I work in Acme Brick's corporate headquarters as a graphic designer. As such I get to do a lot of fun things - billboards, signs, trade show booths, print and online ads, logo design, t-shirt design, powerpoint templates, webpages, all kinds of stuff. Shortly after I started working there I was introduced to "Brick Boy" our life-size mascot costume that occasionally makes appearances at events.
I made a few car decal stickers, put him on a mask design or two, and have now made him into a crochet stuffy. Compared to the recent super time consuming octopi, this guy was a breeze.
I used yarn I had on hand lying around:
- I love this yarn in Terra Cotta, acrylic, 4 weight or the like
- Rowan Summerlite 4 ply in Pure White, sock yarn
- maroon or dark red sock yarn
- black sock yarn
I made a Mr. Ramen a million years ago, so another square toy wasn't too hard. I went with the crunchy stitch for the front and back and simple single crochet panels for the sides. The body parts - front back and sides are all made with a 5mm hook. For the eyes, mouth, arms and legs in sock yarn, use a D 3.25mm hook.
Part 1: Make All The Bits
- Front and Back
- Eye whites, eye pupils
- nose
- cheeks
- mouth with lip, teeth and tongue
- arms with hands
- legs
- 6 brick "holes" for the sides
Body Front and Back, make 2, in body red or terracotta, in the crunchy stitch
Chain 26
R1: sl st in 2nd chain from hook, *(1hdc in next ch, sl st on next), repeat * across, turn (25)
R2: chain 2 (counts as first hdc), *(slst in next hdc, hdc in next sl st), repeat * across, turn (25)
R3:*(sl st in hdc, hdc in sl st), repeat * across, sl st in top of turning chain (25)
R4-16: repeat rows 2 and 3 to create texture. Bind off
Long Sides, make 2, in body red or terracotta
Chain 6, 1 sc in 1st ch from hook, 4sc across (5), chain 1 and turn
R1-23: 5sc across, chain 1 and turn. Bind off
Long Side Openings, make 6, in dark red or maroon
R1: Chain 8, skip 2 ch (counts as first hdc), 6hdc across, ch 1 and turn (7)
R2-3: 7hdc across, ch 1 and turn (7)
Chain 1 and turn your work. Do 4 slip stitches along the opening unfinished looking side to end up next to where you started your first chain. Bind off and leave tail for sewing. You will sew three of these to each of the two long sides.
Short Sides, make 2, in body red or terracotta
Chain 6, 1 sc in 1st ch from hook, 4sc across (5), chain 1 and turn
R1-15: 5sc across, chain 1 and turn. Bind off
Nose, in body red or terracotta
R1: Magic Circle, ch 1, 4 sc into circle (4)
R2: 4 sc increase around (8)
R3-4: 8 sc around (8), Bind off leaving tail to sew to body with
Cheeks, make 2, in body red or terracotta
Magic circle, chain 2 (counts as first dc), 9 more dc into circle, sl st to top of first chain (10)
Bind off with tail to sew
Eyes, make 2 in white
R1: Magic circle, ch 1, 5sc (5)
R2: sc increase around (10)
R3: *(sc, inc), repeat 5 times (15)
R4: 4sc, hdc, (dc increase) in next 4 sts, hdc, 6sc (18) (makes a sort of tall oval)
R5: 4sc, (sc inc, sc) in next 4 sts, 6sc (22)
Bind off with tail for sewing
Pupils, make 2 in black
R1: Magic circle, ch 1, 4sc (4)
R2: sc increase around (8)
Bind off with tail for sewing
Eyebrows, make 2 in dark red or maroon
Chain 5, 2sc, sc increase, 2sc.
Bind off with tail for sewing. Should be a sort of bean shape.
Mouth, make 1, making a half circle shape
R1: Magic Circle, ch 1, 3sc, ch 1 and turn (3)
R2: sc increase across, ch 1 and turn (6)
R3: *(sc, inc), repeat 3 times, ch 1 and turn (9)
R4: 2sc, sc inc, hdc, hdc inc, hdc, sc inc, 2sc (12)
R5: switch to body red, sl st in each to make bottom lip (12)
Bind off with tail for sewing
Teeth, make 1 in white
Chain 9, sl st in 1st from hook and across (8 sl st), bind off with tail for sewing
Tongue, make 1 in dark red or maroon
Chain 5, 2dc in second from hook, sl st in next, chain 2, 2dc in next. Makes a sort of heart shape. Bind off with a little tail for sewing
Hands and Arms, make 2, uses both dark red and white sock yarns
R1: Magic circle, ch 1, 6 sc (6)
R2: sc increase around (12)
R3-6: 12 sc around
R7: sc, 5dc in one stitch - remove hook and insert into top of 1st dc, then through last dc, draw up a loop and chain to secure - makes one big bobble stitch for the thumb, 10 sc (12)
R8: sc, dec, 3sc, dec, 4sc (10) (tapers the hand down a bit)
R9: 10 hdc (makes a sort of glove wrist part)
switch to dark red or maroon, you might also stuff the hand at this point and continue stuffing the arm as you go along
R10: 10sc in back loops only
R11-26: 10 sc around
Bind off with tail for sewing
Legs and Feet, make 2 in dark red or maroon, may help to stuff as you go along
R1: Magic circle, ch 1, 6 sc (6)
R2: sc increase around (12)
R3: *(sc inc, sc), repeat around (18)
R4: *(sc inc, 2sc), repeat around (24)
R5-8: 24 sc
R9: 8sc, 4dec, 8sc (20)
R10: 6sc, 4dec, 6sc (16)
R11: 4sc, 4dec, 4sc (12)
R12: 4sc, 2dec, 4sc (10)
R13-28: 10sc
Part 2: Assemble Those Bits
Sew the teeth part along the top of the mouth half circle. Sew the tongue into place.
Sew the pupils onto the white eye oval.
Place the eyes, nose, mouth and cheeks onto whichever body piece you want to be the front. You want to get a good idea of how it will all sit and overlap when sewn down. I sewed the eyes first (using a tiny bit of the white to also go through the pupil as an eye highlight at the end), then the nose between, the mouth below and cheeks last to over lap the bottom of the eyes just a little. Add the eyebrows over the eyes.
Next sew three brick openings evenly spaced along each of the long sides, if you haven't already.
The arm gets sewn into the middle of the bottom of the three brick openings. However in my case I decided to add a double pipe-cleaner to the inside of the arms to make it a little posable. This is totally optional, but if you want to, I recommend putting the pipe cleaner in while you are stuffing one arm. Then you insert the end of the pipe cleaner in through the brick opening and the long side leaving it open inside the body. That way once you get all the sides on you can poke the other end back out the other side, slip the arm over it, stuff it and sew it into place. That makes it so you have one long pipe cleaner between the two hands going through the body.
Sew the two legs to whichever of the short sides will be the bottom. Try to keep them to the center and nicely placed with a little space between.
Sew the long sides to the front with a simple stitch. I just went in and out of the holes between the crochet stitches, as I wanted there to be a very crisp edge. A whip stitch should work fine too. I worked around the face, doing a long side, then the top of the head, down the other long side and along the bottom. I did work out and back along the short corners so I could sew with one long piece of yarn and not need to cut it.
Once you have a front and sides on, you can sew the back into place. I left the bottom open along the feet to stuff it up when three sides were sewn. That also helped with sewing the other arm into place over the pipe-cleaner I had threaded through the body cavity. Once he is stuffed, simply sew up the back.
Done! Just need to figure out how to get an Acme Brick logo on him...
Difficulty: Easy +
Time to complete: 4 hours
