Project introduction
This overview looks at Backpack Bronto, a small amigurumi brontosaurus made to clip onto a child’s bag or backpack. It uses basic stitches, needs no color changes, and works up quickly, which makes it a nice back to school gift or stocking stuffer. This is a pattern overview, not a full tutorial. For complete instructions, please use the Original designer’s pattern and instructions. The web version is free to read, while the ad-free PDF is a paid option that also covers a giant version with extra photo help.
Table of contents
Use this list to move through the overview. It follows the same order as the sections below, from the story behind the design and yarn notes through skills, supplies, abbreviations, size, techniques, notes, construction, assembly, and related dinosaur patterns at the end.
- Project introduction
- How the design came about
- Which yarn to use
- Techniques worth knowing
- How you may use the pattern
- Difficulty rating
- Terminology standard
- Materials and tools
- Stitch abbreviation key
- Finished measurements
- Special finishing methods
- Working notes
- The body
- The neck and head
- The legs and tail
- Final assembly
- More free dinosaur patterns
A Bit About This Pattern Overview
The idea began when the designer asked her children what would be the coolest thing to carry on a backpack. Both answered dinosaur. Her son loves dinosaurs, and her daughter enjoys many prehistoric creatures, so she set out to design a small, cute dinosaur that could fit on a child’s backpack. The result clips to a backpack, and it can also stay a small toy when the clip is left off. Let a child help choose colors and safety eyes and pick a name for the companion.
What Yarn Was Used In This Crochet Stuffed Dinosaur Pattern Overview?
The mini dinosaur is worked in worsted weight yarn. The sample uses Brava Worsted Weight yarn from WeCrochet, and the project needs so little yarn that one Brava Mini can make one dinosaur. The PDF also includes a materials list and directions for a Giant Bronto in blanket yarn, so a child can keep a cuddle sized friend at home and carry the mini one when out.
Techniques Used In This Amigurumi Dinosaur Pattern Overview
The design relies on familiar amigurumi methods, including invisible decrease, ultimate finish, magic circle, and invisible join or finish. The designer points readers to blog tutorials for each method, and video lessons are embedded with those posts, so help stays close at hand. You also need single crochet, plus increases and decreases in single crochet, since the rest of the shaping builds on that stitch.
Disclaimer
Finished toys made from this pattern may be sold. When you post them online, please give pattern credit to the designer and link back to the designer’s blog. Please do not resell, distribute, duplicate, or share the pattern itself in print or digital form, and do not claim it as your own design. Please do not use the designer’s photos when you sell finished toys.
Skill Level
The stated skill level is Easy. This amigurumi brontosaurus suits a confident beginner, since the shaping stays simple and forgiving from start to finish. The long neck, tail, and rounded body build up with easy repetitive rounds, so keeping a stitch marker in the first stitch of each round helps. Sew the finished pieces together carefully, and check your tension now and then for a neat, even look.
Terminology
This pattern is written in U.S. terminology. Keep that in mind when you read the abbreviations below, since the same stitch names can mean different things in other terminology systems. A U.S. single crochet, for example, is a U.K. double crochet, so converting on the fly can throw off your counting. Read each abbreviation once before starting, and translate any unfamiliar terms into the system you know best.
Supplies for Backpack Bronto
Gather everything before you start, so you can keep your tension steady and avoid pauses for missing tools. The list below covers the hook, yarn, eyes, clip, stuffing, and finishing tools named for the sample. Check your own stash for close matches, and keep the designer’s list nearby while you shop.
- 3.5 mm Clover Amour crochet hook
- Sample yarn: WeCrochet Brava Worsted in Avocado, 100% Premium Acrylic, Worsted Weight (4)
- Labeled ball: 218 yds/199 m, 100g/3.53 oz, 1 ball
- Sample amount: approx. 33 yds/30 m (15 g/0.5 oz)
- Safety eyes: two, 9 mm
- Clip: 38mm carabiner clip
- Filling: polyester stuffing
- Needle: Clover Chibi bent tip tapestry needle, also called a yarn needle
- Scissors: Clover Mini Patchwork Scissors
- Markers: multiple Clover locking stitch markers
Abbreviations
The pattern uses short forms throughout, so keep this key nearby while you work. The list below gives the U.S. meaning for each abbreviation used in the original pattern. A few entries link to tutorials in the original post for step by step help.
