Crochet Tummy Patch Ideas for the OG LBF Animals

crochet rainbow, iron on moon transfer, felt heart

What The Patch Is For:
This tummy patch pattern is the perfect size for my smaller Little Bigfoot series, the ones between 6 and 7 inches tall.

You can use the tummy patch for any project, here is the link list to the Little Bigfoot animals:
  1. Temple the Cow
  2. When Pigs Fly
  3. S'mores the Horse
  4. Rainbow Sprinkles the Unicorn
  5. The OG LBF Hippo
  6. The OG LBF Bear
  7. Gruffy the Goat
Adding a tummy patch,
This gives you the option to add a bit more flare to your little animal and make it into something original to you. You can embroider onto the patch, glue on felt pieces, sew on initials, use iron on transfer paper. You or your child could draw something, scan it then use that as an iron on. This would make your amigurumi a treasured keepsake. The ideas are endless, have fun!




I'll give you instructions for a couple of ideas but feel free to play around with ideas of your own.

Tummy Patch: Use the same yarn weight and hook size you made the animal with.
1) magic circle or adjustable loop with 6st (6)
2) 2sc in each st (12)
3) 1sc in next 3st then 2sc in next st (15)
sl st next st and f/o leaving a long tail for sewing. Stretch out the patch with your fingers, make sure it's flat and the edge is even looking all around before sewing it to the tummy or before adding anything to the patch.

Do not sew the patch onto the tummy until you have added what you want to the patch.



Embroidered Rainbow:
It is hard to embroider an image onto yarn and keep it neat and tidy looking. I will tell you how I did the rainbow for my unicorn but I'm sure there's other ways to do this.
You could use thread (if you have clear thread, even better) and sew the yarn strands in place but I found gluing the rainbow quick and easy.

  • Using a sharper end needle will make this job much easier. I used 4 strands of worsted weight yarn to make my rainbow.
  • Starting at the bottom of the rainbow, pull the first color through from the back of the patch to the front of the patch. Come through just under, and on the side of, the center hole of row 1.
  • Go back through the front to the back, over just a bit, there's one visible stitch hole between the ends of the first color.
  • Stack the other colors, one by one to the top. When you pull the next color through, bring your needle right beside the previous strand of yarn.



  • Once all the colors are in place, press the the strands with your thumb into the patch, press all around the rainbow. This will help them stick together for the next step.
  • Gently lift the rainbow up and rub either tacky glue or hot glue onto the patch. Make sure you rub the glue evenly over the entire surface under the rainbow.
  • Gently lay the rainbow back down and press it into the with your thumb to make sure all the strands of yarn come in contact with the glue.
  • If you used tacky glue, set a book over top to weigh it down, and let the glue fully dry before doing anything else to the patch. I used hot glue which dries almost immediately.
  • Turn the patch over, lift all the strands up and run a bead of glue under them. Lay the strands over the bead of glue, rub them into the glue then trim the strands as pictured.







Iron On Transfer:

Another option is iron on transfer. I'm not so computer smart that I can give you a tutorial on resizing images to fit the patch but if you are using Windows Photo Viewer then I can help you.
  • Of course, you need iron transfer paper.
  • Choose an image on google. I chose a blue moon since the color matched my alicorn.
  • Once you decide on an image, right click and save image as...
  • Go to your saved images, click on the image you chose, click print. From there choose "contact sheet" then make sure to unclick the box that says "fit picture to frame" then click print.
  • Please try this on a regular sheet of paper first to be sure it will print the right size for you. That way you will not waste any of the iron transfer paper if it doesn't work.
  • Follow the instructions given on your iron transfer paper.



Glue or Sew On Felt:

Here's one of my bears with a heart patch cut from felt that I hot-glued in place. The ideas are endless, have fun!





How To Sew The Patch On:
When you sew this patch to the tummy, keep your stitches on the inside edge of the patch. Sewing on the inside will give you a clean edge around the patch.
If you are giving this to a small child then you will want to add extra holding stitches to the patch. Put those as pictured below. Top, bottom and on both sides so that the patch can not be pulled off.
Sew gently, don't pull any stitches too tight or you will alter the shape. You could also hot glue the patch to the tummy then sew around the inside edge. Do not put the hot glue close to the edge of the patch or it could ooze out of the sides and be visible.







Comments

  1. You are just an incredibly giving person. Wow! What a heart you have. Thanks for helping make my kids smile. They love all the stuffies I've made for them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have made Two unicorns one actually opens at the belly and I put a lip balm inside. The other I made the stuffed toy but braided the main

    ReplyDelete

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