You may be getting a déjà vu feeling right now – don’t I have a baby sea turtle pattern just like this already?!

Well, no: there’s something completely new about this pattern! Although from the top it looks almost identical to the turtle from my incredibly popular Baby Sea Turtle Collection:

Spot the difference?

…from the side, it’s as flat as a pancake!

From top: 3D amigurumi turtle; 2D flat appliqué turtle

This is my brand new Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué crochet pattern. Crocheted appliqués are small flat crocheted pieces that make lovely embellishments – and in this case, a perfect addition to a beach or ocean-themed blanket, like my Turtle Beach blanket!

About the Design

I designed this pattern to closely replicate my original Baby Sea Turtle in size, shape and appearance, so you can still keep that iconic Turtle Beach look with much less work.

The pattern is faster to crochet than an amigurumi turtle and, with only two pieces, needs almost no sewing or finishing. You can stitch it securely to a blanket (or anything else), and the optional embroidered eyes make it child-friendly and easy to launder.

Body: The head and flippers are all crocheted as one piece around a body that’s hidden beneath the shell. Not only does this minimise the finishing work, but the flippers naturally form at the perfect angles and in just the right positions with no effort or decision-making on your part (beyond following the pattern!)

Shell: If you’ve ever tried to flatten the original shell, you’ll know that, because it’s designed to be domed, it flattens into a strange overly-wide shape that doesn’t look right at all! I’ve designed a new shell that keeps the same style and finished shape from the top as the stuffed baby turtle, but is completely flat.

Eyes: I wasn’t sure about eyes – the appliqué turtle looks lovely without eyes (and, as we’re looking at the turtle from above, the eyes wouldn’t be visible in real life anyway…) so I decided to offer both options in the pattern. I think it looks cuter with eyes and more sophisticated without. My grey sample turtle has no (visible) eyes and the green turtle has my embroidered eyes – you can choose to add them or not; your turtle will look good either way!

About the Pattern

This pattern includes full written instructions for the turtle, plus round-by-round charted stitch diagrams for the rounds that form the head and flippers, in both right- and left-handed versions.

It also includes:

• Simple assembly instructions for attaching the shell (it comes together so nicely, you may actually enjoy this step for once!)
• A complete step-by-step tutorial for embroidering the eyes securely with no visible knots or tails.
• Tips for stitching the turtles neatly to a crocheted blanket.

Baby Sea Turtle Multipack discount

Which baby sea turtle pattern should you buy? Why not both?! I’ve made that easy for you by bundling the two patterns together as a Baby Sea Turtle Multipack.

If you’re making a turtle blanket, you could attach some flat turtle appliques and give an amigurumi baby turtle set in the same colours as a matching companion gift.

Discount for Baby Sea Turtle Collection owners

If you’ve already bought the Baby Sea Turtle Collection and would like this new turtle pattern too, you can’t take advantage of the multipack discount, but I have you covered! If you’re buying the new pattern before the end of the month (August 2020), I’ll honour that multipack discount for you – just pick the option below that works best for you:

1. Email me (june@planetjune.com) with details of your Baby Sea Turtle Collection order. Once I’ve verified your previous order I’ll email you back with a special discount code for the new pattern, and you can place your order.
2. Place your order for the new pattern at the standard price and include the details of your Baby Sea Turtle Collection order in the message to me (or email me by end of Aug with the details of both your orders). Once I’ve verified your previous order I’ll email you with a PlanetJune Gift Certificate to the value of the discount, which you can use against a future order.

With either option, all I need is enough information to be able to verify your previous order, e.g. your order number or date of order.

Pattern Links

You can find all my sea turtle and turtle beach blanket-related patterns at www.planetjune.com/turtle – browse at your leisure!

As you may have noticed, I’m a bit of a sea turtle fan, and I already have a few ideas for how I’m going to use this appliqué to make or customize turtle-themed things for myself. (More on that later!)

I hope you’ll enjoy this pattern too, and I look forward to seeing what you’ll do with it – don’t forget to tag me @planetjune on all the socials so I can see your projects 🙂

Happy flat turtle-making!

I think I was a bit optimistic in my last health update: post-concussion syndrome can take weeks or months to abate, and I definitely haven’t fully recovered yet. I still get incapacitating headaches on some days, and I sometimes struggle to find the right word when I’m talking. Plus fatigue, sleep problems and a severe lack of concentration and energy… I’m working when I can, but some days I’m just not up to it.

