Hedgehog Taggie Baby Toy Crochet Pattern

There I was, sitting on the sofa, completely out of inspiration. I look down and see LM playing with the zipper pull on my fleece. When that was over, she looked around for something else to stuff into her mouth. Teething, I get it. My life is one big slobber ball. Burp cloths dot the living room landscape like damp tumbleweeds. Attractive, no? But it gave me inspiration to make this hedgehog taggie baby toy, so maybe LM won’t gnaw on my knuckles as much!

My pattern is inspired by this hedgehog teether, but I knew I wanted to use ribbons instead of crocheting the whole thing. I’m a sucker for mixed media, and my daughter is a sucker for tags. Hmm, sucker. Literally.

This project took me a while to figure out. My first try came out a little lopsided, but attempt number two came out much better, so that’s what I’m teaching you today. Let’s get started!

I’m trying a bit of a pictorial this time around, since I found it a bit hard to explain (to myself) what I did.

You’ll need yarn, of course, and the usual crocheting implements.  You’ll also need the ribbon for the tags.  For the stuffing, I chose to use a 1/2″ cotton piping which I magically found in my stash.  I imagine regular ol’ polyfill should also work, but this tutorial assumes you’re using piping.  I think I bought mine at JoAnn’s, but who knows really.

The ribbon pieces should be cut a bit longer than twice the length of the desired tag, think of it as a seam allowance.  So, if your tag is 1 inch, then you should cut the ribbon to be maybe 3 inches.  Ok, off to the pictures!  And don’t worry, the entire pattern is down below.

And ta da!  There you have it!  No, not really.  All you have right now is a ring with no head, but it’s a lovely ring.

Here’s the full pattern:

Supplies:

Lily Sugar’n Cream Cotton yarn in white, brown, and color of choice
Size F crochet hook
Yarn needle
Scissors
Sharp Crochet Hook or pin for poking holes in the ribbon
5 pieces of ribbon for the tags
9 inches of 1/2″ cotton piping

small amount of fiberfill (optional)

Instructions:

1. Chain 6.

2. *Work 1st piece of folded ribbon onto chain. Chain 3.*  Repeat until all 5 pieces of ribbon are worked onto chain.

3. Continue chain until total number of chains is 36.  Turn. (36 sts)

(Note: The number of stitches will depend on the length of your piping and how big you want the ring to be.)

4. Row 1 – 8: SC into second chain from hook.  Work 1 SC in each stitch across.  Chain 1. Turn. (36 sts)

(Note: I used 8 rows, but the number of rows will vary depending on your gauge and size of piping.  The crocheted piece needs to wrap around the piping, so you’ll need to check as you go.)

5. Fold piece cross-wise with right sides facing each other, wrong sides facing out.  Align the rough edges.

6. Slip stitch through both edges/ends across the width of the piece.

7. Fasten off.  Cut yarn but leave a very long tail.  The tail will be used to close the seam around, so make sure you leave enough yarn to get you home.

8. Tape the ends of the piping together to form a ring.

9. Put the piping ring around the outside of the crochet piece.  The wrong side of the crochet piece should be touching the piping.

10. Use the yarn tail to whip stitch the crochet seams together, and enclose the piping.  It may be helpful to count your stitches before you start so they line up correctly.  You’ll be stitching through the ribbon tags, with the ribbon allowance being tucked into the piece.

11. Fasten off, and weave in ends.

Head:

Round 1. With white yarn, SC 4 into a magic circle.

Round 2. *SC 1 in next stitch, sc 2 in next stitch.* Repeat from *.  (6 sts)

Round 3. Work 2 SC into each of next 3 sts. SC 1 in each of remaining 3 sts.  (9 sts)

Round 4. Work 2 SC into each of next 3 sts. SC 1 in each of remaining 6 sts.  (12 sts)

Round 5. Work 2 SC into each of next 3 sts. SC 1 in each of remaining 9 sts. (15 sts)

Round 6. Work 2 SC into each of next 3 sts. SC 1 in each of remaining 12 sts.  (18 sts)

Fasten off.  Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing.

The head is a lopsided cone, and should be positioned with the nose upwards.  Use the brown yarn to embroider a nose where the magic circle is.  Add eyes with the yarn, or use safety eyes.

Using the white yarn tail, attach the head to the ring where the joining seam is.  Optionally, you can stuff the head with a bit of fiberfill to give your hedgehog some puffy cheeks.

Wouldn’t this be great for a baby shower?  And I didn’t have to pull out the sewing machine for it either, hurrah!

I’ve got some other baby gift ideas too, both using crochet and without, so check them out before you go!

Baby Cloth Shoes

Baby Info File

Crochet Easter Bunny Rattle