A week ago somebody suggested that I should make some Christmas decorations. I thought it might be too early, but then again you also need time to make the stuff before the holidays are here. So I started designing 🙂
The crochet Gingerbread man is a versatile Christmas decoration: you can put it on plates or hang it on the tree – it’s really up to you and your imagination. You can dress him up with a hat or a scarf, embroider a nice coat or even some funny hair.
The pattern is worked in rounds, because this way you make two layers at once and the Gingerbread man is nice and thick almost like the real thing! Plus it holds the shape much better than one layer would. There’s no need for blocking (yay!).
Here’s my first free crochet Christmas pattern:
Crochet Gingerbread Man
Download PDF: Crochet Gingerbread Man by Matyldas Barn with pictures
(updated 17th December 2017) – added pictures, stitch count, more descriptions
What You’ll Need:
- Beige/ brown cotton yarn for the body – yarn group C, 50g / 75 m (1.8 oz / 82 yds) – I used Drops Paris Colour 43
- More cotton yarn for embroidery – red, yellow, green, black… – same yarn weight or preferably lighter – I used Drops Loves You n. 7 and 8
- Crochet hook size 4
- Bigger tapestry or embroidery needle
Abbreviations:
sc single crochet
st stitch
sl st slip stitch
rnd round
sc2 2 single crochet in a row (in two separate stitches)
*xy* Repeat xy as many times as indicated.
(number) The number of stitches in the round.

General Instructions:
Keep working in rounds.
Body:
Rnd 1: 8sc in adjustable ring
Rnd 2: Ch1, *2sc in 1 st, sc* repeat 4 times in total, sl st into the first sc of the rnd. (12)
Rnd 3: Ch1, *sc2, 2sc in 1 st* repeat 4 times in total, sl st. (16)
Rnd 4: Ch1, sc the whole rnd, end the rnd with sl st. (16)
Repeat Rnd 4 three more times. (5th,6th and 7th rnd)
Rnd 8: Ch1, *sc2, skip 1 st* repeat 4 times in total, sc2, skip 1 st, sc, sl st. (11)
Rnd 9: Ch1, *sc2, skip 1 st* repeat 3 times in total, sc2, sl st. (8) (the end of body, don’t bind off)
Rnd 10: Ch1, *sc, 2 sc in 1 st* repeat 4 times in total, sl st. (12)
Rnd 11: Ch 1, *sc, 2sc in 1 st* repeat 6 times in total, sl st. (18)
Rnd 12: Ch1, *sc3, skip 1 st* repeat 4 times in total, sc2, sl st. (14)
Rnd 13: Ch1, *sc 2, skip 1 st* repeat 4 times in total, sc2, sl st. (10)
Rnd 14: Ch1, *sc, skip 1 st* repeat 6 times in total, sl st. (5)
Now you have the body and the head. Fasten off, make it flat so that the beginnings of the rnds are on the side and carefully sew the front and back together with the ends.
Hand:
Rnd 1: (Ch1, 5sc) in adjustable ring, sl st.
Rnd 2: Ch1, sc5, sl st. (5)
Rnd 3: Ch1, *sc, 2sc in 1 st* repeat 2 times in total, sc, sl st. (7)
Fasten off, make it flat and sew it to the body – so that the top part is touching sts from rnd 8 of the body. Start from rnd 1 to make another hand.
Leg:
Rnd 1: (Ch1, 6sc) in adjustable ring, sl st. (6)
Rnd 2: Ch1, *sc, 2sc in 1 st* repeat 3 times in total, sl st. (9)
Rnd 3: Ch1, *sc 2, skip 1 st* repeat 3 times in total, sl st. (6)
Rnd 4: Ch1, *2sc in 1 st, sc2* repeat 2 times in total, sl st. (8)
Fasten off, make it flat and sew it to the body. Start from rnd 1 to make another leg.
After you’re done with the crochet body, you can play around with the embroidery. If you want the gingerbread man to be a tree decoration, you can also add the part for hanging which is a chain of 24.
If you want to shape the little man a bit more, you can wash it and block it.
I’ll be very happy if you show me your results and share your thoughts, you can tag your projects #matyldasbarn on Instagram or share the project on Ravelry. As this is an original pattern, please credit me as the designer. Thank you 😉
You are not allowed to sell this pattern or modify it in any way and sell it. If you decide to sell the finished product, please credit me as the designer. You can only sell individual items or per custom order, further commercial use is not allowed.
DO NOT COPY THIS PATTERN and post it on your page. You can certainly link to it, but you should definitely not copy it.
They’re brilliant! I’m going to make one tonight when I get home
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Awesome! Can’t wait to see your result 🙂
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These are so cute, thanks for sharing!
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Thank you!
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This is super cute Katerina! I think I’ll make a few for Christmas 😊
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Thank you!! I’m glad you want to create some 🙂
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What’s the difference between sc2 and 2sc?
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2sc – 2 single crochet in 1 stitch (you’re increasing the number of stitches in the round)
sc 2 – single crochet twice – each one in a different stitch
Hope that clears it up for you.
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on the instructions it just says body..hand..leg..but when I made the body it was the head where is the head pattern so I can make the body OR where is the pattern for the body?????????????????????????????
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The body IS the body including the head. If you do it correctly, the body will have two round shapes – the smaller one is the head.
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thank you
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[…] Original Source: https://matyldasbarn.com/2017/10/20/gingerbread-man-free-crochet-pattern/ […]
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I decided to give this ago as we have a small tree this year and didn’t want to put heavier/bigger ornaments that I’ve had for my previous 🌲. It seems as if there are a couple of Rnds missing as My body & head looks the same but in the picture it looks as though the head is smaller. Reminds me off the Mr. Peanut on the Planters nuts cans and commercials.
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Hi Marcia, I’m glad you decided to try this pattern. It seems that you might have skipped over some rounds. I wanted to make sure it’s all correct so I just went through the whole thing again and added stitch count for every round, specified the number of repeated stitches and added pictures.
Maybe you can try again? 🙂
The head is smaller than the body as it has less number of rounds, but it is 2 sts wider in rnd 11. Once you add the hands, the body will look bigger than the head.
If you want the head to be even smaller, maybe you can decrease one more stitch in rnd 9, aka the neck.
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Pretty
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Hi, love this pattern! How did you do the scarf?
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Hi, I’m glad you like it! The scarf is just a crochet chain sewed on the body.
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[…] Gingerbread Man free pattern […]
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