Do you want to crochet an adorable cow stuffed animal? With some yarn, a crochet hook, and basic skills, it’s easy to make a huggable cow toy that would delight any child.
If you’re short on time, here’s the quick answer to making your own crocheted cow: Use brown, white, and pink yarn with a medium crochet hook. Crochet a rectangular body in brown, making front and back panels. Add a white belly. Crochet four legs and a tail.
For the head, crochet pink ears, a white and black muzzle, and big brown eyes.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll cover everything you need to know about selecting the right materials, stitching the components, assembling your crocheted cow, and adding fun embellishments.
Gather Your Crochet Cow Supplies
Yarn in brown, white, pink, and black
The best yarn type for making an adorable crocheted cow is a medium weight acrylic or wool blend. Look for a yarn that is about the same thickness as the recommended size H crochet hook, also called a 5 mm (source: The Spruce Crafts).
A wool or wool blend yarn may produce a more plush and high-quality stuffed animal, while acrylic yarn is often the most budget-friendly option. You’ll need about 250 grams total in the following colors:
- Brown – Main body and head
- White – Belly, face markings, tail, spots
- Pink – Inner ears and muzzle
- Black – Eyes, hooves, nostrils
Fun multicolored yarn is another great option if you want your cow to have a more playful look. 😊 The sample project we’ll base our little cow on requires about 120 grams of tan, 80 grams white, 30 grams pink, 10 grams black, and 10 grams red.
Crochet hook (size H/8 or 5 mm)
A standard size H or 8 crochet hook with a 5 mm diameter is ideal for working up amigurumi stuffed animals with medium weight yarn. Make sure to choose an ergonomic crochet hook with a comfortable, tapered handle in a material like aluminum, plastic, wood, or bamboo (source: Tuts+ Crafts).
This will help prevent hand strain during longer crocheting sessions.
Stitch marker, yarn needle, poly-fil stuffing
You’ll also need a few other small accessories:
- Stitch markers – to mark the rounds as you crochet
- Yarn needle – for weaving in ends
- Poly-fil stuffing – to stuff your cow
Poly-fil stuffing can usually be found at any craft store in the yarn or fabric section. Make sure to get a large enough bag, around 16 oz, so you have plenty to stuff your cow nice and full (source: Sarah Maker). 👍
| Supply | Estimated Quantity Needed |
|---|---|
| Yarn | 250 grams total |
| Crochet hook size H/8, 5 mm | 1 |
| Stitch markers | 4-6 |
| Yarn needle | 1 |
| Poly-fil stuffing | 16 oz bag |
With all these fun cow-making supplies ready, you’ll be ready to start hooking an adorably fluffy, spotted cow stuffed animal in no time! 🐄 🧶 Can’t wait to see your cute crocheted creation.
Crochet the Body
Make back and front cow body panels
To start crocheting the adorable cow’s body, first make two large rectangles for the back and front panels using light tan or cream-colored yarn. Single crochet about 30 by 20 inches for each rectangle so the cow will be nice and plump.
Go slowly and count your stitches carefully to keep the rectangles the same size.
Add belly section in white
Next let’s make the cow’s sweet little white tummy area. Single crochet a small 10 by 5 inch white rectangle. We want this panel smaller than the back/front pieces to define the belly when joined together later with a slip stitch border.
Use bright snowy white yarn that will pop against the cow’s tan body.
Join body parts with slip stitch
Now grab your tan cow body panels again and neatly join them together with the white belly piece in the middle using slip stitches. Take your time here getting the fit just right—this is starting to look like a cuddly little heifer already! Once you have all three panels assembled, finish off the cow body by slip stitching all the way around the outer edges.
There you have it, the cute cow’s tubby little body is all crocheted together and ready for embellishing! Nice job 👍 Next we can add fun details like spots, eyes, and maybe even a bell around its neck. Coming along so nicely!
Crochet the Head
Muzzle front: black and white yarn
To craft a cow’s distinctive black and white muzzle, use black and white yarn to get the perfect color pattern. As you’re crocheting the front of the snout, switch back and forth between 3-4 rows of black yarn and white yarn to create the random yet realistic splotchy cow pattern we all recognize and love!
The contrast of the white and black strands of yarn will beautifully represent the mask on a sweet cow’s face. 🐮 You can play around with the amount of rows of each color depending on the size of your cow’s head.
Ears: pink yarn
Ah, what would cows be without their floppy ears? For rosy pink cow ears that are as adorable as can be, use strands of soft pink yarn. Single crochet a seamless oval tube for each ear first. Then fold the single crocheted fabric over your finger to get the signature curved ear shape before stitching the cow ears to the top sides of the head.
Those perky ears give cows so much personality! 😊
Eyes: black yarn with brown backs
Who wouldn’t fall in love with a cow stuffed animal that stares back with big bright eyes? To craft super sweet cow eyes, first single crochet two small circles or ovals out of black yarn. Then make a second larger set of ovals from light brown yarn to create the white backdrop behind black cow pupils we all recognize.
