Misadventures in crochet continue, this time focusing on making my own patterns for the crew of Mass Effect’s Normandy; starting with a Tali’Zorah crochet (pattern at the end of the post).
After the Flesh Bee incident, I made a few more crochet toys following some great tutorials (links below).
If you’re getting into crochet yourself, these may look complicated but they only need 1 or 2 types of stitch to make and they’re great practice as it’s a lot of repetition. I’d recommend starting with the bee and the octopus and then Pikachu after that as the tail is a little ticker to do:
- Bee Crochet Tutorial: https://youtu.be/mWc8bs47yoM
- Octopus Crochet Tutorial: https://youtu.be/vsff0giJSbM
- Pikachu Crochet Tutorial: https://youtu.be/S9sk5AEva-o
As a next step I wanted to try making something without fully following a pattern. Being a big Mass Effect fan, it felt like a great opportunity to fill our flat with the entire crew of the Normandy. My partner doesn’t know yet that its about to get alot more crowded in here, it’ll be great though – he’ll love it, I’m sure.
The Plan
For the style of them I didn’t think I’d be at a skill level where I could add a lot of detail with crochet, so I wanted to choose a shape that would still be recognisable as the character and look good in wool. Something like a Funko Pop shape with a large head and small body seemed like a good shape, which looks good as a teddy as well.
Tali’Zorah felt like a good character to start with as her helmet made it easier to make the head shape and the details on her suit, like her hood, would be interesting to make. I also recently replayed the franchise after the Legendary edition came out and remembered how much I like her as a character!
The initial body shape is based on the Pikachu pattern by 53 Stitches, with a few adjustments to the neck and head. After that I started adding the pieces of her suit individually and making the pattern myself.
The Result
This is what I ended up with! You might have noticed I said “V1” in the title; once I finished making it, I could see ways I could improve on some of the details like the breather mask, adding more colours to the hood, choosing better colour yarn to match the glass of the mask etc.
For now, I’ve added the pattern below for V1 but if I improve on it I’ll add a V2 pattern.
Note on the Tali’Zorah crochet pattern
Full disclosure for the suit parts, I was deciding on the number of stitches by eye and what looked right and I wasn’t taking a lot of notes as I went so these may not be 100% accurate! If you make this yourself, for parts like the breather mask and hood I’d keep comparing it to the head to see whether it fits and add more/less stitches as you need them.
If anything is unclear on this pattern pop me a message, this is my first pattern so any thoughts would be great.
Tali’Zorah Crochet Pattern
Equipment I used:
- 3.5mm Crochet Hook: The wool below recommends a 5mm but for Amigurumi Crochet its recommended you go for a smaller hook to keep the stitches tight
- A stitch marker: I just use a hair pin
- Darning Needle for weaving in ends
- Needle and thread in colours similar to the yarn for sewing on some of the pieces
- Hobby Craft DK Cotton Blend 100g Yarn in each of these colours: Black, Grey, Purple, Lilac, Yellow
- Toy Stuffing: I used this sort from Amazon but it can be any kind you like: https://amzn.eu/d/iPAHIto)
Pattern:
Using US crochet terms
- Ch = chain
- Sc = single crochet
- Mc= magic circle
- Inc = increase
- Dec = decrease (invisible decrease)
Head- lilac purple
1. Mc 6 (6)
2. [inc]x 6 (12)
3. [inc, sc]x 6 (18)
4. sc, [inc, sc 2]x 5, inc, sc (24)
5. [inc, sc 3]x 6 (30)
6. sc 2, [inc, sc 4]x 5, inc, sc 2 (36)
7-10. sc 36 (36)
11. [inc, sc 5]x 6 (42)
12-13. sc 42 (42)
14. [dec, sc 5]x 6 (36)
15. sc 2, [dec, sc 4]x 5, dec, sc 2 (30)
16. [dec, sc 3]x 6 (24)
Leave a long tail at the end to attach it to the body
Body- Black and yellow
17. Mc 6 (6)
18. [inc] x6 (12)
19. [inc,sc] x6 (18)
20. sc, [inc,sc2] x5, inc, sc (24)
21. [inc, sc3] x6 (30)
22-24. sc 30 (30)
25-26. Change colour to yellow, sc 30 (30)
27. dec x 15 (15)
Weave in the tail
Arms (x2) – Black and Grey
28. In black- Mc 6 (6)
29. [inc, sc] x 2 (8)
30. Change colour to grey, sc x 8 (8)
31- 32. Change colour to black, sc x 8 (8)
Leave a long tail to attach it to the body
Legs (x2)- Grey and Black
33. In grey- Mc x 6 (6)
34. [inc, sc] x 2 (8)
35-36. Change to black, sc x 8 (8)
Leave a long tail to attach it to the body
37. Stuff the pieces and attach them to the body by weaving in the tails you’ve left on each piece
Breather Mask- Grey
38. Mc x 6 (6)
39. Inc x 6 (12)
40. Inc x 12 (24)
41. Right hand side of the mask: On the right hand side of the circle, select three crochet stitches for the strap that will attach to the face. Sc into these three stitches.
