Tips and tricks
How to avoid floppy head in amigurumi?
Jun
Have you crocheted a toy and finally realized that although you made everything as described in the pattern the head is drooping and the toy doesn`t look as nice as it should? This amigurumi tutorial is about how to avoid the toys head becoming floppy.
I am going to share with you a small tip that has helped me to avoid floppy head, something I´ve discovered during the years I`ve worked on my amigurumi designs. I hope you find it useful too. I´ve been using it for a long time and it works great for me. So here it comes.
1. Fill the head and body firmly.
It`s enough of the stuffing when the piece is still resilient and springs back into shape after you compress it with fingers. Neither does it tear up the stitches so the stuffing would become noticeable.
2. Start sewing the head and body together and finish about 2/3 of the seam.
3. Add some additional stuffing between the head and the body. This way the two pieces will not be separate anymore, instead they become one whole.
4. Finish the seam and your done.
It couldn`t be any simpler! I hope you`ll find the tip useful.
I have put a wooden chop sick in the neck and surrounded it with as much stuffing as possible,
Thats what I do too
Thank you for the ideas. I am making a Betty Boop and with the head much larger than the body I have had a really hard time with the floppy head problem. I will try some of these ideas.
Another tip is to crochet a tube, stuff it tightly and close the ends. Make it big enough around to fill the opening between the head & body and long enough to extend into the head & body far enough to stabilize. Stuff around the tube to make the neck firm. This will work whether the head is a part of the body or is stitched on later. It works great and washes really well.
Hi fellow amigurumi makers!
I recently read a great tip ( haven’t tried it yet- -but definitely plan to) use the soft foam twist hair rollers from dollar store! The kind that you roll up & bend ends to hold hair Of course keeping them straight should give the support we’re looking for! May have to use a couple- and should be safe to wash!!
Great tip!I have another, I also work with Plastic Canvas, so, depending on the size of the neck, I cut a piece of Canvas @3-4 inches wide long enough to make a circle to fit the opening and overlap. I sew the PC in a ring, place inside the 2 pieces (head and body) and be sure to put stuffing inside the ring of PC. This also works to make sturdier legs. AND it is washable!
I´ve never tried it this way! Thanks for the idea.
Great idea! So simple, thank you :)
Great tip. I make a lot of amigurumi and floppy head is so irritating. As i write this I am making a Panda for my great granddaughter.
Wonderful tip! Will have to try this! Never thought of doing it before Thanks so much!
Oh, honey, I’ve been making crochet dolls and animals for the last 40+ years and learned that top a long time ago. It works too for standing animals.
Thanks for the tip. Just starting amigurumi and being disabled makes it a little challenging. I appreciate any tips.
Thank you ever so much. I have been so frustrated by the floppy head. Just started with the amigurumi dolls. Now I have more guts to try this again
Thanks for this tip. I never thought of this. Floppy head is so annoying
I love this tip. How about animals that have a long neck, do you have any tips for them? I made a giraffe one time and did not like how it turned out. I now stay away from patterns like that. I even shy away from things like horses.
I can imagine this could be a serious issue. However, at the moment I have no good tip to share to avoid this…
I use Popsicle sticks
I have used qtips and this works fairly well.
I save and use the sticks that come in the bag of stuffing. Pretty sturdy and can be adjusted to size.
If you ask your local shoe shop they’ll give you the plastic straws that keeps the shoes shape. They just throw them away
I use wire for some things to stabilise the long neck.
You can use glue sticks. This way the toy is still flexible but firm and you can wash as many times you want and it won’t deteriorate
This is a great idea!
I am making an amigurumi ballerina, and it says in the middle of the instructions: “Tip: if you want your piece to be more sturdy, insert a hot glue stick into head & body for structure.”
It`s not my pattern, right? I cannot imagine washing a toy when it has a glue stick inside…
I would use a wooden dowel, it’s the only thing I found that works perfectly for floppy heads or amigurumi’s that have to stand up.
Hi, Stacy! How tall is the wooden dowel you`re using? Does it stay in it`s place even if the kid is playing with the toy?
I made a couple of giraffes. I used a cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels. You cut it the length you need, slip it in there and stuff it. I used this technique on my dolls too. I like to crochet the head right from the neck to avoid sewing
I like the idea! The only negative side is that it can`t be washed…
Thank you, great tip! But I often use another method to ‘join’ bodies and heads. Sometimes the body is made up to a number of points, and from there you increase again to make the head, so you don’t need to sew them together. Even though I try to put a lot of stuffing in the neck area, I can’t avoid the fluffy head. Do you have any advice on that? (I know I could make the head and body separately, but I’d prefer not to…)
I have no better tip for that method than to stuff as good as you possibly can. I do have some designs with that way of construction too, but I mostly prefer sewing the head and body together, because the result lasts longer.
I use dowell sticks, pencils or copper/electrical wires and band it with tape it also helps the dolls to be able to bend in positions 😘 ps. You can cut the sticks to the length you need.
I crochet for babies, and we were told to overstuff to the point of the toy being as hard as a rock (without seeing any stuffing thru your stitchwork.) We were told that the toys needed to be washed several times before giving to the babys, and by that time the stuffing has softened and lost a lot of it’s packing pressure.
That`s definitely something new to me. Can`t agree or disagree, because I haven`t used this method myself.
I am currently making a fox that does not have a head and body that attaches like that but instead they are too totally different pieces, how do I get the head to not be so floppy?? I was thinking of sticking a stick between the two but I am afraid of having the stick fall out (making it for a child)
Hi! I agree, a stick might be dangerous if it should pop out of some place. Here`s what I would do: 1. make sure both pieces are stuffed sufficiently before I start sewing them together, 2. make sure to grab as much surface as possible when attaching them to each other.
Thanks so much ! Why didn’t I think of that? 😃
Thank you for the wonderful tip!
Great Tip! I’ll have to take apart the bunnies I made for my daughter and husband and fix the heads. :)
Love you teddy bear and great tip thank you. If I may ask, where did you get the teddy pattern from?
It`s my own design, thank you! You will find the pattern here: https://www.lilleliis.com/product/amigurumi-teddy-pattern/
I wish I had this wonderful tip last Easter. My first amigurumi, a floppy eared bunny with a floppy head. Do you think I could repair it? Take it apart?
Absolutely! You only need to take the head apart from the body. And when you`ve tried repairing your bunny, please let me know how it went.
I’ve used this tip and it’s really effective. Thank you for bringing it to everyone’s notice.
That’s a good tip and I will be using it shortlybi have just started doing amaguri toys and love it thank you for the tip
thank you,do you have a tutorial to change colors?when i change it´s sees an step beetween the old and the new color
Thanks, it`s a good idea :) I can already tell you that you need to change the color in the end of the last stitch of the previous round. Then you can start the new round with the new color.
When you change colors use the new color when you pull through the previous stitches so the new color will be the one stitch that is on your hook when you “start” the next stitch.
Thanks a million I have made so many and the head always drooping. This time I will take the tip given by you. Thanks again.
Margaretanne.
Thank you for the tip! I’ve just started making mermaid dolls and have been having trouble with this.
Great “tip” I am Pinning and passing it on. Thank you very much, I love crocheting amigurumi.
Sister From the South,
LindY G