Crocheting a SKELETON Doll! Spooky Halloween Crochet Tutorial

Learn how to make a cute crochet skeleton doll by following this free crochet pattern. This crochet skeleton doll is inspired by the original Gracie doll, just with a spooky twist! Add this cute skeleton doll to a boo basket for a fun Halloween gift. Or add it to a Halloween inspired shelfie for some cute Halloween decor!

Learn how to make a cute crochet skeleton Gracie doll by following this free crochet pattern. This crochet skeleton Gracie doll is inspired by the original Gracie doll, just with a spooky twist!

“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones…” You don’t have to be intimidated by all the bones this cute skeleton doll has because many of them are just painted on with some puff paint!

You can mix and match colors to bring this skeleton to life (see what I did there? 😉) I tried a black skeleton doll and a pink skeleton doll and I think they’re both adorable!

Do you prefer an ad-free PDF? No problem! You can find purchase the ad-free PDF here.

And for my audio-visual friends feel free to follow along with the free video that goes with this pattern! I often say what I mean better than I write what I mean so if the pattern gets confusing make sure and reference the video!

This post contains affiliate links meaning I (Ashley) may receive a small commission from purchases made at no extra cost to you.

Materials

Stitch Key (US Terms)

CH= Chain
SC= Single CrochetI
NC= Increase (two SC in the same space)
DEC= Decrease (SC two stitches together)
SL ST= Slip Stitch
Magic Circle

Skeleton Doll Pattern

Pattern Grid

Crochet Skeleton Doll Front

Pro Tips:

Save sewing your tails in until the end
Roll a small ball of body colored yarn separate from your skein to use during the face color changes.

Starting with your body color, Chain 14, turn.

Row 1: Skipping the first chain, SC 13 in back bump of chains. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 2: INC, SC 11, INC. Ch1, turn. (15)

Row 3: INC, SC, change to bone color (for the rest of the pattern I’ll just call this white) SC 11, change to body color (for the rest of the pattern I’ll just call this pink) SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (17)

Color Changing (Time Stamp 4:07): traditionally you would finish the last SC with the bone color yarn and continue SC. However, in the video and the following pictures I learned a new and cleaner way to change colors. The steps for this new way of changing colors are as follows:

Finish the SC and draw up a loop with the working yarn then take your hook out
Insert your hook into the front loop and down through the left side bar of the previous SC
Pull up the new color yarn
Continue SC into the following stitches

Row 4: INC, SC, change to white SC 13 (make sure all unused yarn remains on the backside of your work as shown below), change to pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (19)

(This will be the last row that I say “change colors” I’ll just say what color we’re using before the stitches)

Row 5: INC, SC, white SC 15, pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (21)

Row 6: INC, SC, white SC 17, pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (23)

Row 7: INC, SC, white SC 4, pink SC 2 (now using a smaller ball of pink that we set aside previously), white SC 7 (keeping the same thread of white taught, bring it along on the backside of your work Time Stamp 11:56), pink SC 2, white SC 4, pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 8-11: SC 3, white SC 3, pink SC 4, white SC 5, pink SC 4, white SC 3, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 12: SC 3, white SC 4, pink SC 2, white SC 7, pink SC 2, white SC 4, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 13: SC 3, white SC 19, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 14: SC 4, white SC 17, pink SC 4. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 15: DEC, SC 3, white SC 15, pink SC 3, DEC. CH 1, turn. (23)

Row 16: DEC, SC, DEC, white SC 13. pink DEC, SC, DEC. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 17: DEC, SC 4, white SC 7, pink SC 4, DEC. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 18: DEC x2, SC, white SC 7, pink SC, DEC x2. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 19: DEC, SC 9. DEC. CH 1, turn. (11)

Row 20: SC 11. Ch 1, turn. (11)

Row 21: INC, SC, white SC 7, pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 22: SC 3, white SC 7, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 23-24: SC 5, white SC 3, pink SC 5. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 25-26: SC 2, white SC 9, pink SC 2. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 27: INC, SC 4, white SC 3, pink SC 4, INC. CH 1, turn. (15)

Row 28: SC 6, white SC 3, pink SC 6. CH 1, turn. (15)

Row 29-30: SC 2, white SC 11, pink SC 2. CH 1, turn. (15)

Row 31-32: SC 6, white SC 3, pink SC 6. CH 1, turn. (15)

Row 33: INC, SC, white SC 11, pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 34: SC 3, white SC 11, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 35-36: SC 7, white SC 3, pink SC 7. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 37: SC 3, white SC 3, pink SC 5, white SC 3, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 38: SC 2, white SC 5, pink SC 3, white SC 5, pink SC 2. CH 1, tun. (17)

Row 39: INC, SC, white SC 2, pink SC 2, white SC 5, pink SC 2, white SC 2, pink SC, INC. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 40: SC 3, white SC 2, pink SC 3, white SC 3, pink SC 3, white SC 2, pink SC 3. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 41: SC 4, white SC 2, pink SC, white SC 5, pink SC, white SC 2, pink SC 4. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 42: SC 5, white SC 9, pink SC 5. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 43: SC 19. Ball up enough yarn for assembly (enough to get around the entire doll). Tie off. (19)

Crochet Skeleton Doll Back

Starting with your body color, Chain 14, turn.

