This fox free crochet pattern is a wanted addition to my woodland animals collection which includes Benjamin the Bear, Barnaby the Rabbit and now, Vance the Fox!
I went around and around trying to decide what Vance should wear. I tried scarves, vests and even a bow and arrow. But, not surprisingly looking back, I landed on what just felt right – the infamous hooded cloak. Sorry Little Red!
I’m excited to share this free pattern with you – I hope you love him too!
Jump into the pattern now, or PIN it for later here:
This fox crochet pattern is supported by ads on my blog. You can find the 11-page PDF printable, ad-free pattern of this fox on my Etsy shop here or on Ravelry here.
This fox free crochet pattern is written in US terms. If needed, you can find a handy term conversion chart right here in my Resource Library.
This pattern is accompanied by a video tutorial as well! I crochet with you the the trickier parts of the pattern. So, if you’re more of a visual learner, you can check out the video on YouTube here, or find it further down in this post!
If you opt for the written version, I recommend giving the pattern a read-through before you begin so you can visualize the big picture and consider any specific notes for help along the way! The ad-free printable copy of this pattern (from Etsy or Ravelry) includes lots of in-the-making photos for each step of the way as well.
You can find the printable, AD-FREE version of this pattern here:
Fox Free Crochet Pattern Notes & Tips:
Size & Gauge:
Size: Vance the Fox will end up being 9″ tall.
Gauge: 4”x4” of single crochet = 28 stitches x 30 rows. Ultimately with toys, gauge doesn’t matter. It won’t have to fit someone’s body or a specific space. My patterns will include the size of the finished toy based on the yarn and hook I use. But if you want it smaller or bigger, just use a bigger yarn and hook! Just remember, when crocheting toys, crochet tightly and choose a hook one size smaller than the yarn size recommends in order to avoid holes between each stitch where the stuffing will show through.
Yarn & Stuffing:
Yarn: Take your choice of yarn! Choose colors that bring you joy and fibers that feel good between your fingers. I use 100% cotton yarn because I make these toys for my kids and need them to be functional. Cotton is natural, washable, soft, and relatively inflexible so the toys don’t stretch and sag – even after being thrown across the house, down the stairs and adventured through every part of the garden!
Stuffing: Stuff more than you think you should. Not enough for the stitches to stretch and show holes, but enough to make the toy stiff and able to withstand the rough trials of toy life. The filling will compress a bit over time. I encourage you to use an alternative to poly-fill (unless it’s recycled!). Try using leftover yarn scraps and snippets or old non-donate-able clothes and materials cut into strips.
Policies & Disclaimers:
This pattern is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. This pattern or parts of it may not be reproduced, resold, distributed, published, altered, translated, posted or shared without authorization. You can sell your finished items provided that you credit Off the Beaten Hook as the designer using this verbiage, “This pattern was designed by Lindsey Roe and Off the Beaten Hook.” Thank you for your respectfulness!
This post contains affiliate links for materials I use and love. If you purchase something using one of these links I may earn a small commission which in no way affects the cost to you. These partnerships help me support my small business which allows me to provide you with free crochet patterns. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!
What makes this pattern eco -friendly and sustainable?
THE YARN: I use only sustainable and eco-friendly yarn that has been ethically grown/raised and processed, putting the people and the planet first. This is why I chose Rowan’s Summerlite DK yarn for this pattern. The Rowan cotton yarn I use in this pattern isn’t organic, but Rowan as a company places a high emphasis on sustainable sourcing from ethical companies and implements environmentally sustainable practices throughout. You can read more about their brand values and sourcing policies on their website.
THE STUFFING: I used Hoooked 100% Recycled Fluffy Cotton Filling to stuff this toy. You can also use left over yarn snippets (save them all – they add up fast!) or old fiber you’ve cut into strips.
THE SLOW YARN MOVEMENT: I’m participating in the Slow Yarn Movement. There’s far too much to talk about here, but please take a few minutes to learn about what this means by reading the article I wrote about the Slow Yarn Movement as part of my 6-part Sustainable Crochet Series.
I’M MAKING SUSTAINABLE TOYS FOR MY KIDS: This is the reason I learned how to crochet to begin with! I wanted my son to have mostly sustainable toys to play with as I eliminated a huge amount of non-renewable plastics from our house. I replaced his plastic food and veg toys with crochet ones instead!
If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable crochet you can read all about it in the 6-part series I did covering everything about Sustainable Crochet and how to implement it into your own crafting starting today!