And I seem to be having some memory lapses too, which is quite unsettling. For example, I actually wrote last week’s blog post three weeks earlier, but not only did I forget to post it, I forgot I’d even written it…

How does this affect you? Well, thanks to all of this, I’ve just discovered that a few customer support requests may have slipped through the cracks. I don’t have the energy to wade back through a month of email and messages from other channels and follow up with everyone to check whether I’ve completed your request, so I’m going to just start fresh from today.

• If you’re waiting to hear from me, please email me again (june@planetjune.com).
• If you’ve contacted me via social media or rav PM, please email me for help instead (june@planetjune.com).

Having all my customer support requests in one place will make it much easier to manage them as I continue my recovery.

Thanks for your continued patience, and I’m so sorry if your message is one that slipped past me – it’s incredibly frustrating to me too; this is not the level of customer service I’m known for, but I can’t just wish myself better! I highly recommend you try to avoid head injuries, if you have that option… 🙂

It’s amazing how popular my Turtle Beach blanket pattern is – I published it over four years ago, and it still gets viral boosts on social media every few months that make it consistently one of my most popular designs!

Selling Turtle Blankets

I’ve even started a special section of my Sellers’ List page for people who are making turtle blankets to sell, because I get so many requests for finished blankets…

Don’t they all look great? I love how people respond to this pattern – both makers and buyers!

(By the way, if you make turtle blankets to sell, see the bottom of that page for details of how to be added to the list.)

Turtle-Making Tips

Thanks to this unexpected and long-lasting Turtle Beach popularity, I’m seeing many experienced crocheters try to tackle amigurumi for the first time, to make the turtles for their blankets, and some are getting frustrated.

If this sounds like you, you’re not alone! Amigurumi is a special subset of crochet that requires its own skills. Even the most experienced crocheters can be startled when they pick up their first amigurumi pattern and discover it’s full of new terms and techniques, or amigurumi standards that aren’t specifically addressed within each pattern.

Although all my patterns point you to my main tutorials index (www.planetjune.com/help), the list below is a shortcut to only the tips and techniques you’ll need to tackle and master my Baby Sea Turtle Collection pattern, so you can make adorable turtles for your blankets with minimal frustration!

1. Magic Ring

The magic ring gives the perfect start to every piece of amigurumi: you can start crocheting in the round without any trace of a hole in the middle. Mastering this is a must!
Go to Magic Ring tutorial >>

2. Which loops to work into

Unless otherwise specified in the pattern, all amigurumi should be worked into both loops of the stitch below.
Go to Front, Back, Both Loops tutorial >>

3. Which is the right side

It’s very important that all your amigurumi pieces are right-side out before you stuff, close, flatten or assemble them.
Go to Which is the Right Side? tutorial >>

4. Invisible Decrease

Decreasing without leaving any bumps or gaps sounds too good to be true, but the invisible decrease (abbreviated invdec) really does live up to its name!
Go to Invisible Decrease tutorial >>

5. Changing Colour

Always change colour in the last loop of the stitch before the colour change.
Go to Changing Colour tutorial >>

6. Flattened Pieces

Vital to understand how to make your turtles’ flippers! What does it mean when a pattern says to flatten a piece of an amigurumi after crocheting it?
Go to the Flattened Pieces tutorial >>

7. Seamless Join

This technique creates a smooth, almost invisible join for stitching the flippers to the shell.
Go to Amigurumi Seamless Join tutorial >>

These seven tutorials cover every mistake I’ve ever seen anyone make with my Baby Sea Turtle pattern, so make sure you understand these seven concepts and you’ll be good to go!

Still Struggling?

Now, if you’ve decided you’re allergic to amigurumi and you never want to see an amigurumi turtle again, I understand! Although I love amigurumi, I know it isn’t for everyone, and I’m working on an alternative for you.

I’ve developed a flat applique-style baby turtle design that closely matches the look and size of my ami turtles, so you’ll be able to stitch those to your turtle blankets for a similar effect (except that the turtles will be flat instead of three dimensional). The new pattern will be much faster to make, with only two pieces, simple embroidered eyes, and almost no sewing! 🙂

Watch this space – I’ll post as soon as the new pattern is ready…