Row 1: Skipping the first chain, SC 13 in back bump of chains, Ch1, turn. (13)

ow 2: INC, SC 11, INC. CH 1, turn. (15)

Row 3: INC, SC 13, INC. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 4: INC, SC 15, INC. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 5: INC, SC 17, INC. CH 1, turn. (21)

Row 6: INC, SC 19, INC. CH 1, turn. (23)

Row 7: INC, SC 21, INC. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 8-14: SC 25. CH 1, turn. (25)

Row 15: DEC, SC 21, DEC. CH 1, turn. (23)

Row 16: DEC, SC 1, DEC, SC 13, DEC, SC 1, DEC. CH 1, turn. (19)

Row 17: DEC, SC 15, DEC. CH 1, turn. (17)

Row 18: DEC x2, SC 9, DEC x2. CH 1, turn. (13)

Row 19: DEC, SC 9. DEC. CH 1, turn. (11)

Row 20: SC 11. CH 1, turn. (11)

Note: You can find this portion of the pattern at Time Stamp 39:39. In the video I must have miscounted my rows while recording. Rows 33a and 39a do start with an increase. The written pattern is correct, the video is off just a bit.

Row 21a: INC, SC 4. CH 1, turn. (6)

Row 22a-26a: SC 6. CH 1, turn. (6)

Row 27a: INC, SC 5. CH 1, turn. (7)

Row 28a-32a: SC 7. CH 1, turn. (7)

Row 33a: INC, SC 6. CH 1, turn. (8)

Row 34a-38a: SC 8. CH 1, turn. (8)

Row 39a: INC, SC 7. CH 1, turn. (9)

Row 40a-42a: SC 9. CH 1, turn. (9)

Row 43a: SC 9, tie off.

Leave a tail about 24″ long to seam up the back once the doll is assembled.

For Row 21 we’ll be working from the middle of the doll towards the outside edge. (Time Stamp 41:57)

Row 21b: SC 5, INC. CH 1, turn. (7)

ow 22b-26b: SC 7. CH 1, turn. (7)

Row 27b: SC 6, INC. CH 1, turn. (8)

Row 28b-32b: SC 8. CH 1, turn. (8)

Row 33b: SC 7, INC. CH 1, turn. (9)

Row 34b-38b: SC 9. CH 1, turn. (9)

Row 39b: SC 8, INC. CH 1, turn. (10)

Row 40b-42b: SC 10. CH 1, turn. (10)

Row 43b: SC 10, tie off. (10)

Crochet Skeleton Doll Arms

Make two – Stuﬀ as you go

Arms are made working in the round.

Round 1: SC 6 into a magic circle (6)

Round 2: INC, SC* 2 times. INC, INC (10)

Sew in your ﬁrst tail.

Rounds 3-30: SC 10. (10) Tie oﬀ

Crochet Skeleton Doll Legs

Make two- Stuﬀ as you go

Legs are made working in the round. You may need a stitch marker for this part.

Round 1: SC 6 into a magic circle (6)

Round 2: INC in each stitch around (12)

Rounds 3: INC, SC* around 6 times (18)

Rounds 4-5: SC 18. (18)

Round 6: DEC 4 times, SC 10 (14)

Round 7: SC, DEC 2 times, SC 9 (12)

Sew in your ﬁrst tail Rounds

Round 8-42: SC 12 (12) Tie oﬀ

Assembly (Time Stamp 45:55)

Line up the front and back pieces so that the right sides are facing eachother. The best way to tell if both sides are facing the correct direction is that the starting tails will be opposite from each other (Time Stamp 46:20)

Insert your hook into the bottom back corner of the skeleton, (opposite of the long yarn tail you left for assembly), pull up a loop and chain just to secure the yarn.

Rather than trying to make your own way up the raw side of the doll, look for the “bars” and “holes”. They will be opposite of each other, so as you go into a bar on one side you’ll be going into a hole on the other and this will alternate going up the side of the doll. (If you need a visual for this explanation you can find it at Time Stamp 46:35 in the video that goes with this pattern) Using the bars and holes ensures that you’re making an even number of stitches per side.

Then using the long tail that we left from the front of the skeleton, SC 19 up the side of the body.

Now grab your first arm, you’ll fold the opening in half so that the stitches line up. Since the arm had 10 stitches around you should go through the arm for 5 stitches to attach it to the body of the Skeleton Doll. (Time Stamp 48:13)

Once your arm is folded in half, sandwich it between the front and back pieces so that the arm is pointing inside of the doll and SC 5 through all 3 layers (back piece, arm and front piece).

Continuing up the head of the doll, SC 19 up the side, SC 13 across the top, SC 19 down the other side of the head.

This is where we will attach our second arm just like the first arm. SC 5 through the back piece, arm and front piece of the doll.

SC 19 down the body to the bottom.

SC 2, grab your first leg and decide how you want your legs to sit. I chose to face my legs towards each other. You’ll feed your feet in from the bottom of your doll so they come out the open space where your seam will be.

Your leg had 12 stitches in a round so when you squeeze it in half to attach it you’ll go through 6 total stitches. Once your leg is where you want it to be, SC 6 through the 3 layers, then SC 2 just through the back and front pieces.

Now you’ll transition to the second half of the back piece and SC 3, then attach your second leg with SC 6 through the back piece, leg and front piece.

SC 2, SL ST into the top of the first SC. Tie off.

You can sew in your tails or secure your tails with knots, whichever works best for you. Just make sure that you don’t sew in the yarn we set aside for seaming up the back.

Turn your doll right side out. Before adding the puff paint for the bones make sure and stuff your doll and seam up the back of your doll. I stuff as I go and whip stitch the seam together.

Now just add your puff paint where the extra face shapes and bones should be (Time Stamp 59:06).

Put on a Gracie Doll dress and your skeleton will instantly transform into an adorable girly skeleton!

I have an extra spooky treat for those of you who want to make your crochet skeleton doll even more special. Download this free Skeleton Doll Adoption Certificate and bring an extra touch of personalization to your finished piece.

I hope you enjoyed these cute little crochet skeleton doll! If you make one and share any pics we would love to see them! Be sure to tag me @acraftyconcept.

If you need some other fun Halloween projects check out these spooky creations right here on the blog!