Materials you will need:
YARN:
Rowan Summerlite DK | 100% Cotton | Weight: 3/DK/Light Worsted | 142 yards per ball
Colors:
- Nutkin 473 (red body) x2 balls
- Seashell 466 (off white) x1 ball
- Giggle 479 (hooded cloak) x1 ball
- Black 464 (nose, ears, arms): x1 ball
YARN SUBSTITUTION OPTIONS:
If you can’t access the recommended yarn, want to explore other colors, or would just prefer to use a different yarn, here are some others that will work well! All of these are DK weight:
100% Cotton Options:
- Deramores Studio Organic Cotton DK
- Stylecraft Naturals Organic Cotton
- Rico Essentials Organic Cotton DK
- Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK
- Rowan Handknit Cotton
- Debbie Bliss Cotton DK
Cotton Blend & Other Fiber Options:
- Scheepjes Linen Soft (Cotton/Linen/Acrylic)
- Paintbox Yarns Simply DK (Acrylic)
- Stylecraft Bamboo & Cotton Blend
- Sirdar Stories DK (Cotton/Acrylic)
- Valley Yarns Haydenville DK (Wool/Acrylic)
OTHER TOOLS & MATERIALS:
- Crochet Hook: 2.75mm / US C
- Safety Eyes: 6.00mm
- Tapestry Needle
- Stitch Markers
- Measuring Tape
- Scissors
- Stuffing (here’s a great chance to use all those tiny yarn snippets you’ve been saving for stuffing!)
Abbreviations used in the fox free crochet pattern:
ch – chain
st – stitch
hk – hook
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet
dc – double crochet
BLO – back loop only
inc – increase
dec – decrease
(…) x – repeat instructions indicated number of times
[…] – number of stitches in row/round
The Pattern
Ears – make 2:
NOTES:
- The ears and snout are worked in continuous rounds – do not join after each round
- I cover the making of the snout and ear embroidery in the video tutorial
Begin with black yarn
Rnd 1: st 6 sc in a magic circle [6]
Rnd 2: sc around [6]
Rnd 3: inc around [12]
Switch to red yarn
Rnd 4: sc around [12]
Rnd 5: (sc, inc) x6 [18]
Rnd 6-11: sc around [18]
Embroider hair on ears: Flatten the ear, making sure that the color change from black to red is on the center back of the ear.
Take a length of yarn and double it up through a tapestry needle. Begin by inserting the needle from back to front under both loops of the middle stitch from the final row of the ear. Pull the the yarn through and insert the needle back to the inside between rounds 5 & 6. Bring the needle back to the front through the stitch where you began (last row of ear). Next, insert the needle back to the inside between rounds 6 & 7, and over by one stitch. Continue in this way using photo as a guide.
Snout:
Begin with black yarn.
Rnd 1: st 6 sc in a magic circle [6]
Rnd 2: inc in each st around [12]
Rnd 3: BLO sc around, sl st to join [12]
You will use both white and red in each of the remaining rounds of the snout – half/half of each color for each round. Begin with the white yarn.
Rnd 4-5: in white sc 6, in red sc 6 [12]
Rnd 6: in white (sc 2, inc) x2, in red (sc 2, inc) x2 [18]
Rnd 7-9: in white sc 8, in red sc 8 [18]
Fasten off, leaving long tails for sewing on.
HEAD:
NOTES:
- The head is worked in continuous rounds from the top down – do not join after each round
- You’ll stop at the top of the neck to add the facial features, and then pick up where you left off and continue on with the body
Begin with the red yarn
Rnd 1: st 6 sc in a magic circle [6]
Rnd 2: inc in each st around [12]
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 [18]
Rnd 4: (sc 2, inc) x6 [24]
Rnd 5: (sc 3, inc) x6 [30]
Rnd 6: (sc 4, inc) x6 [36]
Rnd 7-8: sc around [36]
Rnd 9: (sc 5, inc) x6 [42]
Rnd 10-11: sc around [42]
Rnd 12: (sc 6, inc) x6 [48]
Rnd 13-14: sc around [48]
Rnd 15: (sc 7, inc) x6 [54]
Rnd 16-17: sc around [54]
Switch to white yarn
Rnd 18-19: sc around [54]
Rnd 20: (sc 7, dec) x6 [48]
Rnd 21-22: sc around [48]
Rnd 23: (sc 6, dec) x6 [42]
Rnd 24: sc around [42]
Rnd 25: (sc 5, dec) x6 [36]
Rnd 26: (sc 4, dec) x6 [30]
Rnd 27: (sc 4, inc) x6 [36]
Stop for a moment and apply the facial features – refer to the video tutorial for help with all of these!
- Stuff the snout and sew it to the center of the head centered at rounds 17-18, matching the color changes on the sides
- Flatten the ears and sew to the head over rounds 3-11 centered over the top of the head, using the snout as your guide for the center of the head
- Insert the safety eyes to the left and right of the snout between rounds 16 & 17, spaced 4 stitches away from the snout on either side
BODY:
NOTES:
- The body is worked in continuous rounds – do not join after each round
- After several rounds of the body you’ll stop and embroider the white hair on the chest, then pick up where you left off and continue on with the rest of the body and onto the legs
Switch to red yarn.
