Crochet a Teddy Bear Bag Charm - Free Pattern

Personalize your bags and express your personality with bag charms! We’re seeing dangly bag charms everywhere and on everyone. You can have one signature piece or layer many different kinds for a maximalist bag-stravaganza. Your bag charms will be even cooler and more unique when you make them yourself. With my free pattern below, you can crochet the cutest teddy bear bag charm for your backpack, messenger bag, or purse. I even included the pattern to crochet a tiny messenger bag for your bag charm!

If you are new to crochet or would like a refresher, check out my crochet class for beginners, Crochet Sampler: A Daily Practice. If you are already familiar with single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, and working in the round, then you’re ready to start.

After crocheting a bear bag charm, you’ll probably want to try a bunny and cat, too. The patterns are the same as the bear for the body and legs, and you just have to make some modifications to the ears, tail, and face. You can find those modification patterns PLUS a really cute tiny back pack in the Patterns and Printables Library which is free for Creativebug subscribers: Backpack Critters.

Materials List to Crochet a Bear Bag Charm

Worsted weight yarn – I used a medium brown for most of the bear and then a small amount of beige and black for the face.
H8/5.0mm crochet hook
Scissors
Tapestry/yarn needle
Stitch marker
Polyfil stuffing
6mm safety eyes (you can also sew on 2 small buttons, glue on googly eyes, or embroider eyes on with yarn or thread)
Keychain hardware or metal ring – Twinkie used a key chain + a swivel hook
Optional: two pairs of flat nose or chain nose pliers if your keychain hardware requires opening jump rings, small buttons for tiny bags

image of the front and back of a small crocheted bear

Gauge & Finished Size

Bag charm is approximately 4″ tall, excluding ears. Exact gauge is not important for this project.

Abbreviation in U.S. Terms

Ch(s): chain(s)

Dc: double crochet

Hdc: half double crochet

Inv dec: invisible decrease

Rnd(s): Round(s)

Sc: single crochet

Sk: skip

Sl st: slip stitch

St(s): stitch(es)

( ): work everything inside the parentheses into the next stitch, e.g. (2 sc) = work 2 sc in the next stitch

[ ]: work everything inside the brackets the number of times indicated

Stitch Refresher

Inv dec: invisible decrease. Insert hook into front loop only of the next stitch, then insert hook into front loop only of the following stitch. Yarn over and pull through first 2 loops on hook. Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops on hook.

Notes

The right side of your stitches should show on the outside of your project.
Try a larger hook and yarn or smaller hook and yarn to change the size of your animal.

How to Crochet a Bear Bag Charm

Arms – Make 2

image of a small brown crocheted plush toy that's just a body with legs and two detached arms

You don’t need to stuff the arms.
Make magic circle or ch 3 and sl st to 1^st ch to form ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 6 sc into ring. Don’t join rnds. Use a stitch marker if desired. – 6 sts

Rnds 2-5: Sc evenly around. – 6 sts

Sl st to the next st to join.
Break off with an 8-inch tail for sewing later. You can weave in the other end now or wait until the end.

LEGS – Make 2

Make magic circle or ch 3 and sl st to 1^st ch to form ring.

Rnds 1-4: Repeat Rnds 1-4 of the Arms. Sl st to the next st to join. – 6 sts

For the 1^st Leg, break off and weave in the beginning yarn tail. I like to keep the finishing yarn tail unwoven until I finish the animal, in case I need it to sew up any holes.
For the 2^nd Leg, do not break off. Continue to Body & Head.

