How to Prevent Floppy Head in Amigurumi

It took me about 18 months to find the answer to this. It wasn’t my initial question to begin with. I first wanted to crochet my amigurumi in a way where I did not have to sew the head onto the body, like most amigurumi designs.

My problem was:

• That I always sewed my head on crooked. 
• And I couldn’t use pins to keep the head in place because I have young children that get into everything!

So I wasted countless and faceless amigurumi prototypes to find the right way to keep the amigurumi head straight AND prevent floppy-head in amigurumi at the same time.  

By combining these four basic amigurumi techniques, you can prevent floppy-head in your amigurumi without wires. 

Those four crochet techniques are:

• the slip stitch [SL ST], 
• front loop only [FLO], 
• back loop only [BLO], and
• increase [INC] 

This is how to do it…

1. If you are crocheting your amigurumi’s body from the bottom to the top, find out where the ‘neck’ ends. [for example, 12SC]
2. You crochet to that 12SC, then using the back loops only [BLO], you make 12 SL ST in each of those back loops.
3. The front loops only [FLO] will be visible. Using the FLOs, INC in each loop. You should have 24SC.
4. Stuff the neck firmly [I use the stuffing stick that comes in the Poly-fil bag] Your stitches should not expand, nor should the neck feel ‘empty’ in random places.  
5. Now continue into the head pattern, only this time it is upside down.
6. An example of this technique is prevalent in my pattern, Cult Critter Teddy Bear.

Using this technique has taken my amigurumi from looking amateur to looking advanced and professional without any complex techniques or extra supplies. 

Keep in mind, my technique works with amigurumi animals that have thicker necks. 

For an in depth tutorial on preventing floppy-heads in dolls, I recommend this tutorial by Green Frog Crochet. She has a beautiful amigurumi collection that utilizes a whole different technique. She uses this on all her dolls, which is very consistent with her brand and aesthetic. 

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post. Thanks for stopping by. Keep Count and Stay Creative, my friends!