DIY or Buy? Robot Plushies!

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I’ve recently had some people reach out to me with offers to buy the crochet robot plushie I shared on this blog nearly ten years ago. I’m quite fond of this little guy, so I’ve had to politely decline, but I wasn’t really able to offer any helpful alternatives other than: “Here’s a link to the pattern – you could learn how to crochet.” But this got me thinking… wouldn’t it be fun if I wrote a blog post about how to make something yourself, or, I could tell you where you can buy something similar? Yes! It would be fun! So here’s my inaugural “DIY or Buy?” blog post. Enjoy!

DIY: How to Crochet A Robot Stuffed Animal

“Sprocket the Robot” is a Stacey Trock pattern – one of my favorite plushie designers. Amigurumi are often smaller-sized plushies, but I love her take on amigurumi patterns because they are bigger and, thus, huggable. If you are versed in crochet, you’ll also notice that the stitches here are slightly different from your typical single crochet – that’s because Stacey always has you stitch through the backloop only, which creates cool ridges on her designs – give it a try!

Who can crochet this? I wouldn’t recommend Sprocket as your very first project, but if you have a few projects under your belt, you can totally handle this. The only reason I’d rate it as sort of an advanced-beginner pattern is because you have to do some funky moves to make the robot’s head square. The instructions are very well written and there are photos – but it could potentially be stressful if you don’t know what you are doing.

The pattern includes instructions to crochet a heart to applique onto the robot. You can see that I made a felt heart and did a little beaded border when I stitched it on, so it’s extra fancy. I love the look of the felt heart vs. the crocheted heart… but you do you!

To crochet this, you will need:

Advanced-Beginner Crochet Skills
Sprocket the Robot Pattern (Ravelry Download)
Crochet Hook (pattern suggest an H, I used a J – gauge doesn’t matter too much – just make sure your fabric is a good density and will hold in the stuffing).
Worsted Weight Yarn (I like Heatherly in Gravity in Vanna’s Choice in Silver Heather – both on Crochet.com)
12mm safety eyes
Poly-Fil Stuffing
Felt
Size 6/0 Glass Seed Beads

Materials Cost = Around $25-$30
Time to Make = everyone’s crochet speed varies, but I’d plan to spend around 5 hours stitching this.

Buy: Where to Buy a Robot Stuffed Animal

If you’re not up for crocheting your own robot but you still want one with that handmade charm, I recommend that you hit up Etsy!

Obviously, the products I’m sharing below may be sold out by the time you read this post… but for what it’s worth, here are my top picks:

Crocheted Robot Plushie

I really like this crocheted robot stuffie as an alternative to mine because it has that same square shaping on the head and it’s a similar huggable size. It’s obviously way more detailed with the colors and embellishments than my robot, so if you buy this one, you get an upgrade! (This was around $75 at the time of posting).

Felt Robot Plushies

These felt robot dolls are more affordable than the crocheted option above, but they are smaller. I’m featuring these because they have the same minimalist vibe that my robot is rocking, and you can get the same color scheme if you dig the pink & grey look. (These were $15 each at the time of posting).