Crochet Ballerina Doll Free Pattern
Meet Zara, our small crochet ballerina doll who is just so stinkin’ cute! We had a Crochet Along to make Zoya, our larger ballerina doll. At the end of the event, we decided to crochet a small ballerina doll as a little surprise to close the CAL! And we are so glad we did!
We love this little amigurumi ballerina! I don’t know what it is about little girls and dance. I personally have two left feet but somehow, as a kid, I remember going to ballet classes. (Soon enough, my mother figured out that this was NOT my thing and my ballet classes ended!) But the idea of being a graceful dancer is something that I wish I could do. And so I decided to use the skill that I *do* have a crochet a little ballerina doll (lol!).
We love this little doll because she’s so quick and fun to make! She is a great last minute birthday gift to crochet for the little girl in your life.
Our little crochet ballerina has bangs and a bun because she was inspired by our Zoya amigurumi ballerina doll. The big and mini crochet dolls look so cute together – don’t you think?
About this Crochet Ballerina Doll Pattern
Our small crochet ballerina doll is part of our Kozu Palm Pals series of mini crochet dolls. Like all the other dolls in the series, she is just 4.5 inches tall. Her dress is crocheted as a part of her body and her hair is just a simple hair bun, which makes her really quick to make. You can crochet your ballerina in just a couple of hours!
I really love that, because she is a part of the Kozu Palm series, you can change the hair cap of your ballerina doll to that of any of the dolls in the series. That’s kind of awesome because you can have so many different looks – how cute are these?? It’s a great way to make a little lookalike doll for the little ballerina in your life!
We tried this crochet ballerina doll in super bulky plush yarn with a 7mm crochet hook and 14mm safety eyes and she turned out to be 11 inches of cuddly cuteness – and still just took a couple of hours to crochet!
This amigurumi ballerina is easy to make – it’s also a great way to use up that scrap yarn! I love making different coloured dresses using my leftover scrap yarn!
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Small Amigurumi Ballerina Doll Free Pattern
This pattern is for your personal use only and cannot be sold, copied, or reproduced in any way without permission from the designers. You may sell finished objects made from this pattern but please give credit to chaicoffeecrochet.com as the pattern designers.
Tools & Supplies You Will Need to Crochet a Small Ballerina Doll
- Yarn: You need a very small amount of DK yarn in skin colour, hair colour, bow colour, and dress colour of your choice.
- 2.5 mm crochet hook
- Tapestry needle
- Stitch marker
- Polyfill stuffing
- Two 6 mm safety eyes
- Embroidery thread: A small amount of black for eyelashes and light pink for lips
Small Crochet Ballerina: Stitches Used and Abbreviations
This pattern is written in US terms.
Sl st: slip stitch
SC: single crochet
INV DEC: invisible decrease
INC: two SC in the same stitch
BLO: back loops only
Small Crochet Ballerina Finished Size
Approximately 4.5 inches tall with DK yarn and a 7mm crochet hook
Sizing Adaptations for your Small Amigurumi Ballerina
We used super bulky yarn with a 7mm crochet hook for an 11 inch ballerina doll. For this doll, we used 14mm safety eyes and DK yarn instead of embroidery thread to embroider the eyelashes and lips.
How to Crochet a Small Ballerina Doll
Body
Legs
Stuff legs lightly as you go
Begin with the dress colour for shoes.
Round 1: SC 6 into a magic circle (6)
Round 2: SC around (6)
Change to skin colour.
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
Change to dress colour.
Stuff as you go. We will now be 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: SC in each stitch around (16)
Round 9: SC in each stitch in BLO (16)
Round 10-12 (3 rounds): SC in each stitch around (16)
Round 13: (2 SC, INV DEC) four times (12)
Change to skin colour.
Round 14: (2 SC, INV DEC) three times in BLO (9)
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, place them between Rounds 20 and 21, four stitches apart. Once you are satisfied with the placement of the eyes, remove the eyes and embroider eyelashes. Reinsert the eyes and put the washer firmly on the back.
Ensure that you have stuffed the body of your mini crochet ballerina well, especially the neck. I use the back of a scissor to get the stuffing in but you can use anything small enough to really push the stuffing in to ensure that the neck is firm! 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 the head 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.