Rnd 28-29: sc around [36]
Rnd 30: (sc 5, inc) x6 [42]
Rnd 31-32: sc around [42]
Rnd 33: (sc 6, inc) x6 [48]
Rnd 34-35: sc around[48]
Rnd 36: (sc 7, inc) x6 [54]
Rnd 37-38: sc around [54]
Rnd 39: (sc 8, inc) x6 [60]
Embroider the hair on the chest: Embroider the hair using the same method you used for the ears, but pulling the double threaded tapestry needle from the inside to the outside, down several rows and back to the inside – repeating several times. This time, you’ll begin by inserting the needle from inside to outside in between the color change rows at the neck (rounds 27-28), right at the center. Pull the needle through and insert it back to the center between rnds 37-38 below. With each line of embroidery, you’ll move the line to the side by one stitch and up by one row – creating a “v” pattern.
Rnd 40-51: sc around [60]
Rnd 52: (sc 8, dec) x6 [54]
Rnd 53: sc around [54]
Rnd 54: (sc 7, dec) x6 [48]
Rnd 55: sc around [48]
Rnd 56: (sc 6, dec) x6 [42]
Rnd 57-58: sc around [42]
Stuff the body.
LEGS:
Split round 58 for the legs: There will be 16 st for each leg and 10 st for the gap in between – 5 from the front and 5 from the back.
It should be close already, but give or take a few stitches to position your hook at the back of the fox at the stitch just before the gap in the legs.
You now have your hook positioned for closing the gap between the legs. Holding the front and back together, sl st closed with 5 sl st. Then, continue straight away to the first leg. Stuff as you go.
Rnd 59-60: sc around [16]
Rnd 61: (sc 2, dec) x4 [12]
Rnd 62-63: sc around [12]
Rnd 64: (sc, dec) x4 [8]
Sl st in the next st and snip, leaving a long tail. Pull the tail through the final 2 loops. Using the yarn end and a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through the front loop only of the remaining 8 stitches and pull tightly to close. Bring the yarn to the inside and back out one of the side walls. Snip cleanly with the surface. Then, slip knot onto your hk and rejoin yarn on the inner back side of the second leg and repeat Rnd 59-64 for leg #2.
ARMS – make 2:
Begin with black yarn
Rnd 1: st 4 sc in a magic circle [4]
Rnd 2: inc in each st around [8]
Rnd 3-12: sc around [8]
Switch to red yarn
Rnd 13-22: sc around [8]
Fasten off and sew closed. (I don’t stuff the arms because I like them to be flexible, but feel free to stuff!) Sew the arms to the sides of the body at Rnd 28.
TAIL:
NOTES:
- The tail is worked in continuous rounds – do not join after each round
Start with white yarn
Rnd 1: st 6 sc in a magic circle [6]
Rnd 2: sc around [6]
Rnd 3: inc in each st around [12]
Rnd 4: sc around [12]
Rnd 5: (sc, inc) x6 [18]
Rnd 6: sc around [18]
Rnd 7: (sc 2, inc) x6 [24]
Rnd 8-10: sc around [24]
Switch to red yarn
Rnd 11-13: sc around [24]
Rnd 14: (sc 2, dec) x6 [18]
Rnd 15-23: sc around [18]
Stuff tail and sew to the fox‘s bum over rounds 48-53.
HOODED CLOAK:
NOTES:
- The cloak is worked in turning rows – chain 2 and turn after every row
- The ch 2 at the end of the row does NOT count as a stitch
- The cloak uses the blue colored yarn
HOOD:
Begin by chaining 57
Row 1: dc in the 3rd ch from the hook and each ch thereafter [55]
Row 2-4: dc across [55]
Row 5: dc 17, ch 8, sk 8, dc 5, ch 8, sk 8, dc 17 [39 dc + 16 ch]
Be sure your hood fits over the ears where you made the ear slits in Row 5. If not, adjust the openings as appropriate.
Row 6-11: dc across [55]
Choose a right and wrong side based on your preference. Fold the hood in half with right sides facing together, and, picking up the yarn where you left off, seam the hood closed down the back with a row of slip stitches. Fasten off and weave in end.
NECK TIES & CLOAK:
With right side facing out, rejoin the yarn at the corner of the cloak where the shoulder would be ch 31 for the first neck tie.
Row 1: sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and back along the chain [30]. Then, sc along the edge of the hood, placing 2 sc in the end of each of the dc rows [44]. When you reach the opposite side of the hood, ch 31. [74 + 31 ch]
Row 2: sc in the 2nd chain from the hook and back along the chain [30], dc across the hood [44], ch 2 turn [74]
Row 3-12: dc across, ch 2, turn (no need to ch 2 and turn on your final row 12) [44]
Fasten off and weave in end.
FOX FREE CROCHET PATTERN VIDEO TUTORIAL:
You did it! Well done!
I would love to see your completed foxes. Please post pictures on instagram and tag me @offthebeatenhook and use #offthebeatenhook. Cheers!
PIN THIS FOX FREE CROCHET PATTERN FOR LATER!
Did you love this fox free crochet pattern? Want more free amigurumi crochet patterns? Check these out!
- Barnaby the Rabbit Free Crochet Pattern
- Benjamin the Bear Free Crochet Pattern
- Jag the Jellyfish Free Crochet Pattern
- Ingrid the Octopus Free Crochet Pattern
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