🧶 Beautiful ✨ Detailed 💝 Adorable

LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern

LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern
4.0★ Rating
5-7 Hours Time Needed
3.7K Made This
✂️

Intermediate Level

Ideal for those with basic crochet experience, featuring slightly more advanced stitches and techniques to expand your skills.

⏱️

Weekend Treat

Takes 5-7 hours, making it an enjoyable project to finish over a couple of days.

🧸

Cute Companion

An adorable friend to cherish, handcrafted with love to bring comfort and joy for years to come.

About This LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern

This pattern teaches you how to crochet LULU, a sweet mermaid amigurumi with a detailed tail, wig-style hair and decorative flowers. It includes complete round-by-round instructions for the head, body, tail, fins, hair pieces and accessories. You will learn shaping techniques, working colour changes and assembling small parts for a polished finish.

LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern crochet pattern - detailed view of completed project

The pattern is written in spiral rounds with helpful photos to guide assembly and finishing. Optional details such as buns, ears and embroidered features let you personalise each mermaid.

Why You'll Love This LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern

I absolutely love this pattern because it balances sweet simplicity with thoughtful details that let your creativity shine. The shaping of the tail and head creates a professional look without requiring overly complex stitches. I enjoy offering small optional extras like hair buns and flowers so each doll feels unique. Making LULU feels fast and rewarding — you finish with a doll that looks like a handmade heirloom I am proud to share and gift.

LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern step 1 - construction progress LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern step 2 - assembly progress LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern step 3 - details and accessories LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern step 4 - final assembly and finishing

Switch Things Up

I love how easy it is to customise LULU with different colour palettes — try pastel tones for a soft nursery look or bright brights for a playful character.

You can change yarn weight and hook size to make a tiny keychain mermaid or a large cuddly doll; switch to a bulky yarn for a chunky version.

I often mix and match hair colours — try an ombre wig or add several small flowers for a floral crown across the hairline.

Embroider different facial expressions by changing eyebrow angle or mouth placement to create shy, happy, or surprised personalities.

Swap safety eyes for embroidered eyes for young children, or use different sized safety eyes to change the charm and scale of the face.

Make a set of mermaids with matching accessories: tiny crocheted shells, a starfish brooch, or a removable cape for playtime outfits.

Try adding a bit of wire inside the tail or arms for posability — it can make a fun display mermaid that can pose on a shelf.

Add beads or sequins sparingly to the tail for a subtle shimmer, or use metallic thread for a touch of glam on the bustier.

Experiment with different stitch patterns for the wavy hem — a picot edge or longer dc clusters change the look dramatically.

I also like to personalise names with simple surface embroidery on the back or attach a tiny name tag to make each mermaid a special, personalised gift.

Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them

✗ Not using a stitch marker while working in spirals leads to losing the start of the round; place a marker at the first stitch of each round to stay on track. ✗ Overstuffing the head can stretch stitches and create gaps where the polyfill shows through; stuff gradually and remove some filling if the stitches start to gape. ✗ Changing colour at the wrong moment causes visible bars or loose loops; work the colour change at the end of the previous stitch and finish the last pull-through with the new colour. ✗ Skipping eye placement checks results in uneven faces; attach safety eyes between the recommended rounds and count visible stitches to ensure symmetry. ✗ Pulling decreases too tight can distort shape; use an invisible decrease for neat shaping and keep tension consistent to preserve silhouette.

LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern

Make a charming hand-crocheted mermaid doll you will love to stitch and gift. This pattern includes complete step-by-step rounds for head, body, tail, hair and accessories so you can follow along easily. Designed with clear shaping and optional details like buns and flowers, you can personalise each mermaid to match your style. Perfect for crafters who enjoy small, detailed amigurumi projects.

Intermediate 5-7 Hours

Materials Needed for LULU, the mermaid Amigurumi Pattern

— Main Fabric

  • 01
    Cotton yarn (115 yd / 50 g) in six different colours for body and details
  • 02
    Colour A Skin tone - approx 25 g (main body/head colour)
  • 03
    Colour B Hair - approx 15 g
  • 04
    Colour C Tail fin - approx 17 g
  • 05
    Colour D Wavy hem - small amount
  • 06
    Colour E Flower - small amounts (several colours for flower crown if desired)
  • 07
    Colour F Bustier - small amount
  • 08
    White cotton yarn - small amount for the white of the eye

