Layla the Llama – Free Crochet Plush Pattern

Layla is a 29 cm plush llama in super bulky chenille, with a saddle blanket crocheted in the waistcoat stitch and finished with tassels. The body is one piece from the top of the head to the belly, and the legs are crocheted straight onto it, four times, into nine-stitch spaces you mark out first.

Two techniques carry the pattern. The legs start as a chain bridge that closes into a tube, so there is no seam at the hip; and the belly strap is a flat rectangle that whip-stitches across the gap between the front and back legs, which is what stops the plush body from ballooning. The waistcoat stitch, worked into the post of each single crochet, is what gives the blanket its knitted look.

Every round is written out below.

What you need

• Yarn: super bulky plush (weight 6) in white, plus worsted yarn in three colours for the blanket
• Hook: 5.5 mm, and a 3.5 mm for the tassels
• Eyes: two 12 mm black safety eyes
• Notions: eight stitch markers, fibre fill, yarn needle, pins, black embroidery thread, light pink yarn for the blush

Abbreviations

MR magic ring, sc single crochet, ch chain, slst slip stitch, inc increase, dec decrease, Ws waistcoat stitch, FO fasten off.

Waistcoat stitch: work into the middle post of the single crochet below, the upside-down “v”, rather than into the two loops.

Nose

• R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
• R2: inc x6 (12)
• R3–4: 12 sc — 2 rounds

Stuff lightly and leave a long tail.

Head and body

One piece, in a continuous spiral.

• R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
• R2: inc x6 (12)
• R3: (sc, inc) x6 (18)
• R4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24)
• R5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30)
• R6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36)
• R7–12: 36 sc — 6 rounds
• R13: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30)
• R14: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24)
• R15–18: 24 sc — 4 rounds

Put a marker at the front of the head between R9 and R10 — this is the eye line.

• R19–20: 22 sc, leaving 2 stitches unworked, ch 10; turn and work 9 sc down the chain, slst into the base stitch. Move the marker to the end of the chain. Then, starting at the 2 unworked stitches, sc around the neck and the back of the chain (43)
• R21: inc, 20 sc, inc, 20 sc, inc (46)
• R22: inc, 43 sc, 2 inc (49)
• R23: inc, 47 sc, inc (51)
• R24–27: 51 sc — 4 rounds

Move the marker one stitch left and work one sc. Stuff the head and neck, do not fasten off.

Now sew the nose between R8 and R13, and place the eyes between R9 and R10, about 7 stitches apart. Embroider the mouth in black and add the blush in pink just under the eyes.

Legs (4)

Mark the four nine-stitch spaces first: six stitches between the front and back legs, a one-stitch gap between the front legs and a two-stitch gap between the back legs. Put the markers in stitches 1 and 9 of each space.

• R1: 9 sc, ch 9, slst into the first marked sc (18)
• R2–4: 18 sc — 3 rounds
• R5: 2 sc, (2 sc, dec) x4 (14)
• R6: 2 sc, (sc, dec) x4 (10)

Slst, fasten off and close the leg with the tail, hiding the end inside. For the last three legs, make a slip knot on the hook and insert it into the stitch before you start.

Belly strap

Worked in rows, in the six-stitch space between front and back legs, on the front of the llama only.

• R1: inc, 4 sc, inc, ch 1, turn
• R2–10: 8 sc, ch 1, turn — 9 rows

Fasten off with a very long tail: it has to sew the belly and all four legs.

Ears and tail

• Ear (2): 4 sc in MR, (sc, inc) x2 (6), (2 sc, inc) x2 (8), then R4–5 8 sc. Weave through the base to close it.
• Tail: 6 sc in MR, (sc, inc) x3 (9), 9 sc (9). Stuff lightly.

Assembly

1. Fold the belly strap across and whip stitch each stitch of the six-stitch gap. Sew the first leg to the strap halfway down the short side, then sew the two legs together and the second leg to the strap. Thread the yarn to the other side, stuff the neck and legs, and repeat for the second pair.
2. Sew the ears between R3 and R5, about 11 stitches apart.
3. Sew the tail on the back.

Saddle blanket

• R1: ch 10
• R2–22: waistcoat stitch across, ch 1, turn, changing colour every 2 rows

Cut ten 3-inch pieces of yarn and pull five tassels through each end with the 3.5 mm hook, then trim them level. Pin the blanket on the back and sew it with white worsted yarn.

Notes

The waistcoat stitch is tight: go up a hook size if your blanket curls, because a curled blanket will not sit flat on the llama’s back. And mark the leg spaces before you crochet anything — once the plush yarn is worked, the stitches are almost impossible to count.

More plush animals: Castor the Magician Cat is the 26 cm one, Christmas Bear is the winter one, and Purple Zombie Bunny is the rabbit. Everything is on the patterns page.

Pattern source: Layla the Llama, crochet PDF pattern.

The other weight-6 plush project is Plush Plane: a 30 cm aircraft whose wings are crocheted in pairs.

For a toy whose legs are crocheted onto the body, Elephant Elf joins all four in one 96-stitch round.

For a taller animal on the same 2.5 mm hook, Three Little Kittens uses the same one-piece head and body trick at 14 cm.

The taller brushed-fibre animal is Layla the Llama; for a wool mane instead, Alan the Lion knots strands through the head.