You can now make a princess hand puppet to go with your unicorn!! Because every unicorn needs a princess, and every princess needs a unicorn. Those are the rules, right? These are wonderful for story telling and creative play with your little ones. You can spark their little imaginations over and over again!
I love designing children’s toys! Specifically when designing dolls and toys for little girls, my goal in mind is to create characters outside of the normal stereotypical look. I was once told about a little girl who wanted to dress up as a princess, and she felt that in order to look the part, she needed to straighten her gorgeous curly hair. Little girls of all sizes, shapes, and looks should have dolls and toys that can help them visualize and imagine that they can be whatever they want to be, no matter what they might look like. That is why I created this princess puppet pattern with different hair styling options!
You can continue on to this pattern for FREE on the blog, but if you’d love to have a printer-friendly PDF of the princess hand puppet, you can purchase one for only $2 from my Ravelry or Etsy shops! You can also purchase the entire Fairy Tale Puppets collection for only $6.50! Thanks for your support!
Notes: This pattern is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, hair, and accessories are made separately and sewn on. The eyes are embroidered on with black worsted weight yarn; the nose with matching skin color. Pictures below can give more details into the process.
Size: This is one size, fitting child through adult, but if you wish to make it smaller for a smaller child to play with, simply tighten gauge or go down a hook size.
Gauge: 7 sts across and 8 rnds down = approximately 2 inches
Materials:
Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, Beige/Toffee- approximately 44 yrds
Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, Pink/Dusty Purple – approximately 88 yrds
Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, Rose Shocking/Silver Blue – approximately 25 yrds
Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, Mustard/Chocolate – approximately 30 yrds
Lion Brand Vanna’s Glamour, Gold or Silver – approximately 2.5 yrds
Small amount of worsted weight black yarn for the eyes.
Tapestry needle
***NOTE: I originally wrote this pattern with Lion Brand’s Vanna’s Choice in mind, but that yarn has been discontinued. Here are some other comparable yarn suggestions!
- Caron One Pound: it feels a little thicker in my hands, but is still a medium worsted weight yarn, and they have a great color selection!
- Red Heart with Love: again, feels a bit thicker than Vanna’s Choice, but softer than the Red Heart Super Saver, and offers a wide variety of colors!
- Any worsted weight yarn would work!
- Lion Brand Bonbons Celebrate or Party: for the crown, if you don’t want to use an ordinary yellow worsted, but can’t find the Vanna’s Glamour, these sparkly yarns come with some great colors, including gold!
Terms and abbreviations to know:
Magic ring
Rnd, rnds – round, rounds
Ch, chs – chain, chains
St, sts – stitch, stitches
Sl st – slip stitch
Sc – single crochet
Hdc – half double crochet
Dc – double crochet
Tr – triple crochet
Inc – increase, 2 sts in same st
Dec – decrease
Sc2tog – basic decrease, turning 2 sts into 1
Invsc2tog – invisible single crochet 2 together; this is essentially a decrease, but done in such a way as to make the continuous stitching smoother, and the decrease not as noticeable.
- Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
- Insert hook into front loop of second stitch.
- Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops.
- Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.
Dc bobble – double crochet bobble
- Yarn over, and insert hook into designated st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 2 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over and pull through 2 loops leaving 5 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops.
Body, in Beige/Toffee
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 24 sts
Rnd 5: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnds 6-7: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 8: (3 inc, sc in next 12 sts)2x; 36 sts
Rnds 9-14: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Rnd 15: (invsc2tog, sc in next 4 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnd 16: (invsc2tog, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 24 sts
Rnd 17: sc in each st around; 24 sts
Change to Pink/Purple, and fasten off the Beige/Toffee.
Rnd 18: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 30 sts
Forming the holes for the fingers.
Rnd 19: ch 4, sk next 4 sts, (inc, sc in next 4 sts)2x, inc, ch 4, sk next 4 sts, (inc, sc in next 4 sts)2x, inc; 28 sts, 2 ch-4 spaces
Rnd 20: sc in each of the 4 chs, sc in next 14 sts, sc in each of the 4 chs, sc in next 14 sts; 36 sts
Rnds 21-23: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Rnd 24: (invsc2tog, sc in next 4 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnd 25: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 26: (inc, sc in next 4 sts)6x; 36 sts
Rnd 27: (inc, sc in next 5 sts)6x; 42 sts
Rnds 28-32: sc in each st around; 42 sts
Rnd 33: sl st into the first st of rnd 32, (ch 3, 3 dc into same st as sl st, sk next 2 sts, sl st into next st)14x, sl st into beginning sl st; 14 dress ruffles
Fasten off and weave in ends.
Arms, beginning in Beige/Toffee, make 2
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnds 3-4: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 5: dc bobble, sc in next 8 sts; 9 sts
Rnds 6-10: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Attach Rose Shocking/Silver Blue
Rnd 11: inc in each st around; 18 sts
Rnds 12-13: sc in each st around; 18 sts
Rnd 14: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing, and sew onto the arm holes. I pulled the arms through from the inside of the body, with thumbs pointed toward the head, then sewed the sleeve INSIDE the body, to avoid seams. You can just as easily simply sew them on the outside!