— Tools Required

  • 01
    Crochet hook size 2.5 mm
  • 02
    Safety eyes 8 mm (recommended for dolls 2 and 3)
  • 03
    Safety eyes 9 mm (recommended for dolls 1 and 4)
  • 04
    Sharp sewing needle for sewing and embroidering
  • 05
    Thin cotton yarn in black or brown for eyebrows
  • 06
    White cotton yarn for the white of the eye
  • 07
    Polyfiber fill (polyfill)
  • 08
    Pins for positioning hair and parts
  • 09
    Scissors
  • 10
    Pink blush for cheeks and the flower
  • 11
    Optional: stitch marker
  • 12
    Optional: thin sewing yarn (especially in hair colour) to sew on hair strands
  • 13
    Optional: foam curler to stabilise the head

Progress Tracker

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— Head :

Info :

Crochet in spiral rounds. Colour A.

Round 1 :

6 sc into a MR (6)

Round 2 :

inc x 6 (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, inc, (2 sc, inc) x 5, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)

Round 6 :

2 sc, inc, (4 sc, inc) x 5, 2 sc (36)

Round 7 :

(5 sc, inc) x 6 (42)

Round 8 :

3 sc, inc, (6 sc, inc) x 5, 3 sc (48)

Round 9-18 :

48 sc (48) (10 rounds)

Info :

Attach the eyes between rnd 16 & 17, with a distance of 11 visible stitches.

Round 19 :

3 sc, dec, (6 sc, dec) x 5, 3 sc (42)

Round 20 :

(5 sc, dec) x 6 (36)

Round 21 :

2 sc, dec, (4 sc, dec) x 5, 2 sc (30)

Round 22 :

(3 sc, dec) x 6 (24)

Round 23 :

1 sc, dec, (2 sc, dec) x 5, 1 sc (18)

Info :

Start to stuff the head with polyfiber.

Round 24 :

(1 sc, dec) x 6 (12)

Info :

Finish the head with 1 sl st, fasten off and cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing onto the body later. Continue to stuff the head, especially in the neck area (if you use a piece of a foam curler to stabilize the head, you can leave the neck area unfilled). The head should be filled evenly without any bulges but be aware not to overfill. Remove stuffing if stitches stretch and holes show polyfiber.

— Hair wig :

Info :

Crochet in spiral rounds. Colour B.

Round 1 :

6 sc into a MR (6)

Round 2 :

inc x 6 (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, inc, (2 sc, inc) x 5, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)

Round 6 :

2 sc, inc, (4 sc, inc) x 5, 2 sc (36)

Round 7 :

(5 sc, inc) x 6 (42)

Round 8 :

3 sc, inc, (6 sc, inc) x 5, 3 sc (48)

Round 9-15 :

48 sc (48) (7 rounds)

Round 16 :

3 sc, dec, (6 sc, dec) x 5, 3 sc (42)

Info :

Finish the work with 1 sl st, fasten off and cut the yarn. Sew the thread inside of the wig. (If the doll is for a smaller child, you can sew the wig onto the head.)

— Hairstrand (make 2) :

Info :

Crochet in rows. Colour B.

Instruction :

Crochet ch 20, turn the chain. (20)

Round 1 :

start into the 3rd chain from hook and crochet dc inc (36)

Info :

Cut the yarn and pull it through the loop.

— Bun (make 2) :

Info :

Crochet in spiral rounds. Colour B.

Round 1 :

6 sc into a MR (6)

Round 2 :

inc x 6 (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, inc, (2 sc, inc) x 5, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

24 sc (24)

Round 6 :

1 sc, dec, (2 sc, dec) x 5, 1 sc (18)

Round 7 :

dec x 9 (9)

Info :

Finish the work with 1 sl st, fasten off and leave a long thread to sew the bun onto the hair later. Stuff the bun slightly.

— Ear (make 2). (optional) :

Info :

Colour A. Mostly I make my dolls without ears but if you prefer your doll with ears, you can crochet it this way:

Instruction :

Crochet 3 sc into a MR. Cut the yarn and pull it through the loop. At the end pull the initial thread slightly to close the MR.

— Arm (make 2) :

Info :

Crochet in spiral rounds. Colour A.

Round 1 :

6 sc into a MR (6)

Round 2 :

(2 sc, inc) x 2 (8)

Round 3-17 :

8 sc (8) (15 rounds)

Info :

Do not stuff the arm. Flatten the arm and crochet both sides together with 3 sc. Cut the yarn, leaving a long thread, and fasten off.

