It’s almost Eid! And that means dressing up in our best clothes, going to the mosque for Eid prayer in the morning, and spending the day with friends and family and food! Eid also marks the end of Hajj, so I thought this doll crochet pattern was perfect for the collection. Meet Ibrahim the Imam, all ready to celebrate!
Muslims only celebrate 2 holidays, or Eids, and they both come at the end of important religious events. After Ramadan and a month of fasting, we celebrate Eid al-Fitr, and after Hajj, we celebrate Eid al-Adha! Both are times of gratefulness and family and I wanted to share that with a doll that was dressed in something more traditional.
It varies depending on culture but I wanted Ibrahim the imam to wear a kurta and a topee the way someone in my family would. I also had some fun playing around with giving him a fun hairdo!
Ibrahim practically grew up in the masjid. Like most kids in his hometown, he went to Friday prayers every week with his dad and listened to the lectures, and chatted with the uncles. Over the weekends, he’d spend hours learning to read and memorize Qur’an with his teacher. And then playing basketball out back with his friends in the class.
As he got older and understood the lessons more though, Ibrahim decided that he wanted to delve deeper into learning about Islam. Now he’s studying to be a scholar in schools all over the world, but he also comes home to his childhood masjid for Eid prayer!
The full free pattern is written out below. Normally I create PDFs of my patterns too, but this is just going to be available free on the blog for now! Let me know if the PDF is something you’d want in the comments and I’ll make that available soon 🙂
Materials:
- 3.25mm crochet hook / D hook*
- #4 medium weight yarn – I used Yarn Bee Soft Secret in White and Black, and Lion Brand Skein Tones in Hazelnut (but there are so many to choose from)
- stitch markers*
- tapestry needle*
- 8mm safety eyes*
- Polyfill stuffing*
*denotes affiliate link
Abbreviations:
- ch – chain
- SC – single crochet
- DC – double crochet
- HDC – half double crochet
- sl – slip stitch
Pattern Notes:
- Skill level: Intermediate – some amigurumi experience is helpful but not necessary
- Sizing: 10.5″ tall
- Gauge: 6S X 5R per inch
Ibrahim the Imam: Free Crochet Doll Pattern
Head:
Round 1: With yarn in your skin color, create a magic loop and work 6 SC into it. Place a stitch marker.
Round 2: Inc in each space by working 2 SC into each (12).
Round 3: *SC, inc* around (18).
Round 4: *SC 2, inc* around (24).
Round 5: *SC 3, inc* around (30).
Round 6: *SC 4, inc* around (36).
Round 7: *SC 5, inc* around (42).
Rounds 8-16: SC around for 9 rounds. Insert safety eyes to round 5 after the last increase round, about 5 stitches apart. Start to add the stuffing.
Round 17: *SC 5, dec* around (36).
Round 18: *SC 4, dec* around (30).
Round 19: *SC 3, dec* around (24).
Round 20: *SC 2, dec* around (18). Finish adding stuffing.
Round 21: *SC, dec* around (12).
Round 22: Decrease around (6). Cut the yarn and thread the tail through a tapestry needle. Run the needle under the front loops of each stitch and secure the yarn. Weave in the end.
Hat (Topee):
Round 1: With yarn in your skin color, create a magic loop and work 6 SC into it. Place a stitch marker.
Round 2: Inc in each space by working 2 SC into each (12).
Round 3: *SC, inc* around (18).
Round 4: *SC 2, inc* around (24).
Round 5: *SC 3, inc* around (30).
Round 6: *SC 4, inc* around (36).
Round 7: SC through the BLO for one round.
Rounds 8-9: SC around for 2 rounds and BO.
Arms (make 2):
Round 1: With yarn in skin color, create a magic loop and work 6 SC into it. Place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round.
Round 2: Inc in each space by working 2 SC into each (12).
Rounds 3-22: SC around for 20 rounds. Then BO, leaving a long tail to sew them on later.
Legs (make 2):
Round 1: With yarn in skin color, create a magic loop and work 6 SC into it. Place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round.
Round 2: Inc in each space by working 2 SC into each (12).
Rounds 3-7: SC around for 5 rounds.
Rounds 8-25: Switch to gray yarn and SC around for 18 rounds. Then BO, leaving a long tail to sew them on later.
Body:
Round 1: With yarn in gray, create a magic loop and work 6 SC into it. Place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round. (I accidentally used white but it’s hidden anyways!)
Round 2: Inc in each space by working 2 SC into each (12).
Round 3: *SC, inc* around (18).
Round 4: *SC 2, inc* around (24).
