Amigurumi: Crochet Coraline; almost complete

I’m happy to say that my crocheted Coraline was finished in time for my daughter’s birthday.

Wait, I take that back… She was complete, until I decided to go in a slightly different direction.

In the book Coraline by Neil Gamon, Coraline raves about these day glow green gloves that she sees at the store. Her mother was taking her shopping for school uniforms. 

And could I have Day-Glo green gloves to wear, and yellow Wellington boots in the shape of frogs?” asked Coraline.

Coraline’s intrigued by the gloves, and keeps pestering her mother for a pair. After all she’s looking for individuality, a way to stand out from others who’ll be wearing the same drab uniforms. In her mind, these gloves will do the trick. I’d have to agree. By the way, in Coraline the movie, the gloves are multi-colored. 

The more I thought about my daughter’s crocheted Coraline; the more I realized she would definitely choose lime green pants over black! And while her mother might not have allowed her to have such a bold color, I would…

And so I frogged the black pants, and crocheted lime green pants.

I read Coraline years ago, so I’d already created my own image of her years before I saw other artist’s interpretation of Coraline. While I think other artists have made some amazing Coraline’s, I wanted to add my own spin.  

In Coraline the movie, she wears a messenger bag, and so I crocheted this one. I wanted to crochet a backpack, but my daughter was insistent that it be a bag. So, I listened to her request. I’d wanted to make something for her in bright pink, since I think Coraline would be all over that, but my daughter said, No!

This was a very simple bag to create, and it reminded me of a messenger bag that I’d made in the early 1990’s. It wasn’t knitted or crocheted, but I did sew it. Odd, that I haven’t thought of that bag in years. Then again, I’ve designed/sewn hundreds of items. There’s no way I’m going to remember every single item I’ve made. That sewn messenger bag was my favorite “go to” bag. It was made out of corduroy, velvet, and strips of leather. I carried it everywhere, and it received a lot of compliments. I wore it so much, that it eventually wore out, and I had to toss it, but not before I saved a scrap to use in a pillow I was creating.  I have lots of great crafting memories.

Regarding my crocheted Coraline, I opted not to do crochet individual fingers, this time… Time was a huge factor, but I will be making crocheted fingers with my next crocheted human amigurumi.

I still have a few minor additions to this Amigurumi Coraline…

My daughter is insisting that I add freckles; I believe I’ll embroider them on her face. I’m also going to add something to her hair. I’m just not sure what. I’ll most likely have to reread parts of the book, perhaps then Coraline will tell me what she wants. 😉 And… I’m wanting to add extras to the messenger bag; I have a few ideas that involve embroidery and beads, so we’ll see what happens.

If you want to make your own crocheted Coraline, please visit Sharon Ojala of Homemade Obsessions and  check out her free crocheted Coraline pattern.