A Beginner's Guide Part 1: Break it down

(Feel like reading the introduction? If so, click here!)

Hey folks, welcome to Part 1 of A Beginner's Guide to Pattern Design! In this chapter, we'll talk about one of the very first steps to patterning your very own amigurumi plush! I think a lot of people who feel intimidated by design stop at this step... but you know what we say to that? NOT TODAY SATAN, not today! I call this step "Breaking it down". This step is essential to the patterning process because it allows you to simplify your design into manageable chunks and determine your workload. 

Ok, so let's talk about what it means to "Break it down" and how it works in practice.

To explain this concept a bit better, we'll need to refer to some photos! Let's take a look at my latest completed project: Galarian Slowpoke! (If you're distracted by his adorableness and simply can't focus on reading anymore, you can find the pattern here.)

If you are new to crochet, most of Slowpoke's body *might* appear to be one giant piece. His head, body and tail look like they could have been crocheted all at once. Crocheters experienced in following patterns, on the other hand, have a bit more of a discerning eye; they can recognize (with more ease) that an amigurumi doll is made up of smaller, separate pieces that have been sewn together. This is the skill that I call "Breaking it down"!

Breaking it down a means determining the exact number of pieces you will need to crochet (and sew together) to create your final product. I've found that the easiest way to break it down in my mind is to imagine that amigurumi is made of collection spheres, cylinders and cones. In this article, I will refer to all closed globular shapes as spheres. I will refer to oblong objects with an open end as cylinders. Pointed objects with an open end will henceforth be referred to as cones. Flat, 2-D objects (such as eyes), are a little different and I would put them in a different category. As with anything, there are going to be exceptions and pieces that you'll have a tough time categorizing. 

Alright, now let's return our attention back to Slowpoke and break him down into spheres, cones and cylinders together! Take a look at my very unscientific birds-eye drawing of Slowpoke on the left that I did prior to crocheting:

To make my drawing, I used a bunch of reference material. I looked at lots of pictures of Galarian Slowpoke on Google Images, as well as screen grabs from my Nintendo Switch. As a Slowpoke aficionado, I was fortunate enough to have 2 Slowpoke stuffies at home to use to help me as well! Use as many different reference pictures (from all angles) or materials as you possibly can! Compare and contrast each one. Reference materials are really helpful in helping you decide whether you should to make a cylinder or a cone.

From my drawing, you can see that I've divided Slowpoke into 12 individual pieces. He is made up of 1 head, 1 body, 1 tail, 4 legs, 2 ears, 2 eyes and 1 mouth. (FYI, the toes are also separate pieces, but this was something I decided to add/change after the initial planning process, so I will omit them for now...)

I've organized the pieces in the table below:

Part	Shape Type	# of Parts Needed
Head	Sphere	1
Body	Cylinder	1
Tail	Cone	1
Legs	Cone	4
Ears	Sphere	2
Eyes	2-D circle	2
Mouth	Cylinder	1

I know what you're thinking: "12 parts 😫!? That's a lot to design!" Fear not! It's not as bad as you think! To further simplify the process, consider the number of unique body parts instead of the total number of individual pieces needed. There are 7 unique body parts that make up 1 Slowpoke. This means that we will have to pattern only 7 different components, not 12!

Learning to break down an amigurumi project can be a little tricky at first. For example, it may be difficult to distinguish spheres and cylinders because when items are sewn together, certain portions of a shape are hidden from view! I have indicated hidden portions of a shape with a dashed line in my drawing.

One of the best ways to practise this skill is to reverse engineer someone else's pattern! Take a look at a finished product (like my Galarian Slowpoke, for example) and see if you can correctly divide it into the right number of body parts. Then, compare your interpretation with the actual pattern! This practice is similar to completing a quiz, and then checking your work with an answer key 😊.  Start with simpler projects (like this teddy bear by designer Julia Deinega) to help you grasp the concept a bit quicker!

This may sound counter-intuitive, but examining other artists' patterns and works will also help you develop your own style and preferences, too! You may find that you might like making cones over cylinders! Or maybe you'd employ a sphere instead of a cylinder in your interpretation of a character! Take advantage of the wide range of resources and expertise available on the internet to help you find your groove!

Want another way to practise? Let's do some homework! At the end of each chapter, I'll provide you all with an optional task to practise the skills/concepts discussed. Check out today's assignment below 👇.

Here's your homework:

Break it down! How many different individual pieces make up this Gloom? How many unique body parts would you need to pattern?

Don't forget to...

✅ ... use lots of reference photos/materials (Google Images is your friend!)

✅ ... check your answers using the pattern here.

✅ ... ask questions on my ig or in the comments here!

✅ ... share your answers in the comments!

What did you think of Chapter 1? Do you agree with Breaking it Down as one of the first steps? Did I forget to mention something?  Leave a comment down below and let's discuss!

Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon for Part 2: Scaling & Working in the round!

Cindy.