Minecraft Steve Doll Pattern Progress

Someone asked me if I had written the pattern for the Minecraft Steve Doll I had made and posted in a previous post. It’s been a crazy busy year and I got side tracked. I had every intention to get this out a lot sooner but you know what they say about good intentions and all :-).

As I’ve mentioned before, I can read patterns and am passable at writing them (which is why it’s taken me so long to get this out). I had hoped to make another doll and force myself to write down what I did as I went but I just haven’t had the time to make one. So I’ve started a new one recently and my goal was to finish the doll with the changes I wanted to make to the last doll and post the pattern the last two Fridays. The first Friday, I realized there was no way I was going to finish the doll and it’s pattern by my deadline. Instead, I thought I could give a tutorial on what I did so that people could make it from that and I would still have a post for Freebie Friday and I would finish the doll by the following Friday and I would have an actual pattern.

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Freebie Friday – Completed Rag Dolls

I finished my first rag doll at work and it was a huge success. The kids were very curious about what I was making. When I told them, they were all very excited. I told them I was working on something I thought they could all make once they learned the single crochet. I just grabbed some random colors we had in our yarn drawer. Another student was using the tan color so I grabbed yellow because it was lighter than the other colors we had. Another student recommended the blues for the body. What I didn’t realize was that the students would see Spongebob Square Pants and Steve from Minecraft. One kinder kept telling me I should make princess Jasmine from Aladdin because of the light blue I was using. Meanwhile, I was just making something random but it definitely got me thinking about future rag dolls and what characters it easily lends itself too. The doll didn’t take me long to make so the whole project was a winner. I can make them quickly for the prize box, I can teach the kids a project they can finish and it lends itself so easily to characters the kids already love.

Here’s my first attempt. I used very little stuffing which made it soft and cuddly (and also easy to make). A fifth grade student kept telling me he really wanted it. I told him when he made it to the prize box, I would give it to him. I was going to add hair but my student wanted it just like this so no hair :-).

The second one was inspired by my Minecraft loving students 🙂 My daughter, ever the faithful critic, thought the body was too long for the first doll so I shortened it by a few rows for this second doll. Haven’t decided which one I like better. I intended to make Steve’s feet with black or dark grey yarn for his shoes but I forgot so I will probably attach a pair of black shoes after.

Second Crocheted Minecraft Steve Doll

I finally finished the second Minecraft Steve Doll. I made a few changes on this doll from the first one that made it easier to put together. With the first doll, I started with one large panel for the head and one large panel for the body. I crocheted in the front or back post to create edges where I wanted them. But then, for the arms and legs, I had the bright idea to make a panel for each side. At the time, I was thinking that it might create a better edge. However, I ended up having to sew up so many sides I was going cross-eyed. I also didn’t use the best sewing technique I could have to get better edges. For the first one I seamed with a whipstitch. On this one I used something different. I’m not sure what it’s called (I searched the internet with no results to my utter frustration). I also made the arms less wide than that first doll. The end result of that first doll was good but I think this second doll was better.

Here are all the panels I made for this doll.

This is the head in all it’s glory.

Minecraft Steve Doll

I tend to make a lot of girl  stuff when I crochet. I make pretty girl dolls, pretty girl purses, pretty girl hats. You get the idea. Unless someone asks me to make something specifically masculine like say, my husband or son, then whatever I make is going to be girly. That’s why I decided to make some ‘boy’ things when I knew I was going to do a craft fair at the elementary school where I work. I already had the girly, pretty items and needed some things the boys would like. That’s when the idea for creating Minecraft items was born. I run an after school program and the boys (and the girls too) are heavily into Minecraft, so I shifted into high gear (naturally, I waited until the last second to start crocheting these items) to produce something I thought they would like. I managed to make three beanies (a picture of the beanie is in the previous post) and one doll. The doll was a big hit. I found out from the children that the character I recreated was called Steve. I just copied the character from pictures of the game and had no idea what it was called. When the kids picked it up, they would excitedly tell their parents it was Steve from Minecraft. I then pretended I knew that all along :-). That doll sold and now I’m making another for a family member who wanted it also. Of course, I didn’t write down what I did. Luckily, I took a picture of it so I can sort of, kind of, figure out what I did to make it again.

My first attempt at a Minecraft Doll. I am pretty happy with it.

Now that I’ve done it once, I know what I found difficult and what I would do differently. For example, when I started this one, I planned to create the straight edges by making rows and crocheting in the back post when ever I needed an edge. I did that with the head and the body. By the time I was ready for the arms and pants, I got the bright idea to do panels and sew the hard edges together. I ended up with so much sewing, I instantly regretted doing it that way but I was stuck so I finished the same way. In the end, I was happy with the results but I think the new one is coming out better. My next post will be about my process for making the new and improved Minecraft doll (without all the extra sewing)!

Superman Beanie

I’m so excited! I just sold a beanie to someone I met at a craft fair where I had a booth selling my crochet. The person bought a Minecraft beanie I had made.

This is like the hat that sold.

He asked if I could make one with superman as the theme. I told him I was up to the challenge and I went for it. He showed me an illustration that looked very simple to duplicate. I delivered it today and he loved it.  Here’s what it looked like.

This is the actual hat I delivered today.

A side view that shows the color work.

Instead of crocheting in the round for these hats, I opted to crochet in rows since I wanted the ‘hair’ to go down the sides of the face in graduated steps. I did my increase rows in the same way I would as if crocheting in the round, top down.