Round 5: *SC 3, inc* around (30).
Round 6: *SC 4, inc* around (36).
Round 7: *SC 5, inc* around (42).
Rounds 8-16: Switch to skin color and SC around for 9 rounds.
Round 17: *SC 5, dec* around (36).
Round 18: SC around for 2 rounds.
Round 19: *SC 4, dec* around (30).
Rounds 20-21: SC around for 2 rounds.
Round 22: *SC 3, dec* around (24).
Rounds 23-24: SC around for 2 rounds
Round 25: *SC 2, dec* around (18).
Rounds 26-27: SC around for 2 rounds. Then BO, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Kurta Back:
Row 1: Chain 21, turn and SC into the back bumps of each chain across, starting from the 2nd chain from hook (20).
Rows 2-18: Chain 1, turn and HDC in each space across. BO and leave a long tail for sewing.
Kurta Front:
Row 1: Chain 21, turn and SC into the back bumps of each chain across, starting from the 2nd chain from hook (20).
Rows 2-15: Chain 1, turn and HDC in each space across.
Row 16: Chain 1, turn and HDC 10.
Row 17: Chain 1, decrease once, HDC to end.
Row 18: Chain 1, HDC to end and BO.
Row 19: Attach a new length of yarn to the 11th stitch in row 15, and HDC to end.
Row 20: Chain 1, turn. HDC 8, decrease once over the next 2.
Row 21: Chain 1, HDC to end.
Row 22: Chain 1, turn and slip stitch loosely over the whole top edge to smooth out the V in the middle and BO, leaving a long tail to sew the kurta together.
Hair:
Round 1: With yarn in your hair color, create a magic loop and work 6 SC into it. Place a stitch marker.
Round 2: Inc in each space by working 2 SC into each (12).
Round 3: *SC, inc* around (18).
Round 4: *SC 2, inc* around (24).
Round 5: *SC 3, inc* around (30).
Round 6: *SC 4, inc* around (36).
Round 7: *SC 5, inc* around (42).
Round 8: SC around for 1 round.
Round 9: Insert your hook through the top of the piece and work a line or surface slip stitches zig zagging across the top of the circle. End at the edge of the circle again as if to continue working in the round. There’s a video of this step here.
Round 10: Working in the round again, *chain 5, turn and SC 4, slip stitch into the next space*. Repeat from * all the way around the head, and through each of the surface slip stitches on the top to make the hair. BO and leave a long tail to sew the piece onto the head.
Assembly
Now that we have all the parts of our free crochet pattern ready, we can start assembling Ibrahim the Imam!
Add stuffing to just the ends of the arms and legs, and all of the body if you haven’t already. Then position the arms along the sides and use the tail yarn to sew them in place. Use the tail yarns from the legs to attach the legs to the body as well.
Next, use the tail from the body to attach the head, going through one space on the body to one space on the head. Use pins to hold it in place as you sew and go through each space around. This makes sure that the head doesn’t wobble around.
Use a bit of yarn in the same color as the skin and thread it through a tapestry needle. Bring the needle up through the head to where you want the nose to be, between the eyes and one row down is where I place it, and stitch across 3 spaces 3-4 times to make the nose. Weave in the ends and hide the ends inside the head. Then use black embroidery floss and stitch on some lines for the mouth and eyebrows.
Place the kurta pieces on top of each other. Use the tail yarn and a tapestry needle to sew the last 6 stitches of the top row together for one shoulder. Bring the needle through one layer of fabric only down 5 rows, and then seam the sides of the kurta together. This leaves a 5 row opening for the arm.
With a new length of yarn, seam up the other side from the bottom to 5 rows before the top, then bring the needle through just one layer of fabric to get to the shoulder. Put the outfit onto the body and seam the last 6 shoulder stitches closed. Weave in any loose ends and trim the excess yarn.
Place the hair on the top of the head and use pins to hold it in place. Then with the tail yarn you left, sew the hair onto the head with a whipstitch. Go through a space on the hair and a corresponding space on the head all the way around and then weave in the end and trim the excess yarn. Place the hat on top or sew it in place if you wish.
And you’re done!
This pattern was really fun to make, partly because the more he came together, the more he looked like my brother! I think the hair really changed it for me, and it was really cool to see how I could create a new texture for the hair. I’ll definitely be trying out more styles and learning how to improve that!
Thank you so much for reading! If you liked this, be sure to check out the others in the collection too, like Hasan the Hajji, Hajra the Hijabi, and Maha the Muslimah. There’s also a pattern for a mini Kaaba plush! All the patterns are linked so just click the names to check them out.
See you soon 🙂
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