A crochet polar bear pattern with the legs, body and head in one piece

This crochet polar bear pattern makes a chunky standing bear with a round muzzle, little ears and long arms. You start with the two legs, join them with a short chain and keep going up. The body and the head grow straight out of the legs, so there is no head or body to sew together at the end.

Only the muzzle, the ears and the arms are made separately and sewn on. If you have ever put off finishing a plush because of the sewing, this build is a relief, and the bear still comes out big enough to sit on a shelf and be noticed. With worsted yarn and a 3.5 mm hook it stands roughly 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 in) tall.

One big piece and four small ones

The whole bear is worked in continuous rounds of single crochet, in a spiral without joining. Here is the order you work in:

• Legs, make 2: rounds 1 to 8, 18 stitches. The second leg is not cut.
• Body: round 9 joins the legs with 3 chains, then rounds 10 to 37.
• Head: rounds 38 to 50, straight on from the body, with safety eyes.
• Muzzle: 4 rounds, 15 stitches, sewn on below the eyes.
• Ears, make 2: 3 rounds, 12 stitches, sewn on top of the head.
• Arms, make 2: 15 rounds of 10 stitches.

Rounds 13 to 35 are the long, straight part of the body: 23 rounds with 1 single crochet in each stitch. They are the relaxing stretch of the project, and the PDF suggests a second marker to count them.

The join is the only tricky moment in this crochet polar bear pattern

Joining the legs can look daunting, so round 9 is taken apart into small numbered steps: chain 3, join to the first leg, go around the first leg, work along the chains, go around the second leg and come back along the chains. There is a photo at each stage, and the round has to come to 42 stitches.

If it does not, the troubleshooting page tells you what to check: both legs need 18 stitches, and you have to work into both sides of the 3 chains. A small gap between the legs is normal and easy to fix. You close it with a few stitches and the yarn tail when you stuff the body.

What you get with this crochet polar bear pattern

The PDF has 19 pages, 45 numbered steps and 49 photos, from the first leg to the finished bear. You also get a materials list, a stitch guide in US terms, a quick reference section with the counts in short form and a page for when something looks wrong. The stitches themselves are all basic: magic ring, chain, single crochet, increase and decrease.

Every round ends with a number in brackets, and you should count at the end of each one. On a project with 50 rounds in the main piece, that small habit saves you from unpicking later.

Yarn, hook and eyes

Use worsted or aran weight yarn in cream or white for the whole bear, with a small amount of brown for the nose and the mouth. The Craft Yarn Council yarn weight chart is useful if your label calls the weight something else. Beyond the yarn, you will need:

• A 3.5 mm (E-4) crochet hook, or one size smaller than the yarn label suggests
• 2 black safety eyes with washers, about 10 mm
• Polyester fibrefill
• A stitch marker, a yarn needle and scissors

The tighter hook keeps the stuffing from showing, which matters on a bear of this size, and it is worth the small effort of going down.

Getting the bear to stand and look right

A standing bear has to balance, and that comes down to stuffing. If yours leans to one side, push more stuffing into the feet and press the bottom flat with your hand. Put the eyes in before round 48, count the stitches between them and check that they sit level before you lock them. Those are small checks that happen while everything can still be changed.

Who this crochet polar bear pattern suits

It is rated easy, and you only need to be happy working in the round. It is a good next step once you have made something small and want a bigger result without learning new stitches. Our free chenille bear tutorial is another bear worth trying, in a much softer yarn. If you want other animals as well, this crochet polar bear pattern is included in the plush animal pattern pack.

What happens after you buy

This crochet polar bear pattern is a digital PDF, not a finished toy, and no package will arrive. Once you have paid, sign in to Whop using the code sent to your email and your file is there to open. Print the pages you need, or read them on a phone or tablet while the bear grows.

On the blog: Crochet Chenille Bear: Easy Gift to Make in 21 Steps