Front of skirt, contrasting color, Rose Shocking/Silver Blue (Make 2)
Ch 2
Row 1: inc in 2nd ch from hook; 2 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc in each st across; 4 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 2 sts, inc in last st; 6 sts
Row 4: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 4 sts, inc in last st; 8 sts
Row 5: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 6 sts, inc in last st; 10 sts
Row 6: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 8 sts, inc in last st; 12 sts
Row 7: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 10 sts, inc in last st; 14 sts
Row 8: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 12 sts, inc in last st; 16 sts
Row 9: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sc in next 14 sts, inc in last st; 18 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the triangles to the bottom of the skirt, leaving row 9 open.
Sewing on nose and eyes
With the same yarn as your skin color, embroider the nose on the center of the face, about the 5th rnd up from the dress, wrapping the yarn around the same spot about 5 times, until you have a nice little bobble.
Then, with black yarn, embroider the eyes about 1 to 2 rnds above the nose, with about 3 sts between them.
Hair options:
Hair Option 1: Curly Hair (Chocolate)
Ch 7
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and next 5 chs; 6 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 4 sts, inc; 8 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 6 sts, inc; 10 sts
Row 4: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 8 sts, inc; 12 sts
Rows 5-13: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 12 sts
Row 14: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 8 sts, dec; 10 sts
Row 15: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 6 sts, dec; 8 sts
Row 16: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 4 sts, dec; 6 sts
Row 17: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 6 sts
Do not turn.
Rnd 1: continue to work 48 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 18 sc down each side, and 6 sc across the bottom, and the top.
Rnd 2: [sl st in next st, (sc, 2 dc, sc) in next st, sk next st]16x, sl st to join; 16 curls
Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. Sew onto the back of the head, with the right side out, and wrong side sewn to the head, leaving the curls free above and to the sides of the head.
Curly Bangs (Chocolate)
Ch 3
Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, and next ch; 2 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc in each st; 4 sts
Rows 3-12: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 4 sts
Row 13: ch 1 and turn, sc2tog 2 times; 2 sts
Do not turn.
Rnd 1: sc 30 evenly around the whole piece; 30 sts
Rnd 2: sk 1st st of rnd 1, [(sc, 2 dc, sc) in next st, sk next st, sl st in next st]6x, [sl st in next 2 sts, ch 6, inc in 2nd ch from hook, inc in next 4 chs]6x, sl st to join, fasten off, leaving very long tail for sewing and assembly.
*Note, for assembly it is easiest to sew the crown or bow onto the bangs, BEFORE sewing all of the hair to the head. Sew your hair accessory to the center of the bangs, just above, and maybe a little behind your curls. Now, match the bangs up at the top of the head, trying to match curls to curls as best you can, with crown or bow centered, and sew the bangs to the curls of the hair behind it. And sew around the top of the head. I pushed the curls up, and stitched them to the forehead underneath the curls, leaving them with a bouncy, free look.
Hair Option 2: Straight hair with bun, in Mustard
Ch 7
Use rows 1-17 from the curly hair.
Do not turn
Rnd 1: continue to work 48 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 18 sc down each side, and 6 sc across the bottom, and the top. Then begin the bangs. Don’t fasten off. Bangs for the straight hair are worked continuously.
Side swept bangs are worked in rows which run perpendicular to the top of the hair. Each row is in ().
Begin with sl st into next st, (ch 4, turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 2 chs, sl st into next 2 sts of rnd 1)2x, (ch 5, turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 3 chs, sl st into next 2 sts of rnd 1)2x, (ch 6, turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 4 chs, sl st into next st of rnd 1), [ch 16, turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, (inc, sc in next ch)6x, sc in last ch, sl st into next st of rnd 1]
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing onto the head. You can make this look differently just with how you choose to sew it on. I sewed around the head, then gently sewed down each piece of the bangs, and wrapped the last, long strand, around the bottom of the bangs.
Bun in Mustard
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts
Rnds 4-7: sc in each st around; 18 sts
Rnd 8: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew to center top of the head.
Hair Accessory Options: Bow OR Crown
Bow in Shocking Rose/Silver Blue
Begin with a very long tail, for wrapping around the center of your bow later. The whole bow will be worked into the very first ch, referred to as beginning ch.
Ch 4, (3 tr into the beginning ch, ch 3, sl st into beginning ch), ch 3 and repeat the first instructions in the () to make the other side of the bow, (ch 5, sl st into 3rd ch from hook, ch 2, sl st into beginning ch)2x
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Using the beginning tail, wrap around the center of the bow, repeatedly, until it looks like the knot of a bow, then knot and fasten off in the back. Using the end tail, sew onto the base of the bun OR above the curls of the curly hair bangs.
Crown (Gold)
*Note: the gold tends to blend in with the blonde hair. If you’re making blond hair, but still want a crown, try using Glamour Silver instead.
Ch 10
Row 1: *(sc, hdc) in 2nd ch from hook, (dc, ch 3, sl st back into 1st ch, dc into same ch as first dc) all in next ch, (hdc, sc) in next ch,* (sc, hdc) in next ch, (tr, ch 3, sl st back into 1 ch above tr, tr into same ch as first tr) all in next ch, (hdc, sc) in next ch, repeat from * to * and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew to the top of the head around the bun, or, if using on the curly hair, sew above the curls of the bangs first, before sewing the hair to the head.
I hope you have enjoyed the newest addition to the ekayg puppet collection! If you love these puppets and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!
These are wonderful for diversifying your children’s toys! You can make them with different skin colors, hair colors, and curly or straight hair!
Want to add to your puppet collection? Watch your child’s imagination come to life with the whole Fairy Tale Puppet Collection! You can find all the printer-friendly PDF for these patterns in my Etsy shop, or follow the links below!
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