3 Easy Methods to Weave in Your Ends for Amigurumi

Whether you just started crocheting or you’re a seasoned pro, weaving in your ends is one of those annoying tasks that comes with the territory. To make matters worse, it’s hard to figure out the ‘right’ way to go about doing it too. If you don’t weave them in securely, you could end up with anything from loose stitches to the entire thing unraveling. But don’t worry, today we’re going to talk about 3 easy methods to weave in your ends for amigurumi.

3 Easy Methods to Weave in Your Ends for Amigurumi

Please note that this article focuses on weaving in ends for amigurumi, where yarn tails can be hidden inside a project. If you’re looking to tips to weave in ends on something where both sides must be presentable, I admit I am not the expert in this case. Method 3 will be helpful if you want to scroll down to there, but otherwise I recommend this awesome video from HappyCrochetLady.

1. Tying Knots

Let’s be real, weaving in ends sucks. It’s time consuming, fiddly and annoying, which is why many crocheters use lazier methods of securing their ends (myself included). I fully admit that I use this method more often than not because it works, even if it’s not pretty.

It’s not necessarily wrong to tie knots. The biggest thing you need to keep in mind is the purpose of your project. Will your toy end up being sold? Will it get played with? Is it an art piece that will sit on a shelf or is it just for personal use? Knowing the purpose of the project will help you determine if the knot tying method is the right choice for you.

So what is the knot tying method?

Put simply, it’s just typing knots on the inside of the project and leaving it at that. For example, here’s the inside of Sammie’s Mushroom Forest Shell.

As I sewed on the mushrooms, I just tied knots on the inside of the shell and then trimmed the yarn tails short. It’s not very pretty, but the only one who will ever see the inside of my project is me. I don’t sell my amigurumi, so they’re more like art pieces to me. Which means I can cut corners a bit on the parts that aren’t normally visible.

However, if I was going to sell it, I would take more care to weave in my ends so it looks less messy and a little more professional.

As a side note, if you want to make Sammie the Turtle, his pattern is available for free right here on my blog!

Fastening Off and Weave in Ends on a Closed Piece

Have you ever come across instructions in a pattern like this: ‘Fasten off with a short tail and use a tapestry needle to weave the remaining yarn tail into the body.’

This basically means that you’ve sewn your project shut and now you need to weave in the yarn tail. To do this, I recommend typing at least two knots nearby to the fasten off point. Then poke your tapestry needle through your project so that it comes out in an inconspicuous place. Pull the yarn all the way through and trim the excess.

If you want to explore other ways to fasten off, check out this article: 7 Easy Tips to Finish Your Amigurumi Project.

2. Working Around Yarn Tails

I use this method as well because I do a lot of color work and it helps me keep the inside of my projects (somewhat) less messy. It also works when you connect a new strand of the same color or even crochet on another piece.

Let’s look at a color work example:

As you switch to a new color, you now have 2 yarn tails: the tail of the previous color and the tail of the new color. As you continue to crochet, you can hold these two yarn tails over the hook so that when you complete your stitch, the tails get caught in the middle.

You can crochet around these yarn tails for as many or as few stitches as you want, although I recommend doing at least 4-5 stitches. Especially when making amigurumi, your stitches are going to be tight, so this is a great way to lock those tails in place.

However, there are some downsides to this method. For one, if your tension isn’t tight, the yarn tails can slip free and cause gaps in your stitches. Second, by crocheting over the yarn tails, you’re also making your stitches slightly bigger which can affect shaping.

One way to help combat these cons is to combine this method with the third method below.

3. Weaving in 3 Times

As far as I can tell, this is considered the ‘right’ way to weave in loose ends by the crochet industry. To do this, you’ll take your tapestry needle and first weave horizontally through one row of stitches near where the yarn tail is. Then weave the needle horizontally through the stitches one row below, going in the opposite direction. Finally, weave, the needle horizontally through the stitches one more row below, going in the opposite direction again.

By weaving the yarn tail through 3 different rows and in different directions, there is way less of a chance of that yarn tail coming free. You do need to be careful to only go through the stitches on the back side of the work so that you can’t see the yarn tail from the front side of the work.

While this method is probably the most time consuming, it is also one of the more secure ways of weaving in your ends. Plus you can combine this method with either of the others for a sort of hybrid version.

For example, you can work over the yarn tails for a few stitches and then weave the remaining yarn tail in on the back two more times.

Similarly, you could tie a knot and then weave the rest of the yarn tail in 3 times to make it extra secure. There are several different combinations you can try to see which methods you like best.

Summary

Which method do you like best or do you like a combination of them? Share your thoughts in the comments below! I hope you enjoyed this article and are ready to tackle the task of weaving in ends with less annoyance than before. If you liked this post, be sure to share it with your amigurumi-making friends!

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Til next time, happy stitching!