Adding frosting to your amigurumi

I think this is my first tutorial related to crochet! This time of year, I become obsessed with creations that take on a pumpkin or gingerbread twist.

One of my favorite amigurumis I’ve ever made was a gingerbread dragon from a few years ago.I think he turned out JUST THE CUTEST. The color of yarn I found was perfect, and I decided to add decorations using felt and fabric paint.

While it can take a few layers to build up, especially where the paint sinks into the spaces between stitches, I think it is well worth the effort!

For this year, I was inspired by the Knit Knack Shop’s super cute gingerbread mandrake to crochet a gingerbread turtle. This is the same pattern I used for the Disney-inspired turtles from September’s @pureartcollab. I knew I had to “frost” this little guy, and I wanted to share the technique with you!

Supplies:

• Crochet creation you want to frost (amigurumi but could also work for regular crochet work. I’d slate this for decorative use and hand wash only)
• 3D fabric paint in white, red, and green (or any colors of your choosing)

Step 1: Plan your frosting

I like to go with the more traditional white frosting, but I definitely will add green and red for some pops of color. Feel free to use whatever colors you’d like :).

I recommend planning out your frosting before you start, as once you lay down the fabric paint, it’s not the easiest to clean up. For this turtle, I decided to make a white outline around the tops of the fins, and I thought it would be cute to add a shell pattern on the back, so I did a pretty simple one.

It seems like gingerbread cookies are either a filled frosting that covers the entire top surface, or outlines with details frosted within them. Pick whichever style suits your preference! I like the outlines.

Step 2: Start frosting!

If you haven’t used fabric paint before, you may want to practice on a paper towel just to get a feel for how you will need to squeeze the bottle to frost the way you like. Sometimes bottles will spit out a blob of paint unexpectedly too, so I like to gradually squeeze harder until a line of the paint comes out.

Here’s a little photo progression of my turtle so you can see how I added paint. The little dips in the scalloped edge of the shell were perfect spots to add bigger “gummy” dots of fabric paint, and there were just enough to alternate perfectly between green and red!

Step 3: Let dry

You may need to let the paint dry in sections, depending on how you need to hold your piece while “frosting” it. If the fabric paint you get is more of a runny paint, you may need to dry it in sections so it doesn’t drip down your amigurumi and lose shape due to gravity. I used Puffy Paint, and it seemed to hold up to gravity okay.

I set mine aside for most of the day or overnight and test it by feeling if it’s still wet.

Step 4: Touch up

As I mentioned earlier, you may find that your paint has settled into little nooks and crannies of your yarn/stitches. Going back over your paint with a second (or even third layer) will help bring back that 3D frosting look.

If you find that only a section of your frosting needs a touch up, then you can just go over that segment and blend the ends of the wet paint into the dried areas with the tip of the bottle.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you are happy with the look.

Not only does fabric paint usually provide a more 3D look to your frosting, it also is meant to bend and squish with things like amigurumi. If you use acrylic paint, it will probably crack and not cover the yarn texture very well.

Here is the finished turtle:

And I just had to share the little gingerbread dragon from a couple of years ago:

I have thoroughly enjoyed making gingerbread amigurumi, and I just want to make them ALL! I hope you’ll join me in decking out your amigurumi with fabric paint.