Crochet a Sloth Pin to Bust Your Stash

I crocheted this pin in honor of the sloths at APPC, the animal rescue & rehabilitation shelter where I volunteer (@appcpanama on Instagram; https://www.appcpanama.org/). I based the design on the bradypus variegatus, or three-toed sloth. Currently all of the sloths at the shelter are two-toed (choloepus hoffmanni), but the three-toed sloth has such an adorable and easily recognizable face that I love crafting it!

I also wanted to make something small that could help me use up little bits and pieces of yarn leftover from bigger projects. This project is a good stashbuster if you have bits of brown and tan/cream/white yarn cluttering up your closet.

I might sell some of these for fundraising for the shelter, so let me know if you’re interested in purchasing one! Shipping will likely be available in late November 2022.

A safety note: due to the pin point and choking hazards presented by the safety eyes, do not let any child younger than four years old play with this pin or leave it where small children can access it.

The skills you will need to make this Instructable are basic crochet and basic sewing.

Some abbreviations:

ch: chain stitch

sc: single crochet

sl: slip stitch

inc: single crochet increase

3 sc in one: increase by crocheting three single crochet stitches in one stitch

x 6: perform action six times

Gauge is not very important for this project. I will tell you what supplies I used, but feel free to use what you have, especially little bits of yarn cluttering up your stash.

• Small amount of DK brown yarn (less than 100 yards)
• Small amount of DK cream or tan yarn (less than 50 yards)
• Size D (3.25 mm) crochet hook
• Small amount of brown sewing thread
• Sewing needle
• Tapestry needle (with a big eye for sewing with yarn)
• Two 6 mm safety eyes and one safety nose with washers (or substitute black crocheted/embroidered nose and eyes)
• Scissors
• Safety pin or other row marker
• Jewelry pin back

Optional:

• Small amount of fiberfill stuffing
• Straight pins
• Small piece of interfacing material for sewing pin back (I used a scrap of webbing strap)

1. Using brown yarn, crochet a magic ring with six stitches. Insert a stitch marker if desired. (If needed, please consult the Magic Ring Instructable by PatronesValhalla).
2. Inc x 6 (12 stitches).
3. (Inc, sc) x 6 (18).
4. (inc, 2 sc) x 6 (24).
5. (inc, 3 sc) x 6 (30). Sl st to the first st and finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Repeat these steps once to create two circles, which will be the front and back of our pin.

We’re going to make an irregular shape for the face. I’ll use some techniques like working along the back of a crochet chain and doing increases by crocheting three sc in one crochet stitch. If you want some more guidance on how to crochet an oval generally, please check this eHow article by Makenzie Pearson.

Additionally, if you don’t want to crochet this part, you could just cut it out of a light-colored felt.

1. Using light colored yarn, ch 5.
2. Skipping the first loop, sc 3 along the chain. In the final stitch, increase with 3 sc in one. Place your stitch marker in the first stitch of this increase.
3. Turn your work so that you can crochet into the BACK side of the foundation chain. Sc 3 along the back of the chain, 3 sc in one in the final stitch. Turn the work again and sc 3. This brings you to the stitch marker and completes the first round. (12)
4. 2 sc, 3 sc in one, 4 sc, 3 sc in one, 4 sc (16).
5. 2 sc, 3 sc in one, 6 sc, 3 sc in one, 6 sc (20). Sl to the first st and cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Now we’ll use the brown yarn to make the “eye mask” on the sloth’s face. Just like with the face, if you prefer not to crochet this part, you could cut two strips out of brown felt.

1. Ch 6.
2. Skipping first loop, sl st into the next five sts. Cut yarn, leaving a tail for sewing.

Repeat these steps once. You will have two brown strips for the eye mask.

1. Place light-colored face piece over brown circle. Play around with the placement! I put mine pretty much in the center of the brown circle. When you’ve placed it to your satisfaction, pin it in place with a safety pin or straight pins.
2. Using the tapestry needle, sew the light-colored face to the brown circle. Don’t worry about hiding your knot well in the back - we will sandwich the two brown circles together at the end, so the back will not be visible.
3. Place the two brown “eye mask” pieces over the light-colored face. Again, play around with where you place them. I feel like my sloth came out looking cutely anxious because I placed mine pointing up a bit in the middle. You can achieve quite different expressions with small tweaks. Once you’re happy, pin eye masks in place.
4. Using tapestry needle, sew eye masks to face piece and brown circle.

Feel free to try out lots of different options, as small differences in the size and color of the accessories you use here will greatly affect how your pin looks. I placed my safety eyes on the eye masks, toward the center of the sloth’s face, about one stitch away from the end of the eye mask. I put the nose about one stitch below and right in between the safety eyes.

It can be a little hard to get the safety eyes through three layers of crochet, but you can do it by wiggling the posts in between the stitches. Attach the washers on the back, making sure to secure them tightly.

If you prefer not to use safety eyes and noses, use black yarn to make the eyes and nose. You could crochet the eyes and nose as magic rings and sew them on, or you could use embroidery techniques, like making the eyes with French knots and using satin stitch to draw a nose.

I include this step because in my experience, if you sew the pin on the crochet circle without interfacing fabric, it’s pretty hard to actually pin it onto clothes! The pin back becomes wiggly and elusive, and it’s much harder to operate the clasp mechanism. Attaching some stiffer fabric to the inside of the pin helps to ground the pin back and makes it easier to open and close the clasp.

In keeping with the stash-busting ethos of this project, I encourage you to use any small scrap of stiff material you might have lying around. I used a little snip of webbing strap, and I actually ended up cutting it quite a bit smaller than it is in this picture. You only need enough to sew the pin back onto.

Make sure that your interfacing fabric is smaller than the crocheted circle, cutting it if necessary. Attach the fabric to the second crochet circle, the one that does not have the sloth’s face sew on. On the back side of the crocht circle (the side with the yarn tail from your magic ring), place the interfacing fabric. You want at least part of it near the “top” or edge of the crocheted circle, as we will be sewing the pin back high on the circle.

Place the pin back high on the outside of the second brown circle. If you’re using the interfacing fabric, make sure to place the pin back at the same height as the interfacing fabric on the opposite side, so that you can sew in through the pin back and come out through the interfacing fabric.

Using sewing needle and thread, sew the pin back securely to the crocheted circle and interfacing fabric (if applicable). I recommend sewing in different orientations in order to stabilize the pin back. In other words, don’t just sew one line between the two eyes of the pin back, or the pin back will be unstable and difficult to use. I used a series of stitches coming out in a star shape from each eye of the pin back.

Take both crocheted brown circles, one with the pin back and one with the sloth face. Place them together so that the pin back and the sloth face are both on the outside, with all of the work and the interfacing fabric sandwiched inside. Make sure to orient the crocheted circle with the pin back so that it is running levelly and oriented toward the top of your work. Pin in place if desired. If you don’t properly orient the pin back, your sloth face will be crooked when you pin it on.

You could use a tapestry needle to sew the two sides together with the brown yarn tails, or you could slip stitch the two circles together as I did. If you would like a plump, more 3D pin, when you have only a few stitches left open, insert a small amount of fiberfill. Finish attaching the two sides, make a finishing knot, and pull the yarn tail inside your work, between the two brown circles. Cut any remaining yarn tails if necessary.

Use this pin to spruce up a jacket, shirt, tote bag, or pretty much anything else! Give it to a friend! Make a bunch of them and use them to fundraise for a favorite charity! Let your sloth pin be a reminder to take things at your own pace; get plenty of rest; and eat whatever pleases you, including nourishing green leaves.