Crochet a Santa Doll This Christmas!
Ho ho ho! Meet our small crochet Santa doll! He’s joined our Kozu Palm Pals mini dolls Christmas series and he is just so cute! If you’re looking for a quick Christmas amigurumi project, definitely try this little cutie!
We first crocheted two elves for Christmas (Elliot the amigurumi elf boy and Ella the crochet elf girl). But we realized that we had to crochet a Santa amigurumi doll to complete the set. What is Christmas without a jolly ol’ Santa? You can create your own Santa, yarn style – no need for cookies and milk, just a little stuffing and a lot of love. You can add his trusty friend Rudolph to the mix for a really adorable set!
This mini crochet Santa free pattern would be a cute crochet stocking stuffer, small crochet Christmas gift, or even a crochet ornament (who wouldn’t want a cute crochet Santa ornament on their Christmas tree!). In fact, right now we are scrambling to crochet Santas for Kozu’s teachers before school lets out for the winter tomorrow!
So, grab your yarn like it’s the last piece of pumpkin pie, curl onto your couch in front of the fireplace, and let’s crochet a Santa that’ll sleigh the holiday game!
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About this Crochet Santa Pattern
Like all the other dolls in the series, this mini crochet Santa doll is approximately 4.5 inches tall using DK yarn and a 2.5mm hook. I really love this size because it’s versatile – it can be used to play with (it’s the perfect size for pretend play for little hands) or as part of your holiday decor.
The Santa’s head and body are all crocheted in one piece. You just have to sew on the beard, the pompom, and the arms. I recently decided to try this adorable guy in chenille yarn and I am OBSESSED! The velvety softness is so cute. He is approximately six inches tall in the chenille yarn with a 3.25 mm hook. I would love to try this guy in blanket yarn too – maybe next year!
It takes just a couple hours to make so it’s a great quick Christmas crochet project – while watching TV! You could also make the set by making all three Christmas mini dolls from our Kozu Palm Pals series.
If you would like an ads-free, print-friendly PDF version of our pattern, you can buy it from our Ravelry store.
Amigurumi Santa Claus Free Pattern
This pattern is for your personal use only and cannot be sold, copied, or reproduced in anyway without permission from the designers. You may sell finished objects made from this pattern in small quantities but please give credit to chaicoffeecrochet.com as the pattern designers.
Tools & Supplies You Will Need
- Yarn: You need a small amount of DK yarn in red, skin colour, white, and black.
- 2.5 mm crochet hook
- Tapestry needle
- Stitch marker
- Polyfill stuffing
- Two 6 mm safety eyes
- Embroidery thread: A small amount of yellow for belt buckle and light pink for lips
- One white pompom (approx. 1.5 cm)
Stitches Used and Abbreviations
This pattern is written in US terms and crocheted in continuous rounds, unless specified otherwise.
Sl st: slip stitch
SC: single crochet
INV DEC: invisible decrease
DEC: decrease
INC: two SC in the same stitch
BLO: back loops only
HDC: half double crochet
Finished size: Approximately 4.5 inches tall.
How to crochet a Santa Claus Amigurumi
Legs
Begin with black
Stuff legs lightly as you go.
Round 1: 6 SC into a magic circle (6)
Round 2: SC around (6)
Change to red
Round 3: SC around in BLO (6)
Round 4-6 (3 rounds): SC around (6)
Fasten off. Make sure that you’ve pulled the magic circle tight so that stuffing doesn’t escape from it.
Repeat rounds 1-6 for the second leg but don’t fasten off.
Body
Stuff as you go. Now we will begin joining the legs.
Round 7: Chain 2 and SC in the next unworked stitch of the first leg. Place a stitch marker in this stitch to mark the start of your round. SC in the remaining 5 stitches of the first leg until you reach the chain, SC in each of the 2 chains, SC in the 6 stitches of the next leg, and SC on the other side of each of the two chains until you reach your stitch marker. (16)
Round 8-9 (2 rounds): SC around (16)
Change to black
Round 10: SC around in BLO (16)
Change to red
Round 11: SC around in BLO (16)
Round 12: SC in each stitch around (16)
Round 13: (2 SC, INV DEC) four times (12)
Round 14: (2 SC, INV DEC) three times (9)
Change to skin colour.
Round 15: (SC, INV DEC) three times (6)
Head
Round 16: INC in each stitch around (12)
Round 17: (SC, INC) six times (18)
Round 18: (2 SC, INC) six times (24)
Round 19-23 (5 rounds): SC in each stitch around (24)
If you’re using safety eyes, insert them between Rounds 20 and 21, approximately four stitches apart.
Be sure that you have stuffed the body well, especially the neck. Continue stuffing the head.
Round 24: (2 SC, INV DEC) six times (18)
Round 25: (SC, INV DEC) six times (12)
Ensure that you have stuffed it well.
