Tilda Doll

Free crochet tutorial for a Tilda Doll by Diana Patskun @dianapatskun.

Using this tutorial, you can crochet a Tilda doll. Any acrylic yarn or cotton blend yarn will work for this amigurumi project. The tutorial also includes instructions for knitting the sweater, plus notes on sewing the doll's bloomers and skirt.

Materials and Tools

• Alize Cotton Gold yarn, milk color 01 (main color)
• YarnArt Baby yarn, caramel color (for the sweater)
• Crochet hook
• Safety eyes
• Toy stuffing
• Cotton fabric (for the skirt and bloomers)
• Felting wool (for the hair)
• Lace
• Stitch markers
• Needle
• Scissors

Abbreviations

• MR — magic ring
• ch — chain stitch
• sc — single crochet
• inc — increase
• dec — decrease
• (...) x n — repeat n times

Crochet Amigurumi Tilda Doll Pattern

Legs (make 2)

Row 1: Make a chain of 6 ch, inc in the 2nd ch from the hook, 3 sc, 4 sc in the last chain stitch, continue along the other side of the chain: 3 sc, inc.
Place a marker and continue crocheting in the round.
Row 2: inc, 1 sc, inc, 1 sc, inc, 1 sc, 2 inc, 1 sc, inc, 1 sc, inc, 1 sc, inc
Rows 3-4: 22 sc
Row 5: 5 sc, (1 sc, dec) x 4, 5 sc (18)
Row 6: 6 sc, 3 dec, 6 sc (15)
Stuff this part firmly with fiberfill.
Row 7: (3 sc, dec) x 3 (12)
Row 8: (2 sc, dec) x 3 (9)
Rows 9-11: 9 sc
Continue stuffing; after Row 11, stuff a little less firmly.
Row 12: (2 sc, inc) x 3 (12)
Rows 13-32 (20 rows): 12 sc
Keep adding stuffing as you crochet several more rows so the legs keep their shape.
Row 33: (3 sc, inc) x 3 (15)
Rows 34-38 (5 rows): 15 sc
Row 39: (4 sc, inc) x 3 (18)
Rows 40-44 (3 rows): 18 sc
Row 45: (5 sc, inc) x 3 (21)
Rows 46-55 (10 rows): 21 sc

Stuff the legs all the way to the top. Make two pieces.

Body

Join the legs together. I roughly find the center and pin the legs together. Place a marker and crochet in the round, working all stitches of both legs. In other words, each leg has 21 sc, so the round should have 21 + 21 = 42 sc.

Rows 56-70 (15 rows): 42 sc
Row 71: (5 sc, dec) x 6 (36)
Row 72: 36 sc
Stuff with fiberfill.
Row 73: (4 sc, dec) x 6 (30)
Row 74: 30 sc
Row 75: (3 sc, dec) x 6 (24)
Row 76: 24 sc
Stuff with fiberfill.
Row 77: (3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)
Rows 78-80 (3 rows): 30 sc
Row 81: (4 sc, inc) x 6 (36)
Rows 82-89 (8 rows): 36 sc
Row 90: (4 sc, dec) x 6 (30)
Row 91: (3 sc, dec) x 6 (24)
Row 92: (2 sc, dec) x 6 (18)
Firmly stuff the crocheted part of the body.
Rows 93-97 (5 rows): 18 sc

• Stuff the neck quite firmly too, so the head does not wobble later.
• Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing.
• To make my Tilda sit and bend her legs, I stitched through these areas with cotton thread.
• For the legs, stitch through after Row 33.
• For the body, stitch through after Row 56.
• Stitch as firmly as possible. Pull the thread tight.

Head

Row 1: 6 sc in MR
Row 2: 6 inc (12)
Row 3: (1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)
Row 4: (2 sc, inc) x 6 (24)
Row 5: (3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)
Row 6: (4 sc, inc) x 6 (36)
Row 7: (5 sc, inc) x 6 (42)
Rows 8-14: 42 sc
Row 15: (5 sc, dec) x 6 (36)
Row 16: 36 sc
Row 17: (4 sc, dec) x 6 (30)
Row 18: 30 sc
Start stuffing. Stuff firmly, shaping the head neatly as you go.
Row 19: (3 sc, dec) x 6 (24)
Row 20: (2 sc, dec) x 6 (18)
Row 21: (1 sc, dec) x 6 (12)
Finish stuffing the head firmly.
Row 22: Decrease until the opening is closed.

Arms (make 2)

Row 1: 6 sc in MR
Row 2: (1 sc, inc) x 3 (9)
Rows 3-37: 9 sc
Row 38: (1 sc, dec) x 3 (6)

Pull the opening closed and leave a long tail for sewing.

Clothes

I knitted the cardigan on double-pointed needles (YarnArt Baby yarn) in stockinette stitch on 5 needles. I cast on 24 stitches (20 for the fronts/back and sleeves, 4 for the raglan lines). Then I worked 5 rows of ribbing (K1, P1). After that, I worked raglan increases (front 7 stitches, back 7 stitches, sleeves 3 stitches each, and 4 raglan stitches, one stitch for each raglan line) until the front, back, and sleeves reached the needed width. I also finished the body and sleeves with 5 rows of ribbing.

See the photo for the bloomers and skirt. I do not know sewing terminology well and sew mostly by intuition, so it is hard for me to explain the whole process.

Shoes (make 2)

I crocheted them with YarnArt Begonia cotton using a 1.5 mm hook.

Row 1: Make a chain of 7 ch, inc in the 2nd ch from the hook, 4 sc, 4 sc in the last chain stitch, continue along the other side of the chain: 4 sc, inc
Row 2: inc, 1 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 1 sc, 2 inc, 1 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 1 sc, inc
Row 3: 11 sc, 3 inc, 10 sc (27)
Row 4: 27 sc in the back loop only
Rows 5-6: 27 sc
Row 7: 9 sc, (1 sc, dec) x 3, 9 sc (24)
Row 8: 10 sc, 2 dec, 10 sc (22)

Finishing the Tilda Doll

The hair is made from felting wool and felted on with a special needle. Tear off thin locks and attach them with the needle along the part until the hair is thick enough. Then shape the hairstyle and secure it to the head along the outline with the felting needle. Sew on the eyes. Add blush to the cheeks (I use a regular soft colored pencil).