All About Ami
a blog about my love of ami-gurumi & crochet
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I first blogged about the amigurumi Despicable Me Minion we made back in October. He certainly was a labour of love as we spent countless hours working on all his details (he’s still the largest amigurumi we’ve made to date) and writing up his complex crochet pattern. After publishing the step-by-step and pattern posts, I wondered whether anyone would try making him. I really hoped so since we had poured so much time and effort into this Minion! As the months went on, people started sending me photos of their own Minions, and I was absolutely amazed to see how wonderfully they all turned out! It made me feel good knowing that people could read and interpret my pattern so well since each and every Minion looked fabulous. Come see all the different Minions that have been created around the world :)
Catherine did an absolutely beautiful job crafting her own Minion. I love how my Minion was posed with an apple, and Catherine crocheted a delicious banana for her Minion to hold! Love the props and your fine attention to detail, Catherine :)
Laura made this Minion for her son, who absolutely loves him! What a sweet present :) I imagine Laura’s son and this Minion will go on many fun adventures together…
Tiffany’s Minion is holding a massive chocolate bar! I think he was sent on a secret mission by Gru to bring back enough chocolate for the girls :) He looks so cute just standing in the middle of the room, chilling with his chocolate bar!
Phyllis’ Minion was her first real amigurumi project! I love how she adapted my pattern to make a shorter Minion, also giving him huge googly eyes and a lopsided grin! He looks a little mischievous to me ;)
YarnAccumulator made this Minion for someone special on Valentine’s Day! She gave him a tuft of hair in the middle instead of individual hairs spread throughout the top of his head. I love seeing how people put their own touches on their amigurumi!
Donesia made this Minion for her husband, and she loves how his goggles and pants are removable! He looks very well-made, and I love how his hair flops down instead of sticking straight up. His expression is so cute as he looks super excited or amazed about something!
Tracy from the United Kingdom made this special Bob the Minion for her son as well! Looks like he’s guarding that cup of tea for her at the moment:)
GreenGrapes said it took her forever to finish this Minion, but all her time and effort were worth it! She did a wonderful job, and I’m so happy she persevered through this project to complete him :)
Camille also said it took her forever to make her Minion, but she managed to complete hers as well! Here he is enjoying some sunshine on a bench- great work, Camille!
Maria from California made a Minion for her brother, and she commented that my pattern was the best she’s ever followed. Thank you for your kind words and feedback, Maria! I love how she gave this Minion a graduation cap and diploma too (in the style of Graduation Teddy)! I’m sure her brother loved this special gift!
Bogee from the Philippines made this fabulously expressive Minion. I really love his lopsided grin and how he’s looking off to the side (the addition of the small white circles in the corner looks great!). I also really like the colours that Bogee used- the light blue contrasts nicely against the yellow, grey and black as well. Absolutely wonderful job, Bogee!
If you haven’t already seen the making of my Minion, please check out the step-by-step blog post HERE and the free pattern HERE. Thank you so much for sending me photos of all your Minions, everyone….they are slowly taking over the world! Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios were also kind enough to send me some special one-sheets (posters) after seeing my amigurumi- you can read about it HERE.
I originally wanted to do this “Crochet Corner” post because I thought the sequel was being released today (July 3). However, upon further investigation and realizing there was no promotion happening for the movie, I realized that it was being released on July 3, 2013. Haha, I guess that means we have to wait another year before we can see the sequel! That also means there’s still one whole year to work on your own Minion in time for “Despicable Me 2” ;)
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Do you all remember the Minion we made back in October? Well, I have some exciting news for you all: Kevin the Minion has actually moved to London, England and he’s even started a blog documenting his adventures and plans to take over the world! Check out “A Minion Life” to keep up-to-date with Kevin’s shenanigans and to see more cute pics of him in action :) It was sad having to part with Kevin after we made him, but we’re so happy to see he’s doing well over in the U.K!