— Tail & Body :

Info :

Crochet in spiral rounds from the bottom of the tail up to the body. Colour A and C. Start with colour C. Start to fill the tail very early as you go. At the bottom fill it very loose but fill it more tense the wider the tail gets.

Round 1 :

6 sc into a MR (6)

Round 2 :

(1 sc, inc) x 3 (9)

Round 3 & 4 :

9 sc (9) (2 rounds)

Round 5 :

(2 sc, inc) x 3 (12)

Round 6 :

dec, 4 sc, inc, 5 sc (12)

Round 7 :

(3 sc, inc) x 3 (15)

Round 8 :

dec, 6 sc, inc, 6 sc (15)

Round 9 :

(4 sc, inc) x 3 (18)

Round 10 :

dec, 7 sc, inc, 8 sc (18)

Round 11 :

(5 sc, inc) x 3 (21)

Round 12 :

dec, 9 sc, inc, 9 sc (21)

Round 13 :

(6 sc, inc) x 3 (24)

Round 14 :

dec, 10 sc, inc, 11 sc (24)

Round 15 :

(7 sc, inc) x 3 (27)

Round 16 :

dec, 12 sc, inc, 12 sc (27)

Round 17 :

(8 sc, inc) x 3 (30)

Round 18 :

dec, 13 sc, inc, 14 sc (30)

Round 19 :

(9 sc, inc) x 3 (33)

Round 20 :

dec, 15 sc, inc, 15 sc (33)

Round 21 :

(10 sc, inc) x 3 (36)

Round 22 & 23 :

dec, 16 sc, inc, 17 sc (36) (2 rounds)

Round 24-26 :

36 sc (36) (3 rounds)

Round 27 :

(10 sc, dec) x 3 (33)

Info :

Colour change to colour A.

Round 28 :

33 sc, into BLO! (33)

Round 29 & 30 :

33 sc (33) (2 rounds)

Round 31 :

(9 sc, dec) x 3 (30)

Round 32 & 33 :

30 sc (30) (2 rounds)

Round 34 :

(8 sc, dec) x 3 (27)

Round 35 & 36 :

27 sc (27) (2 rounds)

Round 37 :

(7 sc, dec) x 3 (24)

Round 38 :

24 sc (24)

Round 39 :

1 sc, dec, (2 sc, dec) x 5, 1 sc (18)

Round 40 :

(1 sc, dec) x 6 (12)

Info :

Finish the work with 1 sl st, cut the yarn and fasten off. Sew the thread carefully.

— Fin (make 2) :

Info :

Crochet in spiral rounds. Colour C.

Round 1 :

6 sc into a MR (6)

Round 2 :

6 sc (6)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 3 (9)

Round 4 :

1 sc, inc, (2 sc, inc) x 2, 1 sc (12)

Round 5 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 6 :

1 sc, inc, (2 sc, inc) x 5, 1 sc (24)

Round 7-14 :

24 sc (24) (8 rounds)

Round 15 :

dec x 12 (12)

Round 16 :

dec x 6 (6)

Info :

Do not stuff the fin with polyfill.

— Wavy hem. Colour D :

Instruction :

Take the yarn and make a standing sc into the first front loop of rnd 28 of the tail. Continue as follows: (skip 2 sts, 5 dc into a st, skip 2 sts, 1 sc into a st) x 5 (in the last unit just skip only 1st, so that you achieve 6 waves all around). Crochet 1 sl st into the first sc of the previous round. Cut the yarn, fasten off and sew both threads carefully.

— Flower in the hair. Colour E :

Instruction :

Start with a MR (leave a long starting yarn tail). (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc into 2nd chain from hook) x 5. Sl st into the first st. Cut the yarn and fasten off by pulling the tail of yarn until the MR is closed. Sew the thread. With pink blush and a brush paint the centre of the flower with a pink dot. Alternatively you can crochet several flowers to make a flower crown across the hair line (as you can see on doll 3).

— Modelling the eyes :

Instruction :

After you have crocheted all body parts, you can now start to shape the eyes by bringing the eyes inwards. Take a sharp sewing needle and a long thread of colour A. Pull both ends of the thread through the head very close to the eye and bring them out at the head opening. Take one of the thread ends and repeat the same with the second eye. Pull on both thread ends as tight as possible until the eyes move inwards. Knot both ends very tightly. At the end stuff both threads into the head. If necessary you can now add some more stuffing into the head with the help of the end of the crochet hook.

