Wait? What is “Pimp your patterns”?
Sometimes I write patterns, sometimes I follow patterns. But, you know how it goes, we, creative people, always have to add a little something ! That’s what “Pimp your patterns” is : my “little somethings”. So, in this category, I’ll be posting the patterns I followed, and all the changes I made to them so you can make them too if you’d like.
First up : Lucy Collin’s Star Wars Crochet book !
One of the first amigurumi pattern I ever followed was her jawa. I loved it so much ! So, when I heard she was releasing a kit, I knew I would get it ! Santa was faster than me :) Before going on with the pattern changes, I thought I would share my thoughts about the kit with you guys :
Pros :
• Some of the patterns are so freaking cute ! (Look at that ewok !)
• The legs are made in a very original way that allows the figurines to stand up on their own.
• It’s a real kit : for once, everything you need to make 2 patterns from the book is included, from the yarn to the stuffing, yarn needle and safety eyes.
Cons :
• The yarn. My advise? Throw it away as soon as you open the kit. It’s in a really poor quality and it will ruin your work !
• Some of the patterns are a bit wonky (that Darth Vader, oh my…)
That being said, there is 12 patterns in the book : Yoda, Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Wicket the ewok, a Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt, C3PO, R2D2 and Darth Vader. I skipped Darth Vader (for the reason mentioned above), R2D2 (which is not that bad but there are more realistic patterns on the internet) and 3PO (which I entirely re-did, *to be continued* )
So, there are 9 left. I’ll show you the first 5 today, and the remaining 4 in the second part ! The third part will be about her Etsy shop patterns.
1. Yoda
• 1st thing first : his height. If you follow the pattern, your Yoda will be bigger than the picture. Therefore, I skipped row 18 and 19. So, when I made the feet I had to count 4 stitches before the middle instead of 5 and I only made 3 stitches between the 2 feet instead of 5. Plus, rnd20 becomes “[sc2tog, sc in next stitch] 6 times” instead of 9.
• Then, his robe. It seems that there is a size issue here : if you don’t shrink Yoda’s size, you’ll have to add 2 rows to the 7th round. Plus, the sleeves are made separately. To avoid the sewing, I’d rather crochet the sleeves directly on the robe. To do so, in the third round, you’ll have to crochet 5sc IN the chains and not around them. When you’ll make the sleeves, simply insert your crochet hook in one of those stitches and crochet 10 sc around.
Rnd2: 1sc in each st (10)
Rnd3: (4sc, inc)*2 (12)
Rnd4: 1sc in each st (12)
• The arms. First of all, I made them all green. I though it was unnecessary to make a color change while the arms would be covered by the robe sleeves. Then, I also shrunk them by skipping rnd 2,6 and 7 and adding 6sc at the end.
• As for the details. I didn’t embroider the mouth but I embroidered a small nose in the same green as the head. I also embroidered eyelids around the eyes. And, I made 40 chains instead of 30 for the belt.
2. Leia
• The only big change for Leia was her hair. First, I changed the base a bit to make a part. To do so, I skipped row 10 and 11 ans replaced row 10 by : 12sc, 2hdc, 1slst, 2hdc, 13sc and an invisible finish.
Then, I changed her buns like so :
Rnd1 : 6 sc in a MR (6)
Rnd2 : BLO : inc*6 (12)
Rnd3 : BLO: (sc, inc)*6 (18)
Rnd4 : BLO : (sc2, inc)*6 (24)
Rnd5 : (sc2, dec)*6 (18)
Stuff lightly, pin on the head and sew in place.
• I also chose not to embroider her mouth
3. Chewbacca
Despite appearances, I barely didn’t change Chewie’s pattern. I thought it was a good proof that the details can make or brake a design. I have to admit that when I saw the picture, I didn’t want to make it as I though he had kind of a dumb face. Talking about it on twitch, we realized that it was probably because of his smile ! Seriously, who has ever seen Chewbacca smiling?
So, I thought I would give it a try without the smile. And while I was looking for acrylic yarn to make him, I stumbled upon this reddish variegated yarn, which was absolutely perfect for Chewie.
When I made the face, I looked at a reference picture, and I also realized that his eyes were very close one from another (kind of the opposite than the pattern picture).
So, basically, I just followed the pattern, replacing the light brown by my variegated yarn, put the eyes closer, embroidered the nose, skipped the smile…And that’s it !
4. Han Solo
• First change : the hair. I wasn’t convinced by the “incorporated” hair so I decided to make a wig, just like for Leia. To do so, it’s very simple : I only used skin color to make the head, then I took Leia’s hair pattern, removed row 10 and 11 and replaced row 10 by 12sc, 2dc, 1slst, 2dc, 13sc and an invisible finish.
• Then, I kinda did the same thing with his vest. Why not use Yoda’s robe pattern, without the sleeves rather than incorporate the vest in the body? All there is to do is to follow the instructions with black yarn from rnd 1 to 5 and add a row of 26 sc.
Plus, both those changes make the pattern easier for beginner as you don’t have to make all those color changes anymore !
5. Luke
Luke is last and there’s a reason to it. I didn’t use Luke’s pattern at all but used Han Solo’s (for the body), Yoda’s (for the robe) and even Leia’s (for the hair). In the book, Luke is in his “return of the Jedi”‘s outfit, and I much rather his look in “A new hope”. If you do too, here are the changes I made.
• The body. I followed Han Solo’s pattern, making the head in skin color and the shirt and belt in off-white yarn. Then I changed to light beige for the pants and to dark beige for the boots.
• The tunic. I followed Yoda’s robe pattern (including the changes mentionned above), then added 3 rows after row7 and 5 rows to the arms after row 4.