And did you hear that “Despicable Me 2” is coming out on July 3? SO EXCITED! Check out the trailer here. We just might have to crochet some more Minions and bring them to see the new movie with us too! See the making of Kevin the Minion here and make your own Minion with our free pattern here!
***Note: Step-by-step blog post and free pattern for “Snuggles the Penguin” have been postponed due to my computer crashing! My computer is currently in the shop, so I’m waiting for it to come back in order to access my photos and the typed-up pattern of Snuggles. Thanks for your patience, everyone!
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You all remember this little guy, right?
Well, the folks over at “Illumination Entertainment” (the film production company behind “Despicable Me”) loved my crocheted Minion so much that they wanted to send me some “Despicable Me One-Sheets” for my efforts :) To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what a “one-sheet” was, but a quick search on Wikipedia answered my question:
“A one-sheet is a specific size of film poster advertising (27” x 40”). Since a one-sheet is used in the official advertising for films, they are prized by both collectors of memorabilia for specific films and of film posters themselves. Film posters sold in general retailing are in poster size, which is 24” x 36”. Most prized are posters which have been rolled and shipped in tubes instead of being folded.”
With this new knowledge, Ryan and I excitedly headed over to FedEx to pick up our tube shipped all the way from Santa Monica, California :)
We brought the tube home…
And began to take our one-sheets out: look at those minion eyes!
This one-sheet is so cute since it’s filled with minions of all different personalities and expressions :)
They also sent over this super shiny one-sheet. I love how the whole family is in this one with the catch phrase “Superbad. Superdad.”
Here they are together:
I thought it was neat that you could still see the images when you flip them over :)
I’d like to send my thanks over to the people of Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios for taking the time to send me these beautiful one-sheets :) They’re great collector’s items, and they’ll always remind me of the crocheted Minion that Ryan and I spent hours upon hours making!
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Who doesn’t love the minions from “Despicable Me”? Make your very own detailed minion with removable goggles and removable overalls with my free crochet pattern!
Materials:
- yellow yarn (for head, body, arms and embroidering overalls), blue yarn (for overalls), black yarn (for hair, goggle straps, gloves and boots), grey yarn (for goggles)
- 2.00 mm crochet hook
- yarn needle
- fiberfill
- white felt (for teeth and eyes), tan felt (for eyes), red felt (for tongue), black felt (for eyes, mouth adn logo), blue felt (for “G” on pocket)
- small black buttons (2)
- glue gun
Note: I worked in continuous rounds (vs. joined rounds). I strongly recommend checking out my blog post here to see step-by-step photos and accompanying descriptions if you are attempting to make this minion. This pattern is quite intricate and is recommended for those with some amigurumi experience (not a beginner’s project). It takes some time to crochet all the different parts, but it’s well worth it in the end!
HEAD/BODY
Using yellow yarn,
R1: 7 sc in magic ring. (7 sts)
R2: 2 sc in each sc around. (14 sts)
R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (21 sts)
R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (28 sts)
R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (35 sts)
R6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (42 sts)
R7: *Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (49 sts)
R8: *Sc 6, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (56 sts)
R9: *Sc 7, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (63 sts)
R10-55: Sc 63
***Work on hair. Cut strands of yarn measuring about 2”. Tie knots on one end. Pull yarn through head so knot remains on underside. When finished adding hair, trim as needed. Rub ends with glue to prevent fraying.
R56: *Sc 7, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (56 sts)
R57: *Sc 6, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (49 sts)
R58: *Sc 5, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (42 sts)
R59: *Sc 4, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (35 sts)
R60: *Sc 3, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (28 sts)
Begin stuffing body.
R61: *Sc 2, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (21 sts)
R62: *Sc 1, dec 1*, rep 7 times. (14 sts)
Finish stuffing.
R63: *Dec 1*, rep 7 times. (7 sts)
Fasten off and weave in end.
