Crochet a gingerbread pal with today’s free pattern.

Free gingerbread man crochet pattern

Another day, another new pattern! Grab your Advent CALendar yarn bundle, and read on to find the free pattern to crochet a gingerbread man, or download the PDF version here.

You will need:

• 1 ball of The Cotton One (Highland Brown)
• 1 ball of The Cotton One (Paper White)
• Toy stuffing
• 4.5mm crochet hook
• A sewing needle

Abbreviations (US terminology)

ch - chain
dc - double crochet (UK terms: tr - treble crochet)
inc – single crochet twice in the next stitch, also known as an increase stitch
inv dec - invisible decrease - insert hook into the front loop of the next 2 stitches, yarn over and pull through the first 2 loops, yarn over again and pull through the final 2 loops
rem - remain(ing)
rnd(s) – round(s)
sc - single crochet (UK term: dc - double crochet)
ss - slip stitch
st(s) - stitch(es)

Need a hand? Discover our crochet tutorial videos here.

The Pattern

This gingerbread man is crocheted in separate parts, then sewn together.

Head

Using Highland Brown, start with magic ring.

1st rnd: 6 sc into the magic ring. (6 sts)

2nd rnd: inc in every st of rnd. (12 sts)

3rd rnd: Repeat *1 sc, inc* 6 times. (18 sts)

4th rnd: Repeat *2 sc, inc* 6 times. (24 sts)

5th rnd: 1 sc, inc, repeat *3 sc, inc* 5 times, 2 sc. (30 sts)

6th – 10th rnds: sc all sts.

11th rnd: Repeat *3 sc, inv dec* 6 times. (24 sts rem)

12th rnd: Repeat *2 sc, inv dec* 6 times. (18 sts rem)

13th rnd: Repeat *1 sc, inv dec* 6 times. (12 sts rem)

Body

14th rnd: sc all sts.

15th rnd: Repeat *1 sc, inc* 6 times. (18 sts)

16th rnd: Repeat *2 sc, inc* 6 times. (24 sts)

Tightly stuff your work.

17th – 24th rnds: sc all sts.

Legs

The legs are created by splitting the remaining stitches.

1st rnd: 12 sc, skip the next 12 sts, leaving the unworked stitches for the second leg, join the rnd with ss to the first st of the rnd.

2nd rnd: ch1, 12 sc. (12 sts)

3rd rnd: sc all sts.

Join in Paper White.

4th rnd: sc all sts.

Break off Paper White, continue in Highland Brown.

5th rnd: sc all sts.

6th rnd: Repeat *1 sc, inv dec* 4 times. (8 sts rem)

7th rnd: inv dec all sts. (4 sts rem)

Fasten off your last stitch. Leaving approx. 20 cm yarn tail, cut yarn.
Thread your sewing needle with the yarn tail and pass it through each of the rem sts.
Pull tight like a drawstring to completely seal the leg.

Rejoin Highland Brown with ss to next unworked stitch of body.

1st rnd: 12 sc, join the rnd with ss to the first st of the rnd.

2nd rnd: ch1, 12 sc.

3rd rnd: sc all sts.

Join in Paper White.

4th rnd: sc all sts.

Break off Paper White, continue in Highland Brown.

5th rnd: sc all sts.

Begin to firmly fill the body with toy stuffing before the opening becomes too small.

6th rnd: Repeat *1 sc, inv dec* 3 times. (8 sts rem)

7th rnd: inv dec all sts. (4 sts rem)

Fasten off your last stitch. Leaving approx.

20cm yarn tail, cut yarn.

Thread your sewing needle with the yarn tail and pass it through each of the rem sts.
Pull tight like a drawstring to completely seal the leg.
Sew the opening between the legs with whip stitch. Fasten off and weave in any yarn tails.

Arms (Make 2)

Using Highland Brown, start with a magic ring.

1st rnd: 6 sc into the magic ring. (6 sts)

2nd rnd: inc in every st of rnd. (12 sts)

3rd rnd: sc all sts.

4th rnd: sc all sts.

Break off Highland Brown, join in Paper White.

5th rnd: sc all sts.

Break off Paper White, join in Highland Brown.

6th rnd: sc all sts.

7th rnd: inv dec all sts. (6 sts rem)

8th rnd: sc all sts.

Gently stuff the arms with toy stuffing.
Fasten off your last stitch.
Leaving approx. 20cm yarn tail for sewing up, cut yarn.

Repeat arm instructions for the second arm.

Sew together the arm opening.

Buttons (Make 2)

Using Paper White, start with a magic ring.

1st rnd: 6 sc into the magic ring. (6 sts)

Fasten off your last stitch.

Leaving approx. 20cm yarn tail for sewing up, cut yarn

Finishing

Sewing up

Attach arms to body

1. Attach first arm one round below the neck, using whip stitch. This arm will cover a total of five rounds.
2. Repeat for second arm.

Attach buttons to body

1. Attach first button one round below the neck, aligning it with the centre of the body using whip stitch. This button will cover the height of 3 rounds of the body.
2. Leaving two rounds between buttons, attach second button centred below the first button, as step 1.

Embroidery for face

1. Using Paper White and the sewing needle, insert the yarn in the 6th round from the top of the head.
2. The eyes should cover the height of 1 round and the width of 1 stitch. Make sure you work over the top of the initial stitches to fill in the eyes completely.
3. Skip 5 sts and repeat 1st - 2nd steps for the other eye.
4. The mouth will be the width of 3 stitches and the height of 1 round. To get the curve of the mouth, place a stitch in the middle of the vertical line from the round below.

How did you get on? Share photos of your Christmas pudding with a community of crafters on Instagram and Facebook.