Sewing Miffy Amigurumi

Hello crafters,

For most knitters and crocheters sewing up is the least favorite part of any project. While there are ways to avoid having to do much, such as knitting in the round, sewing up is an inevitable part of amigurumi crochet. However, while it may be a necessary step to finishing your amigurumi project, it doesn’t have to be a frustrating one. The Classic and XL Miffy Amigurumi Crochet Kits outline step-by-step instructions on sewing the crocheted components together. Below we’ve detailed some additional information you can use alongside your pattern to make sewing up as easy and enjoyable as the crochet itself.

BEGINNER’S GUIDE - HOW TO SEW UP THE XL AND CLASSIC MIFFY AMIGURUMI CROCHET KITS

All Miffy parts are sewn up using whip stitch. This is a technique used by weaving your sewing needle through the front and back loop of stitches of the two pieces to be joined. At the end of the seam, weave the yarn back through several stitches to secure.

Classic Miffy

Attaching Head To Body

In the pattern, the instructions direct you to ‘find rounds 3 and 4 of the head, and using whip stitch attach the head to the body’. Round 3 of the head has 18 stitches, as does the final round of the body that you will be attaching. Lining these 18 stitches up with each other will make it easier to sew the body to the head using whip stitch.

contrast yarn showing whip stitch 

Attaching Legs To Body

The increases and decreases in Miffy’s legs are designed to give them a curved shape like feet. When attached to her body the feet should point forward. When sewing the open sides of the feet together (using whip stitch) make sure to flatten the top parts so that the curve is facing forward and not to the side.

By sewing the open sides of the feet together into a straight line, which is then sewn to the body, Miffy’s legs are free to move and dangle from the seam line.

Use Miffy’s ears to judge the center-front and sew the legs to the front of Miffy’s body keeping a little gap between them. The legs should be sewn to the 6th round up from the base. This is important as it affects how Miffy sits.

contrast yarn showing whip stitch 

Attaching Arms To Body

Like her legs, the increases and decreases in Miffy’s arms are designed to give them a curved shape. When attached to her body the arms should curve forward. When sewing the open sides of the arms together (using whip stitch) make sure to flatten the top parts so that the curve is facing forward and not up or down.

When sewing the arms to Miffy’s body ensure that both arms are curving forward and not one forward and one back.

Miffy’s arms should be sewn to the body on the 3rd round down counting from the neckline. Using her ears and legs as a guide they should line up with the sides of her ears, slightly behind her legs. This position is important for making sure her dress fits correctly.

XL Miffy

Attaching Head To Body

Unlike the other XL Miffy components that use a tail end for sewing, XL Miffy’s head and body must be sewn together using Color A (white) yarn. Cut a piece of white yarn, about 45cm long, from what is leftover after crocheting all components. On the inside, top round of XL Miffy’s body weave the white yarn through a few stitches to secure, leaving a tale of about 5cm. This will prevent your stitches from coming undone or any tail ends coming through to the front of your work.

In the pattern, the instructions direct you to ‘find rounds 3 and 4 of the head, and using whip stitch attach the head to the body’. Round 3 of the head has 18 stitches, as does the final round of the body that you will be attaching. Lining these 18 stitches up with each other will make it easier to sew the body to the head.

Attaching Legs To Body

The increases and decreases in XL Miffy’s legs are designed to give them a curved shape like feet. When attached to her body the feet should point upwards. When sewing the open sides of XL Miffy’s legs to her body make sure that the curve is facing upwards. Using safety pins to hold the legs in position while sewing may make it easier.

The gap between XL Miffy’s legs should be six stitches (identified by counting the ‘v’s’) on round 7. Using XL Miffy’s ears to judge the center-front, sew the legs to the front of XL Miffy’s body three stitches to either side of your center.

In the pattern, the instructions direct you to ‘find rounds 5 and 9 of the body from the base up’. This means that the back of XL Miffy’s leg should be sewn at round 5 of the body and the front of the leg sewn at round 9. The legs are sewn across four rounds in total.

Attaching Arms To Body

Like her legs, the increases and decreases in XL Miffy’s arms are designed to give them a curved shape. When attached to her body the arms should curve forward. When sewing the open sides of the arms together (using whip stitch) make sure to flatten the top parts so that the curve is facing forward and not up or down.

When sewing the arms to XL Miffy’s body ensure that both arms are curving forward and not one forward and one back.

TIP: A white “dot” is created in round 3 of XL Miffy’s arms where Color B comes in. This “dot” is at the back of XL Miffy’s arms and should be facing the back when you sew her arms to her body.

Miffy’s arms should be sewn to the body on the 1st round down counting from the neckline. Using her ears and legs as a guide they should line up with the sides of her ears, slightly behind her legs.

Sewing with The Chunky Wool - don’t pull yarn too tight

The XL Miffy is made using Stitch & Story’s The Chunky Wool. Unlike the 12-ply twisted The Lil’ Merino, The Chunky Wool is roving. Wool roving is a continuous piece of fiber produced by a carding machine. If undo pressure is placed on wool roving it can split or break. As a result of The Chunky Wool’s unique composition and method of manufacturing the yarn could break while sewing up if you pull stitches too tightly. While it is necessary to pull stitches to secure when sewing up, taking a little extra care while sewing up with The Chunky Wool is advised to avoid any frustrating breaks.

Alternative sewing technique for attaching XL Miffy head and legs to body

Although the patterns say that ‘all Miffy parts are sewn up using whip stitch’ there are alternative methods. Whip stitch is the easiest and most straightforward way to sew amigurumi components together, which is why we recommend it for our Classic and XL Miffy kits. However, whip stitches aren’t invisible. When the components are all one color, as in our Classic Miffy, this isn’t an issue but where components are different colors it can look less neat. This is the case where the XL Miffy legs and head attach to the body. It is fine to use whip stitch for sewing these components together but if you don’t like the visibility of the stitches you may want to try this alternative method.

The Seamless Join

This technique is suitable for sewing an open-ended component to a closed component and creates an almost invisible join. The sewing needle is woven under the stitch of one component and then under the corresponding stitch of the other component, before going back into the hole of your first component where your last stitch came out. This technique of weaving in and out of the same holes between stitches creates the invisible seam.

Weaving in yarn tails

Unlike traditional crochet items where you have access to the wrong side (WS) of your work to weave in yarn tails, the WS of amigurumi is hidden on the inside once sewing up is complete. To weave in yarn tails in amigurumi run your needle behind, through the back of several stitches (the ‘v’s’) to secure.

Then push your needle through Miffy’s body and bring the tail end of the yarn out through a hole in your stitches on the opposite side of the component you’re sewing. Cut the end off the yarn. The tail should spring back into the stuffing and be hidden.

By weaving the yarn through the component’s stuffing before cutting, the tail end is less likely to work its way through to the right side (RS) of your amigurumi toy.

TIP: For neatness, and to ensure the tail ends are less likely to be seen, it is worth bringing all the tail ends of yarn out through the underside of Miffy’s body before cutting.

Sewing up is an unavoidable part of the Miffy amigurumi kits. Hopefully, with these additional tips and instructions, alongside the pattern, it won’t seem like such a difficult task - you might even enjoy it.

Happy crafting!