OVERALLS
Using blue yarn,
R1: 7 sc in magic ring. (7 sts)
R2: 2 sc in each sc around. (14 sts)
R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (21 sts)
R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (28 sts)
R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (35 sts).
R6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (42 sts)
R7: *Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (49 sts)
R8: *Sc 6, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (56 sts).
R9: *Sc 7, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times. (63 sts)
R10-22: Sc 63
Working in rows (vs. continuously around in a circle):
Row1: Sc 17, ch 1, turn. (17 sts)
Row2-7: Sc 17, ch 1, turn. (17 sts).
Fasten off and weave in end. Now make same panel on opposite side of overalls. Count 14 or 15 stitches across left side of panel (when panel facing you). Attach yarn with slilp stitch.
Row1: Ch 1, sc 16, ch 1, turn. (17 sts)
Row2-7: Sc 17, ch 1, turn. (17 sts)
STRAPS (make 2)
Using blue yarn,
Ch 3
R1-28: Sc 2, ch 1, turn.
Once measures about 6.5”, strap splits to form hole for button:
Ch 2 on one side. Fasten off. Attach yarn on other side. Chain 3, sc 1 to join to other side. Ch 1, turn, sc 2. Fasten off and weave in eneds. Strap measures about 7” in total.
FRONT POCKET:
Using blue yarn,
Ch 9
R1-4: Sc 8, ch 1, turn. (8 sts)
R5: Dec 1, sc 4, dec 1. (6 sts)
Fasten off and weave in ends.
SIDE POCKETS (make 2):
Using blue yarn,
Ch 9
R1: Sc 8
Fasten off and weave in ends.
Assembly of Overalls:
- Sew two black buttons onto front of overalls.
- Sew straps onto back of overalls. Place buttons in holes.
- Using yellow yarn, embroider overalls, front and side pockets.
- Cut “Gru” logo out of black and yello yarn. Glue it onto front pocket.
- Glue/sew pockets onto overalls.
ARMS (make 2)
Using yellow yarn,
R1: 7 sc in magic ring.
R2-24: Sc 7
Fasten off and leave long end for sewing.
GLOVE BASE (make 2)
Using black yarn,
R1: 5 sc in magic ring. (5 sts)
R2: 2 sc in each sc around. (10 sts)
R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 5 times. (15 sts)
R4-5: Sc 15
R6: *Sc 1, dec 1*, rep 5 times. (10 sts)
R7: Sc 10
Fasten off and weave in ends.
FINGERS (make 4)
Using black yarn,
R1: 6 sc in magic ring. (6 sts)
R2: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 2 times. (8 sts)
R3-4: Sc 8
Fasten off and leave long end for sewing.
THUMBS (make 2)
Using black yarn,
R1: 6 sc in magic ring. (6 sts)
R2-3: Sc 6
Fasten off and leave long end for sewing.
Assembly of gloves:
- Attach two fingers and one thumb to glove base as shown in pictures (spread out and curved).
- Attach/glue arm into glove.
- Attach arms onto sides of body.
BOOTS/LEGS (make 2)
Using black yarn,
Ch 7
R1: Sc 6 starting in second chain from hook (choose one side), then work 6 sc on opposite side of chain. (12 sts)
R2: Sc 12
R3: Sc 2 in each sc around. (24 sts)
R4: Sc 24
R5: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep around. (36 sts)
R6-7: Sc 36
R8: Through back loops only, sc 36.
R9: Sc 14, *dec 1* 4 times, sc 14. (32 sts)
R10: Sc 12, *dec 1* 4 times, sc 12. (28 sts)
R11: Sc 10, *dec 1* 4 times, sc 10. (24 sts)
R12: Sc 24
Switch to blue yarn,
R13-15: Sc 24
Fasten off and stuff. Attach to body.
FACE DETAILS:
- Cut 2 big circles of white felt and 2 smaller circles of tan and black felt for eyes. Glue onto face.
- Use black felt to cut out shape for mouth.
