. I hope you enjoyed these tips and found them helpful. Have you used sewing pins with your amigurumi crochet projects before? Do you use them in a way that I haven’t mentioned above? Let me know in the comments below.
While you’re here, you may like checking out some of my free amigurumi crochet patterns:
