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[iloveasailor]

Hi everyone! I'm looking to design my own three-dimensional toy pattern, and I'm looking for a few tips as to where to begin. I'll be looking at a picture of what I'd like to design, obviously. As far as I can tell, the pattern shouldn't end up being too complex, but I'm really not sure where to begin as far as working out the shapes I need and

Comments

[cymrullewes]

Decide if you want to do it in one piece or are willing to seam it together.

If you want to seam, then draw out each piece and graph it out after you do a gauge swatch. Then knit the pieces, seam them together and stuff it.

For 3D stuff I prefer to do crochet because it is easier and stiffer.

[wicked_vasquez]

I have not designed toys (yet), but thinking about the 3D aspect, I'd take an sheet of paper and make the toy using bending and tabs - they way one did put together multifaced 3D objects in maths.

[kightp]

Yes - it's the same principle as designing sewing patterns; you make a mockup, either on paper or in muslin (known as a sloper) and fold/pin/tape it together until you get the shape you want, and then use that to mark up the proper pattern.

The main "special technique" that's useful for making 3-D objects, IMO, is shortrow shaping; it allows you to build curves into otherwise flat pieces.

[hobbitblue]

Have you knitted up any toys before, that should give you a feel for the kinds of things to think of - working on DPNs to avoid seaming (like the Bobbi Bear pattern), or making pieces and sewing them up afterwards (Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys). Some patterns get you to knit shapes very much similar to ones you'd cut out of fabric to sew, I tend to design on the needles and in my head to a less exacting method, I always admire the toys that seem to grow almost by themselves on DPNs. Maybe look at some of the patterns listed here to get an idea of possible techniques?

Things like body parts and limbs tend to be constructed in similar ways, often a variation on tubes with increases and decreases, though short row shaping is a nice way to get a rounded shape or tailor an animal's muzzle, for example. Sometimes it helps to make a mock up with paper so you can visualise how elements will work together.

[unacquiesce]

following up on what hobbitblue said, every 3d object can be broken up into simple geometric shapes - cubes, cones, cylinders, domes, pyramids, spheres, tubes, etc. once you figure out what shapes you need to make, it's just a matter of how much seaming you want to do.

i've never tried charting out a 3d stuffed thing on graph paper, but it does help to do a trial run (trial knit?) of any given shape with some scrap yarn. that way you can actually see the outcome of things (increasing every row versus every other row, decreasing every six stitches versus every eight stitches, correctly proportioning the limbs with the body, etc).