- Use white felt to cut out individual teeth. Glue on upper part of mouth.
- Use red felt to cut out tongue. Glue on bottom part of mouth.
- Glue whole mouth onto face.
EYELIDS (make 2 upper and 2 lower)
Upper (longer)
Using yellow yarn,
Ch 11
R1: Sl stitch to first ch from hook, sc 9, sl st 1.
Fasten off. Glue/sew onto top of eye.
Lower (shorter)
Using yellow yarn,
Ch 10
R1: In second ch from hook, sc 9.
Fasten off. Glue/sew onto bottom of eye.
GOGGLES (make 2)
Using gray yarn,
Ch 31
R1-2: Sc 30, ch 1, turn. (30 sts)
R3: Sc 30
Fasten off.
R4: Join yarn in third ch from hook with slip stitch. Chain 1, sc 25 (26 sts with two extra stitches on each side from previous rows). Ch 1, turn.
R5-7: Sc 26, ch 1, turn. (26 sts)
R8: Sc 26
Fasten off. Leave long end for sewing. Fold strip lengthwise and sew ends together. Bend ends together and sew to form a circle. Sew two goggles together (see pictures to see where).
GOGGLE STRAP
Using black yarn,
Ch 5,
R1-63: Sc 4, ch 1, turn.
R64: Ch 4
Fasten off and leave long end for sewing. Strap should measure about 11” (check to see if it fits snugly around head when attached to goggles). Sew straps to goggles.
GOGGLE SIDE DETAIL (make 2)
Using gray yarn,
Ch 5,
R1: Sc 4, ch 1, turn.
R2: Sc 4
Fasten off. Fold lengthwise and sew together. Attach to sides of goggle.
Now you have a minion to do your bidding and accompany you everywhere you go! Try out different facial expressions (surprised, suspicious, scared) or make them cyclopses :) Each minion has their own personality! The sky’s the limit!
The minions from “Despicable Me” are copyright of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment. This pattern is copyright of Stephanie of All About Ami (October 2011). Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern, you may link to this pattern but please do not reprint it on your site. You may keep a copy for your own personal use but you may not sell or distribute it, or sell items made from this pattern.
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When we first saw “Despicable Me” back in July 2010, we absolutely fell in love with the movie. We didn’t really know what to expect going in to see it, but we were delightfully surprised with how heart-warming and thoughtful the movie turned out to be. We found ourselves laughing out loud all throughout, usually because of the antics of the hilarious minions.
Fast forward more than a year later, some good friends asked if I could crochet a minion for them. I took on the challenge as it was somewhat of a departure for me: I was so used to making my teddy bears and bunnies, and the only other major “character” that I had previously made was Link.
Ryan and I searched on-line for pictures and patterns of crocheted minions and found numerous ones as they are indeed very popular (see Wolfdreamer’s version here and Sweet N’ Cute Creation’s version here). It’s wonderful to see that everyone has a different take on these little guys. We decided to make our own pattern and to make him quite large so that we could include plenty of detail.
Warning: this is a very picture-heavy post, but bear with me if you want to see the detailed step-by-step making of one of Gru’s minions :)
I started off by crocheting his head/body. It looked like I was crocheting a giant yellow pill!
Before closing him up, we added hair by cutting strands of black yarn and tying knots on one end. We threaded the yarn from underneath so the ends stuck out. We trimmed the strands to our desired length, and it felt like we were giving him a hair cut!
To prevent the ends from fraying and to ensure that each hair was more defined, we rubbed each strand with white glue.
Next we stuffed him and closed up his body.
Ryan cut out circular pieces of white, brown and black felt for the eyes…
And glued them to his face!
Ryan noticed that in many pictures, the minion’s upper and lower eyelids are visible under the goggles they wear. So, we crocheted some narrow strips to add above and below the eyes!
I really like this series of pictures that shows us adding the eyelids, one by one!
