What Is Amigurumi?

Crocheted Dolls

Amigurumi is the Japanese art (craft) which creates small, cute, crocheted or knitted stuffed toys (usually animals) with large round heads and short appendages. Nuigurumi (縫い包み) is a ‘stuffed doll’ and Amu (編む) means ‘to knit’, thus Amigurumi (編みぐるみ) translates as ‘to knit stuffed dolls’.

They are usually made simply to be admired. They can be made using crochet yarn but they can also be knitted. They need to have a tight gauge so that the stuffing material is invisible in the finished product. Polyester or cotton craft stuffing is the usual medium, with the addition of heavier material (such as plastic pellets or buckwheat) at the base, for stability.

They are usually created ‘in the round’ or in sections, to be joined together as the finishing task. Sometimes felt is used for the facial extremities.

They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can also be made using various natural materials such as: wool, mohair, alpaca, acrylic, towelling and even fake fur.

This craft has become popular worldwide in this century, though it has been practised in Japan for many centuries. The creatures are easy to manufacture using basic crochet stitches.

It has become very trendy with many patterns becoming available in books or free online and there is The Japan Amigurumi Association. Here is a link for translations of Japanese amigurumi pattern terms.

There are a number of good articles on Squidoo and Hubpages about Amigurumi, with extensive link lists to free patterns and products to purchase:

Other Resources

“Amigurumi is the Japanese craft of crocheting or knitting exceptionally cute stuffed animals , that have an incredibly unique overall appearance. Most of the free crochet patterns available for amigurumi have [...]”
Click here to view original web page at www.helium.com

“This little crocheted bag reminds of a dorothy bag that I had to sew by hand in sewing class, way-back-when. It is designed to fit the Amigurumi dolls available at the KandJDolls blog. I think this bag is very pretty and, with an approximate size of four [...]”
Click here to view original web page at www.allfreecrafts.com

“They never seem to be at a loss for ideas, and their nimble fingers do an amazing job of translating those notions into dolls. Some of the Cloth Doll Creators’ work can be seen at the Historic General Dodge House, 605 Third St. The club’s prolific members decorated a [...]”
Click here to view original web page at www.southwestiowanews.com

“It’s time to present another commissioned design: Giant Panda ! This pattern is a little later than scheduled, both because I’ve been sick and because I wanted to take some extra time to really perfect this design. Some designs come easily, and some take extra time and care to [...]”
Click here to view original web page at www.planetjune.com

“Welcome to Etsy, where you can discover over 15 million unique handmade and vintage items from over 800,000 independent, creative businesses in over 150 countries. Home › AmigurumiBarmy › Patterns Like this item? Add it to your favorites to revisit it later. From AmigurumiBarmy This listing is for a [...]”
Click here to view original web page at etsy.me

“Have you ever picked up a stuffed animal with a nice, weighty feel? Ever wondered how to achieve that feel in your handmade animals? Use Poly Pellets! Poly Pellets are small plastic-y beads that can be used to weight your stuffed animals. Today, I’ll tell you how to use [...]”
Click here to view original web page at www.freshstitches.com

“Crochet is the process of creating fabric from yarn, thread or any material strand that can be manipulated using a crochet hook. Crochet involves a process of pulling loops through other loops. Crochet differs from knitting in that only one stitch is active at one time. Amigurumi is the [...]”
Click here to view original web page at www.nonaptime.com

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