• The hair. As for Han and Leia, I kept Leia’s wig pattern, removed row 10 and 11 then replaced row 10 by 30sc and row 11 by 11sc, 1hdc, 1dc, 1hdc, 1slst, 1 hds, 1dc, 1hdc, 12sc and an invisible finish.
• The belt : ch27, 1sc in the 2nd ch from hook, 11sc, 3dcbob (see instructions in the book) in the 2 next chains, 12sc. Sew over the tunic.
• The lightsaber. I found that the lightsaber pattern was really weird so I came up with this one :
With grey yarn :
R1 : 4 sc in a MR
R2-3 : 1sc in each st around (4)
In the color of your choice :
R4-10 : 1sc in each st around (4) Fasten off, and close the hole.
Note : If you make the New Hope outfit, the lightsaber should be blue, if you make the Return of the Jedi’s outfit, it should be green ;)
And that’s it for the first 5 !
*TO BE CONTINUED*
Don’t forget to come and say hi on twitch for our first CCC (cyber crochet circle) on Saturday ! I can’t wait ! :)
These are very adorable, and some great tips too!
Thank you so much Britteny !
This is great. I love your chewy! What yarn did you use? I think he looks much better the way you did it.
Thank you Kim ! I used a French brand yarn : Phildar Impact 3,5 because unfortunately, we don’t have Red Hearts, Lion Brand, nor Caron here :'(
Can u tell us what the yarn you used for Chewbacca?
I used a French brand yarn : Phildar Impact 3,5 because unfortunately, we don’t have Red Hearts, Lion Brand, nor Caron here :'(
Thank you so much for doing this. I have this set and have not delved into it yet but plan to after I see your other info on the other characters.
Yay ! I’m glad you find it useful ! I don’t think the I’ll be able to release the second part next week, but probably the week after that :)
Brilliant changes. I am currently working my way through this set.
Thank you Leanne ! I loved crocheting and tweeking all those characters from the set ! Happy crocheting to you :)
I was thinking many of the same things when I looked through my kit. I can’t wait to see how you deal with Vader’s face.
Ow ! As I said, I was really thinking of skipping Vader ! Because I think he would deserve a brand new design so it wouldn’t be “small details” to change anymore. (However, I’ll probably end up making one, because, I can’t have all those characters and no Vader ^^)
how totally precious! Love these little star wars figures! How fun would it be to make a full set.
Thank you ! And it is !! I really had a lot of fun making them :)
This is lani macca. I’ve been following the CCC. You just inspired me to go buy the star Wars kit because your pattern pimping is great!
Hi Lani ! I’m glad this article made you want to buy the kit ! (I should have asked for a commission, ahah !) Happy crocheting to you :)
You should lol!
My son gave me this book for Christmas! Looking around the internet for amigurumi patterns afterwards is how I found your site. Thank you for the pimps! Perfect timing.
My pleasure ! I know a lot of crocheters got that kit for Christmas (myself included!) so I guessed this would have been a good time to talk about it ^^
There are several other kits like this, Disney Princess, Disney Frozen…both of which I have, do you plan to do this for the others as well? It would be brilliant if you did! I was on the fence about the Star Wars Kit, but after seeing your re-works, I may just put it on my list of presents that I, “can’t do without!”
Thank you!
Hi Samantha,
No I’m sorry, I won’t. I wanted this one because I love Star Wars but sadly, these kits can’t be easily found in France so we had to import it !
I hope you’ll enjoy your Star Wars kit though ;)
Have a nice day !
Hey, this is great! I alter patterns all the time – in fact, I think I’ve almost never NOT altered one:) – but I never would have thought of sharing the changes! Thanks, it really helps me to understand patterns better.
Yeah, it’s extremely rare I don’t alter a pattern either ! One of the only pattern I didn’t tweek was the zombie by Aradiya Toys !
I was wondering if you stuffed the arms in the characters, i wasn’t sure if i should just leave them because it never says to stuff them.
Your pattern pimping is awesome, thank you :)
Hi Susana ! Yes, I did except for Yoda but it was written in my pattern. Do you have the book from the kit or from her Etsy shop? Because maybe she did correct that.
I have the book from the kit, but thank you :)
My pleasure ! :)
Merçi beaucoup! I love the changes you made, I am about to finish my first amigurumi which is also my first storm trooper (not my favorite pattern, but my girls requested it). I love how yours turned out, it’s great to see how the characters look in the cotton yarn.
Hi Andrea ! Thank you ! I like acrylic yarn, but I have to admit I’d rather use cotton yarn when the amigurumi is that little, I think the details show better :)
Thank you so much for sharing your pimps of Lucy Collins Star Wars amigurumi, I am so glad I came across your post but wished I had seen it before I made the storm trooper :-S
I will soon be attempting to make C3P0 but im not in love with the pattern in the book, please can you direct me to where I can find your C3P0 pattern.
Thanks very much
Hi Dee Dee ! I’m really sorry I didn’t see your comment earlier, my C3PO is available here : https://www.etsy.com/listing/498815613
I am just starting these pasterns – are the heads to be worked in a spiral or am I to join each row in a round with a Slip Stitch?
everything is worked in spiral :)
I’m having trouble doing the tiny lightsaber. Any tips? Smaller hook? Finer yarn? Just keep trying?
Haha
Yes I know, it’s tiny and not the easier part ^^ Bigger hook might do it, but the trick is not to let your work turn on the wrong side, and put it back on the right side as soon as you’re done with the second round.
Let me know if you still have any problem with it ^^
Oooh ok. I’ll report back. Love your tweaks
Thank you :)
Thank you for your tips. I’m almost done with my Star Wars set. I used many of your changes and it inspired me to make some of my own. My husband suggested adding a neck chain to Darth Vader’s cape and I put vertical stitches on the snout.
My pleasure Carla ! I’m super glad they inspired you ! (great idea the neck chain !!)