Next, we worked on the goggles. This turned out to be quite the ordeal as we tried to figure out how to make them look realistic and more three-dimensional. It took us a while to get the right size, but in the end we figured it out. I crocheted a long strip (longer on the bottom and shorter on the top) and sewed the ends together lengthwise to form a tube.
We were left with these tubes with flat ends on either side:
We bent the tubes to form a circle by sewing the flat ends together.
Then, we sewed the two circles together, with the junction being where the flat ends were sewn together. This ensured that the thickness of the goggles was consistent throughout (if we had just sewn two regular circles together, the junction would have been twice the thickness).
Then I attached a long black crocheted strap..
And added some side detailing to the goggles as well!
His goggles are looking pretty intricate!
Next I worked on his blue overalls. I started off as though I was crocheting a blue body (same pattern when making yellow body/head). Then I started working in rows (vs. in a circle) to create the front and back parts of the overalls. Ryan used yellow yarn to add stitching to the edges :)
Next came the minion’s boots! I decreased unevenly around the oval to create the front foot part and then switched to blue yarn for his pant legs.
We added some more detailing to his overalls by adding front and side pockets, also embroidering them with yellow yarn.
He’s looking good!
We decided to make this little guy really expressive with a wide open smile! Ryan cut out the mouth, teeth and tongue using black, white and red felt.
He looks pretty happy even though he’s still missing limbs! We also added little black buttons to the front of the overalls for the straps to loop through.
Here we have the skinny blue overall straps with a hole on the end for the button!
The last part to make were the arms and gloves. I crocheted a skinny yellow tube for the arm, a black ball for the glove base and three black tubes for the fingers. Betcha didn’t know that minions only had three fingers!
Ryan did a fantastic job with the gloves as he positioned and sewed each finger onto the glove base. It looks like he’s ready to grab something or do some of Gru’s bidding!
We then inserted the yellow arm into the glove.
Finally, after hours upon hours of hard work, the finished product!
Here you can see what he looks like from either side and from the back. We positioned his arms higher so that the straps of the overalls curved upwards and then downwards.
We were so happy with how he turned out!
What’s amazing is that he can also stand by himself! His boots have a wide enough base to give him support :) Wouldn’t you be surprised if you walked into a room and were greeted by this minion?
And, of course, his goggles can come off! This is probably what minions look like after a hard day’s work, for example after stealing the Statue of Liberty (the small one from Las Vegas), finding unicorns for little girls, you know…the usual ;)
His overalls can be removed too! Scandalous :P
Here is Minion with all his removable parts :)
Don’t his overalls look awesome? Ryan did such a great job adding all the detail!
I love that his straps are functional too…
Here is Gru’s logo: a blue “G” ontop of a black circle.
Here is Minion displayed in my room…
Up till this point, Valentine Teddy was the biggest amigurumi I ever made. However, as you can see, Minion is much bigger!
Before we had to give him away, we took some quick photos with him. Here he is chilling next to Ryan. Minions make great company :D
I was sad to see him go, so I had to snap a picture with him! P.S. I did not intentionally try to match with Minion…it just so happened I chose to wear grey and blue that day :)
Haha, love how Ryan is mimicking Minion’s friendly wave :D
It’s awesome that there are so many different minions, each with a different personality and different facial expressions. You can totally customize your own minions and make them personalized! See all the different minions depicted in this picture below? On our honeymoon, Ryan and I went to Disney World and Universal Studios. As soon as we saw this minion, we made a beeline to take a picture with him!
Thanks for journeying with us to see how we made this minion! It was definitely a challenge trying to figure out how to make each part, but Ryan and I had a lot of fun working on this together. He is the biggest and one of the most intricate projects we’ve worked on, and we are so proud of how he turned out. I tried to take as many photos as I could and be diligent in writing out the pattern I made so I could share it with you all. The detailed pattern can be found HERE. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below! Thanks :)
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You guys were right! :D
Sneak peek of upcoming blog post: Minion from Despicable Me
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