Skirt
Once the doll is complete, turn it upside down to make the skirt. Attach the dress colour yarn to the back of the doll, in the unworked front loops from Round 8.
Round 1: (SC, INC) eight times (24)
Round 2: (2 SC, INC) eight times (32)
Fasten off and weave in the ends.
Arms (make 2)
Use skin colour yarn.
Round 1: SC 4 into a magic circle (4)
Round 2-6 (5 rounds): SC around (4).
Sew the arms on between Rounds 13 and 14. Do not stuff the arms.
Straps (make 2)
Use dress colour yarn
Chain 5 and fasten off. Leave a long tail for sewing. Sew the straps on each shoulder of your doll, over her arms.
Hair cap
Note: This crochet ballerina doll has a hair cap with bangs and a hair bun. However, any of the hair caps in our Kozu Palm Pals mini crochet dolls series will fit this doll.
Using hair colour yarn.
Round 1: SC 6 into a magic ring.
Round 2: INC in each stitch around (12)
Round 3: (SC, INC) six times (18)
Round 4: (2 SC, INC) six times (24)
Round 5-8 (4 rounds): SC around (24)
Round 9: The hair cap instructions for this round can be confusing so I’m going to break them down into sections. Please note that the next section of bullet points are all for Round 9 of the hair cap:
- First we will begin by making five bangs in the front of the head: (Chain 4, starting from the second chain on the hook, 3 sl st back down the chain, slip stitch in the next SC in the hair cap). Repeat for a total of five times.
- 19 SC
- Sl st to the first stitch of this Round.
Sew the hair cap on. Put one stitch into each of the bangs while you are sewing to keep them in place.
Hair Bun
Round 1: SC 6 into a magic ring.
Round 2: INC in each stitch around (12)
Round 3: (SC, INC) six times (18)
Round 4-6 (3 rounds): SC around (18)
Round 7: (SC, INV DEC) six times (12)
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff the bun and sew it onto your dolls hair cap.
Bow
Use the bow colour
Chain 4. Starting from the second chain from your hook, INC, sl st, 4 SC in the last chain as your work turns, sl st, INC. Sl st to the first SC.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing. Wrap the yarn tail around the centre of your bow a three to four times and wrap the remaining strand around the bun, where it meets the hair cap. Sew the bow onto your doll’s hair bun.
Your adorable small crochet ballerina doll is now complete!
We hope you enjoyed this amigurumi ballerina doll free pattern. We would love to see your finished toy, so share them on our Facebook group Amigurumi with Chai Coffee Crochet or tag us on Instagram @chaicoffeecrochet We like to share a selection of makes from our patterns in our stories and highlights.
If you enjoyed this pattern, why not try more mini amigurumi dolls from our Kozu Palm Pals mini dolls series? Or try our Zoya ballerina doll for a larger companion for your mini amigurumi ballerina doll.
What yarn do you need to crochet a small ballerina doll?
The yarn that you use to crochet this small ballerina doll really depends on your personal preference. My original Zara ballerina doll was crocheted using DK yarn and a 2.75mm crochet hook and was approixmately 4.5 inches tall. However, with super bulky blanket yarn, she turned out to be 11 inches tall. I also used acryllic yarn, as that is the yarn that I have locally available. However, you are free to use cotton yarn too to make this doll. So the yarn that you use should depend on the yarn that you’re comfortable with. It really is up to you!
How do you crochet a large ballerina doll?
If you want to crochet a large ballerina doll, try our Zoya crochet ballerina doll. She is 10.5 inches tall. You can also adapt the size of your ballerina doll by using a thicker yarn with the relevant crochet hook. In amigurumi, you should use a hook that is 2 to 3 sizes lower than that recommended on your yarn label, to ensure that your stitches are tight and the stuffing doesn’t show through.
Is this ballerina crochet doll hard to crochet?
This ballerina doll is not hard to crochet, as it uses basic stitches and techniques. However, while this pattern is fairly easy, sometimes the small parts on this doll can be a little fiddly. If you would prefer an easy crochet doll for absolute beginners, we would recommend our Zoya ballerina easy amigurumi doll. The size of the pattern makes it a lot easier to crochet.