Sew these contrasting eye pieces together, leaving the black ovals more prominent. Finally, attach your dimensional cow eyes to the front of the head for a face full of expression! 😍
Nose and nostrils: black embroidery thread
With black embroidery thread, hand sew a small sideways triangle for the nose onto the crocheted snout. Leave gaps between triangle stitching lines for delicate embroidered nostrils. These special facial details, though tiny, bring incredible life and personality to your amigurumi cow design.
What farm friend would be complete without an adorable smiley nose and nostrils? 👃 Your crocheted cow can now moo with gusto! 🐄
Crochet the Limbs
Legs – Make 4 in brown yarn
Crocheting the legs is an important step in creating your cute stuffed cow. You’ll need to make a total of 4 legs using brown yarn to give your cow its signature look. It’s best to use a medium or light brown color that will complement the rest of the stuffie.
To begin, create each leg by crocheting a cylinder shape that is about 5-6 inches tall. This will give the legs good proportion to the rest of the body. As you crochet, be sure to stuff the legs firmly but not overly tight with fiberfill stuffing.
Well-stuffed limbs will help the cow stand up properly.
For added detail, consider changing colors on the hooves to black or dark brown yarn. This gives depth and mimics real cow coloring. Simply crochet the last 1-2 inches of each leg using the darker shade.
As you finish each leg, weave the yarn ends into the body and trim any excess. Doing this as you go results in a clean finish. Arrange 2 legs on each side and pin them in symmetrical positions before seaming.
Tail – Crochet 1 in brown
The tail helps balance your crochet cow and gives it more personality! For the classic farm animal look, craft the tail out of brown yarn in a dark to medium hue.
A basic cylindrical or cone shape works best. You’ll want around 9-12 inches in length and a fatter diameter toward the base tapering down at the tip. For added detail, consider switching to black yarn at the tail end portion.
Firm stuffing is key so the tail has enough structure to stick out properly. But be cautious not over-stuff or it may be hard to seam the base. Using a ladder stitch, connect one side of the tail’s base onto the body toward the hindquarters so that it stands out horizontally.
You could also sew on a separate tail embroidery instead of a 3D crocheted piece. Simply cut a tail shape from brown felt or faux leather using a template. Then whip stitch it to the body with strong thread or embroidery floss.
However you attach it, a cute little tail will have your stuffed cow’s personality shining through in no time! Adjust and shape as needed once assembled.
Finishing Touches
Assemble all parts
Once you have crocheted all the individual parts of your cow stuffed animal including the head, body, legs, tail, etc., it’s time to assemble everything together. Lay out all the pieces in front of you and make sure you have all of them.
You’ll need some yarn, a yarn needle, poly-fil stuffing, and scissors.
Start by stuffing the head first, using small bits of poly-fil to get into every crook and cranny. Make sure it is evenly stuffed and feels nice and plush all over. Knot off the opening once stuffed. Next, stuff the horns the same way.
Slide the open end of the horns onto the head once stuffed and stitch loosely in place around the base of the horn.
Weave in loose ends
Now is the perfect time to weave in any loose yarn ends so they’ll be hidden inside the stuffed animal. Turn your assembled pieces inside out one at a time and use the yarn needle to weave the loose ends into the thicker yarn of the crocheted fabric.
Don’t forget to weave in the loose ends at the bottom of the legs where you switched colors for the hooves!
| Forget this step… | Weave in loose ends |
|---|---|
| Loose yarn ends will stick out and look messy | Your cow will look neat, tidy and professionally made |
Add poly-fil stuffing
Turn your pieces right side out again and begin stuffing the legs and body firmly with poly-fil. Use a knitting needle, chopstick or crochet hook to really poke the stuffing into the narrow parts like hooves, ankles and tail.
You want the stuffing to be very compact so don’t be shy about really filling everything up!
It’s fine if you can’t stuff all the way into the hooves or other narrow parts. Just fully stuff the main part of each piece, leaving a little room at the ends for seam allowances. Leave both body pieces open for now.
Embroider mouth line
Your cow’s cute face will come alive when you embroider her mouth. Look at the head straight-on and eyeball where you want the mouth to be – a little smile line a few rounds up from the bottom edge. Thread a piece of black or dark brown yarn onto your needle.
Knot the end and neatly whip stitch or back stitch a mouth line until you have a smile you love.
As a final touch, use a pink or black felt pen or embroidery floss to add two little nostrils just above the mouth line. Now your crochet cow is not just cute – she’s also adorable! 😍
For even more embellishment ideas, check out some tutorials over at thesprucecrafts.com.
Conclusion
With this easy tutorial, you now know how to crochet a charming stuffed cow toy. Feel free to get creative adding your own special details like fluffy yarn for the mane and tail, or crocheting cute spots on the body. The adorable cow you craft will be a beloved friend for any little one.
Happy crocheting!
