Bandit’s Redesign — A Bluey-Inspired Crochet Pattern

After publishing my Chilli-inspired pattern last month, it became clear that Bandit needed an overhaul. Not only were my testers reporting that Chilli was ending up taller than Bandit, but I just wasn’t happy with the pattern in general and knew I could do better.

Ready to Make Your Own? Bandit Crochet Pattern in the Shop

The Problem

My original Bandit pattern had one glaring issue. This issue wasn’t very apparent when my testers tested it (though for a few he showed fairly round instead of tube-shaped) as the height looked roughly where it should be when compared to the Bluey and Bingo – inspired dolls. No, the issue showed when comparing Bandit to Chilli…for me the height was perfectly fine! For my testers, not so much. Chilli was coming in much higher than Bandit which simply could not be. All my testers reported the same thing, so…

The problem was me.

Or, more importantly, the random thin yarn from my stash. I dug the yarn out as it was roughly Bandit’s colour, and holding the two strands together worked out to be roughly DK weight. That couldn’t have much impact on the pattern itself, could it?

Turns out, it could. While Bandit looked roughly right for me, my poor testers who were using proper yarn didn’t end up with quite the same story.

Knowing what had to be done, the launch of my Chilli pattern marked the launch of my Bandit pattern being removed. I spent some time clearing my head by working on some completely different designs, had some fun at a yarn shop buying the right colours in the right weight, then reopened the pattern file and got to work.

The body needed more rows, the arms and legs needed to be thinner and longer to match Chilli’s better, and the stomach patch needed reworking to fit with everything else. The nose also shrank, again to closer match Chilli (though it’s still a touch bigger!). It took some restructuring and all new photos (my current bane!), but it all came together.

And I’m so happy for this redesign:

Wrap Up

As mentioned in my last post, whatever causes you to grow is a good thing. Reworking the pattern wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and now more than ever I have an excuse to run to the yarn store for a new pattern. Win win!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tiny glimpse of what goes on in the background of pattern designing, and that it may inspire you to design your own! If you’d like to see more of the pattern itself and view the discount pattern bundles, please feel free to head over to my shop! I love seeing the toys folks make from my patterns, so please tag me on FB or IG @littlesealdesigns on any makes!

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