Round 26: INV DEC six times (6)
Fasten off and leave a long tail to embroider the nose. Insert needle in front loop of each stitch and pull tight to close. Embroider on the nose one row below the eyes by making horizontal passes over two stitches.
Arms
Do not stuff
Begin with skin colour.
Round 1: 4 SC into a magic circle (4)
Change to red.
Round 2-6 (5 rounds): SC around (4)
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing. Sew onto the body between Round 13 and 14.
Bottom of Santa’s jacket
Use red yarn
Attach to the unworked front loops from Round 9.
Round 1: SC around (16)
Change to white
Round 2: SC around (16)
Fasten off and weave in the ends. Use yellow embroidery thread to embroider on the belt buckle.
Ears (make 2)
Round 1: Make a magic circle and SC, inside the circle.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing. Sew onto the head approximately 3 stitches away from the eyes.
How to Crochet Santa’s Beard
The beard will be crocheted in rows.
Using white.
Row 1: Chain 13. Starting from the second chain from the hook, 4 SC, Ch 4, Skip the next 4 stitches, 4 SC (8 SC plus 4 ch)
Row 2: Chain 1, turn. 2 DEC, 4 SC in each of the chains from the previous round, 2 DEC (8)
Row 3: Chain 1, turn. DEC, 4 SC, DEC (6)
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing. Sew the beard onto the face of your doll. Use the tail to make a couple of long passes for sideburns for your Santa. Embroider on the eyebrows and mouth.
Santa Hat
Use red yarn.
Round 1: 6 SC into a magic circle (6)
Round 2: SC in each stitch around (6)
Round 3: 5 SC, INC (7)
Round 4: SC in each stitch around (7)
Round 5: 3 SC, INC, 3 SC (8)
Round 6: SC in each stitch around (8)
Round 7: 7 SC, INC (9)
Round 8: SC in each stitch around (9)
Round 9: 4 SC, INC, 4 SC (10)
Round 10: SC in each stitch around (10)
Round 11: (4 SC, INC) twice (12)
Round 12: SC around (12)
Round 13: (SC, INC) six times (18)
Round 14: SC in each stitch around (18)
Round 15: (2 SC, INC) six times (24)
R ound 16: SC around (24)
Round 17: (3 SC, INC) six times (30)
Round 18-21 (4 rounds): SC around (30)
Change to white. Leave a long tail in red to sew the hat onto the head.
Round 22: SC around and sl st to the first SC of the round to join. Chain 1 (30)
Round 23: HDC around and sl st to the first HDC of the round to join (30)
Fasten off and flip the last row up. Put a couple stitches with white yarn to ensure that it stays up. Weave in the ends.
Sew on a small white pompom to the end of the hat and sew the hat onto the head of your Santa doll. Fold the hat down to one side of the head and put one stitch using red to hold it in place.
Your small crochet Santa doll is now complete!
How do I crochet a Santa ornament for my Christmas tree?
If you would like this jolly little Santa on your tree this Christmas, that is really simple to do! Just add a little piece of yarn through the Santa hat. Tada! There you have it – an adorable cute Christmas Santa ornament for your Christmas tree! For more, be sure to check out our awesome round up of crochet ornaments for your Christmas tree.
Is it easy to crochet a Santa doll?
This Santa doll is quite easy to crochet. There are no complicated techniques. All the stitches are either single or half double crochet. The only part that may be challenging for beginners is that the pattern is very small and so that can get fiddly, particularly the arms. If you’re having trouble making the arms, you could always increase them to 5 or 6 stitches in each round instead of 4 and use a smaller hook.
How do I crochet a large Santa doll?
If you would like to crochet a large Santa doll, you can simply use thicker yarn with a larger hook. These days I’m loving using a velvet chenille yarn with a 3.25mm hook. My Santa doll came to be approximately six inches tall and just so much fun! The velvety look is just perfect for the little guy. You could also use blanket yarn. I recently tried a Kozu Palm Pals doll using super bulky blanket yarn with a 7mm crochet hook (they all have the same body sizes) and she turned out to be 11.5 inches of cuddly cuteness!
What other amigurumi can I crochet for Christmas?
Gosh – there are so many ideas of amigurumi that you can crochet for Christmas. We have the following awesome free Christmas amigurumi patterns that we think you will love! Ella the mini crochet elf girl doll and Elliot the mini amigurumi elf boy doll are part of the same series and would make for awesome companions for your Santa! And if they need a little furry friend, why not try our small crochet reindeer? If you want something larger, we have Bax the Christmas Crochet Bear. Also don’t miss our awesome round ups of free Christmas amigurumi patterns, crochet Christmas ornaments, and crochet stocking stuffers.
What are other small patterns that I can make?
If you enjoyed this quick pattern, be sure to check out the rest of our Kozu Palm Pals series of crochet dolls. Want to crochet some quick animals? We’ve got you covered! Don’t miss our Kozu Palm Pets series of small crochet animals.