— White of the eye :

Instruction :

Once the eyes have been modelled, you can add the white of the eyes to the outer edge of the eye. Use a long cotton thread in a white colour and embroider a small stitch at the outer part of the eye. Repeat these steps on the second eye as well. Knot the ends at the bottom of the head and stuff the threads into the head.

— Eyebrows :

Instruction :

Take a thin sewing or embroidering yarn in colour black or brown and a thin sharp needle. Embroider the eye brows 2 rounds above the eye, diagonally over 1,5 stitches. (or alternatively as you can see at doll 4 embroidered directly over the eye, diagonally over 2,5 stitches).

— Nose :

Instruction :

For embroidering the nose cut a long tail from colour A. Between rnd 16 and 17 you can embroider 2 horizontal stripes, running over 2-3 sts. Don't sew the thread but wrap it with the needle tightly around the horizontal stripes. At the end take a small brush and put some pink blush onto the cheeks of your mermaid.

— Sewing the hair parts (plus optional the ears) :

Instruction :

Put the hair wig onto the head of your mermaid. Be sure that it is symmetrical around the head and at the right distance from the eyes. If the doll will be played by a small child, you can now sew the wig onto the head with some sts. Otherwise it's not necessary to sew it as the wig is quite tight on the head. In this case just sew the thread carefully. Now you place the 2 hairstrands symmetrically across the hairline and pin them. For sewing them you can either use one of the remaining threads or a thin sewing thread and a thinner needle. But be sure to take a very long sewing needle which makes it easier for you (for reference: my needle is about 6-7 cm long). Start to sew the first strand beginning at the top downwards, ending approximately at the level of the eyes. Make the same with the 2nd hair strand on the other side of the head. If you are only using the doll as a decorative object, you could use fabric glue to attach the hair strands onto the wig.

Instruction :

Now sew both buns. Position them below the hair strands at the hair line and fix them with pins. Sew them around all 9 sts from the last rnd of the bun. Sew the thread carefully.

Instruction :

If you have chosen to crochet the ears, you can now sew them at eye level directly next to the hair line. Use both threads of the ear above and below for sewing. Sew the threads carefully.

Assembly Instructions

  • Sew the head to the body using the long tail left from finishing the head; position the head over the opening at the top of the body and use a whipstitch to secure it evenly all around.
  • Place and sew the arms on either side of the body at the level of the bustier area; pin both arms symmetrically before stitching and use the long tail to sew through several rounds for stability.
  • Fit the wig onto the head and sew it in place if the doll will be handled by a small child; otherwise secure the wig thread carefully to keep it neat.
  • Pin the two hairstrands along the hairline and sew them from the top downwards to the eye level with a long needle for a neat finish.
  • Position and sew the two buns below the hair strands, sewing around all 9 sts of the last bun round to secure firmly.
  • Attach fins to the lower tail opening, align seams and weave in ends carefully so the tail looks continuous and tidy.

Important Notes

  • 💡When using similar or the same yarn with the same hook size, the mermaid will be approx. 26 cm tall.
  • 💡When you need to decrease, make Invisible Decrease crochet stitches to have a neater result.
  • 💡Be aware that when you use different yarns and hook sizes, the outcome may vary and you may have to adjust the size of eyes.
  • 💡Colour change is worked at the end of the previous stitch: work the last stitch before the colour change as usual but don't complete the last stitch; when you have 2 loops on your hook, yarn over in the new yarn colour and finish the stitch.

This LULU mermaid pattern is full of personality and tiny details to make each doll special. Make one or a whole family of mermaids in different colourways and hair styles to create a playful, handmade collection. Enjoy the process and celebrate each stitch as you bring a little ocean friend to life. 🧶✨

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we answer.

FAQs

What size will the finished piece be?

The mermaid measures approximately 26 cm tall when using the recommended cotton yarn and a 2.5 mm hook.

Can I use different yarn weights for this pattern?

Yes, you can use different yarn weights but this will change the finished size; adjust the hook accordingly and be mindful of eye size for safety eyes.

Do I need prior crochet experience for this pattern?

This pattern is rated intermediate; basic knowledge of single crochet, increases, decreases and working in spirals is recommended.

How long does this project typically take to complete?

Most crafters complete the mermaid in about 5-7 hours, depending on experience and whether you add optional details like buns and flowers.