Here’s an adorable and huggable baby humpback whale crochet pattern that would make a perfect gift for any fan of the deep blue sea. I tried to figure out the best pattern for this little guy, and for crochet stitches for beginners pdf your patience as I worked and reworked the shaping and overall look. I’m super happy with how it has all turned out, so let’s get into how this little whale took shape! I always thought it was adorable, but I never got around to making one of my own, until now.
I had the thought that since we crochet to create fabric for clothing, why couldn’t we create fabric to use in a sewing pattern. One great thing about crochet is that it forms curves really well, which is not something so easily done with fabric. For my first attempt, I used an H hook and worsted weight yarn. Because of the stretching, the signature mouth definition of the humpback whale got lost and it looked kinda like a two-toned torpedo.
My family still recognized it as a whale, but I wasn’t feeling too sure about it. I was a bit burnt out by the figuring out the shape of the mouth. I knew I just need to take a breather, and then get back into it with a better vision. This time, I wanted the whale to be shorter and fatter, more cute and less like a long torpedo. Denim Mist and Silver Blue to play with. It gave the same look as my inspiration Denim Whale, and it was fun to use a variegated yarn.
I’m not always very adventurous when it comes to colored yarn, so this was a little bit exciting to see how the variegation worked out! The whale is worked in rows, but the row is folded in half and sewn together at the nose to create the front seam. I started in a similar way as the first whale, but I started winging it pretty quickly, creating a more exaggerated shaping to counter any stretching that might happen. I also used a smaller G hook with the same weight yarn, and used a very tight gauge, so the fabric was very tightly woven and less prone to stretching when stuffed. Then, to be honest, I just flew by the seat of my pants a bit! On the first whale, I was so picky about the shaping and kept frogging rows, but I’ve since learned that it doesn’t have to be perfect because overstuffing the whale can smooth out a lot of minor issues.
I also redid the whale tail in a completely new shape than the original template. It is worked as part of the top and bottom piece, and a combination of double crochet stitches and slip stitches creates the slight curve and divot in the center of the tail. First, sew the fin pieces together using slip stitches all the way around. Make sure that the fins are pointing in the right direction with the right color on top!
My friend often makes the mistake of making both fins identical, but they’re actually mirror images of each other. Then, holding the top and bottom pieces together, sew the tail top and bottom together using slip stitches around the tail, then cut the yarn, leaving a nice long tail, about 2 or 3 feet. This yarn tail needs to be long enough to sew around the whole whale. Once I got to where the fins should be attached, I decided to sew the fins in as part of the body, instead of attaching the fins afterwards. This was also inspired by fabric sewing, where you’d sew right over the fin when seaming two pieces together.