BODY & HEAD

You can stuff the legs if you wish, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Stuff the Body lightly as you go.

image of a grid of 4 photos showing how to crochet together 2 small legs of a bear to start forming the body

Rnd 5: Ch 2. Sc into the next free stitch on the 1^st Leg (the other leg that is not currently attached to your hook) and put a stich marker in the sc you just made to mark the beginning of the round. Continue to work 5 more sc around the leg. Work 1 sc each in the 2 chs. Now working back in the 2^nd Leg, sc evenly around for 6 sts. On the other side of the ch 2, work 1 sc in each ch. Don’t join rnds. – 16 sts

Rnd 6: 3 sc, (2 sc), 7 sc, (2 sc), 4 sc. – 18 sts

Rnd 7: 3 sc, (2 sc), 8 sc, (2 sc), 5 sc. – 20 sts

Rnds 8-15: Sc evenly around. – 20 sts

Rnd 16: 6 sc, inv dec, 8 sc, inv dec, 2 sc. – 18 sts

Rnd 17: [inv dec, sc] 6 times – 12 sts

If you are installing safety eyes, you’ll need to do so before completing the Body/Head. I like the placement between Rnds 15 & 16. I like the distance between the eyes to be 4 sts. You can also decide which is the front and back of your animal.

Rnd 18: Inv dec 5 times, sl st to last st. There will be 1 st left unworked. I like to omit a 6^th inv dec because I think it makes the head too pointy. – 7 sts

Break off and whip stitch through the front loops only of the remaining 7 sts and pull to close. Tie off and weave tail inside the Body.
Weave in any remaining ends.
You might want to wait to place and sew on the arms until you have other details like ears and face finished.

BEAR EARS – Make 2

image of a brown crocheted plush toy with 2 small black eyes and a crochet hook through the top of the head about to make an ear

Join yarn on the side of the Head where you’d like to place an ear.
Ch 1, (3 hdc, sl st) into next st. Break off and weave in ends.

BEAR SNOUT

image of a small beige crocheted circle with a black line across it to illustrate how to make a face for a crocheted bear

With Beige or a color that is lighter than the main color, make magic circle or ch 3 and sl st to 1^st ch to form ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 6 sc into ring. Sl st to 1^st sc to join. – 6 sts

Break off leaving 6 inches of yarn for sewing snout to Head and weave in other end.
Embroider a nose and/or mouth onto the snout before sewing snout to head.

BEAR TAIL

image of the bag of a crocheted bear to illustrate how to crochet a tail

Join yarn on the back of the Bear, wherever you’d like to place the tail.
Ch 1. Work a bobble into the same st you joined in. Bobble: YO, insert hook into st, YO, pull through 1 loop, YO pull through 2 loops. [YO, insert hook into same st, YO, pull through 1 loop, YO pull through 2 loops] 2 times. YO and pull through all loops on hook.
Sl st back into same st and break off.
While you weave in ends, you can sew a tacking stitch or two into the top of the bobble to secure it to the Bear’s body.

How to Assemble Your Bear Bag Charm

Sew Snout to Head.
If you didn’t use safety eyes, glue or embroider eyes now.
Sew on Arms.
When you’re ready to attach your bear to a key chain or metal ring, I simply use a piece of yarn and a tapestry needle to sew 2-3 sts around the chain or ring to the center top of the animal.

image of a brown crocheted bear in the process of getting a key chain sewed to the top of its head

TINY MESSENGER BAG

Start with an 8-inch yarn tail for sewing later and then ch 6.

Row 1: Sk 1^st ch from hook, then 5 sc evenly. – 5 sts

Rows 2-8: Ch 1, turn. Sc evenly. – 5 sts

Row 9: Ch 1, turn. 2 sc, sk 1, ch 4, 2 sc. – 8 sts

Break off and weave in end.
Fold Row 1 up to meet the bottom of Row 8.
With the long yarn tail, sew one side of the bag together. You’ll have to use another piece or yarn to sew down the other side. Or, carefully travel your yarn and needle to the other side without warping the project.
Fold down the top flap and see where you’ll need to sew on a button. The button should be slightly larger than the opening created by your ch 4. Since the bag is so tiny, you’ll probably have to turn the bag inside out to tie knots for the button inside.

image of how to assemble a very small crocheted yellow bag with a strawberry button

With the bag right side out and the button closed, re-join your yarn into the top corner of the closed bag.
To make a bag strap, work a length of tight chains that is about 4 ½” long. I measured this length around my animal, and your length might be slightly different.
Sl st to the other top corner of the bag and weave in ends.

Don’t forget to check out the Patterns & Printables Library to make your bear bag charm some friends!