42- 43. Sc x 3 (3)
44. [inc], sc x1, [inc] (5)
45. [inc], sc x 3, [inc] (7)
46-47. sc x 7 (7)
It will come up to around half way around the head, but the back of the head will be covered by the hood. Add more rows after line 46 if it doesn’t look right.
48. Repeat the steps above for the Left hand side of the mask.
49. Position the mask on the face, pin in place if needed, and sew it in place.
Hood – Purple
50. Ch x 37- once finished the chain, drape this over the head and see where it falls. On mine it came to the shoulders but if you want to make it longer, add more chains.
51-71. Sc x 37 (37)- at this length it covered the whole head and was just long enough to gather in the back. Add more rows if you wanted to make the hood longer.
Closure for the hood- Black
72. Mc x 6 (6)- make two of these
73. Ch x5 (5)
74. Sc x 5 (5)
75. Sew the two Mc’s onto each end of the Sc band. Sew this to the hood on the front two corners to hold it closed around the face.
76. When you’re happy with the length and placement of the hood, gather it in the back and sew it closed (see photo above). Then sew the closure to the body so the hood doesn’t move around.
Wrap outfit over suit- Purple
I made this in two separate parts and connected them together in the middle.
Top half-(arms and back)
77. Ch x 16 (16) and connect the last loop to the first to make a circle. Wrap this around the left arm and see if the ends meet while leaving a bit of room. I could have done with making this smaller for mine so you may want to do less chains.
78. Sc x 16 (16)
79. From the top of the circle, (Sc x 8) (8) into each loop until you’re half way around the circle
80-92. Sc x8 (8). Check that this section is long enough to cover the back and almost reaching the arm right arm. If it’s a bit of a stretch or too long, adjust the number of rows.
93. Ch x 16 (16) and connect the last loop to the first to make a circle, like you did with the first loop.
94. Sc x 16 (16) into the loop
Put the arms through the circles and check it’s a good fit at the back.
Bottom half – (legs and front)
95. Ch x 13 (13) and connect the last loop to the first to make a circle. Check how this fits around the right leg and if it needs a bit more room or is too loose.
96. From the top of the circle, Sc x 3 (3) taking up around a quarter of the circle.
97- 113. Sc x 3 (3)
114. This will make a band that attaches to the circle. With the circle around the right leg, check that the band reaches the left arm circle of the top part of the outfit. This should cross diagonally across the body. If it needs more or less chains, add these in. Sc x 3 into the arm circle to connect these together.
115. Repeat this for the left leg and cross over the other band.
Belt – Black
116. Mc x 6 (6)
117. Separately, Ch x 20. Wrap this round the body over the outfit and check it meets in the middle. If it doesn’t, add more chains.
118. Sc x 20 (20)
119. Wrap the band around the body so it meets in the front, weave both ends of the band into the Mc to make a belt.