- CH = Chain
- FLO = Front Loops Only
- FO = Finish Off
- MC = Magic Circle / Magic Ring
- PM = Place Marker
- SC = Single Crochet
- SCDEC = Single Crochet Decrease
- SCINC = Single Crochet Increase / 2 SC stitches worked into the same stitch
- SK = Skip
- SL ST = Slip Stitch
- ST = Stitch
Finished Size
Backpack Bronto measures approximately 5 inches tall, not including the carabiner clip. Treat that height as approximate, since hook choice, tension, yarn, and stuffing can shift the final size a little. Measure as you go if a backpack fit matters, and remember the clip adds length beyond the toy itself.
Special Techniques
Three special techniques support a neat finish. The invisible join closes a round without a visible seam. Yarn under single crochet offers a tighter variation on the basic stitch. The SC join starts new yarn cleanly and counts as a stitch. For the invisible join, the designer leaves a tail of at least 5 to 6 inches, which is threaded on a tapestry needle, passed through selected stitch tops, and woven in to secure the close. Step-by-step help is in the designer’s invisible join tutorial, yarn under single crochet tutorial, and SC join tutorial.
Notes
Gauge is not vital here, but it still shapes the outcome. A different gauge can change the finished size, the amount of yarn used, and the safety eye size that looks right. The recommended hook is 3.5 mm, yet you should use the hook that gives a tight, closed fabric with no holes and no stuffing showing. If holes appear, try a smaller hook until the fabric closes up.
Work in continuous rounds, no join unless indicated, mark round starts, count stitches, follow bracket repeats and parenthetical counts, and work SCDEC under front loops only for a cleaner decrease. Where SC is followed by a number, work one SC in each of the next stitches or chains unless the pattern says otherwise.
Both sizes use the same pattern with different materials. Stitch placement decides head direction. Work regular or yarn under single crochet. The sample uses regular, and yarn under work may change yarn use and size. Mark eye spots early with scrap yarn or markers, add eyes with backs after working past that area, and in Round 1 of Neck and Head pick one of two join options, since both give the same result. An inexpensive ad-free PDF version is also sold in the designer’s Ravelry and Etsy
shops, with instructions for a giant brontosaurus plus more tips and photo tutorial support.
Dinosaur’s Body
The body starts with a magic circle and grows through increases to form a rounded base. A gauge check notes the piece should measure 1.5 inches across at the end of Round 4. Round 6 creates an opening with a chain space, and a marker goes in the second skipped stitch to mark where the neck later joins. Later rounds shape the body, stuffing starts at Round 13 and continues as the piece narrows, and the end is cinched closed by weaving a long tail through the front loops.
Photo support for Round 6 comes with the paid PDF version on Ravelry and Etsy .
Neck & Head
The neck and head join to the marked body stitch. Join with a slip stitch or a SC join, with a slightly different first round for each choice. The neck is worked in rounds and stuffed firmly, the head widens, then narrows to close. With the head facing away from you, the left safety eye goes in Round 16 and the right safety eye goes in Round 15, with 8 stitches between them. The piece ends by weaving a long tail through the front loops to cinch the hole closed.
Photo support for the first round of the neck and head is included in the paid PDF on Ravelry and Etsy .
Legs (Make 4)
Make four legs. Each leg starts with a magic circle, is worked in rounds, and is finished with an invisible join that leaves a long tail. Stuff each leg, then sew all four legs to the bottom of the dinosaur.
The tail also starts with a magic circle and grows slowly in rounds. Stuffing begins in Round 7 and continues every few rounds as the tail lengthens. Finish with a long tail, stuff the tail, and sew it to the body using the photo in the original pattern as a guide.
Assembly
For the backpack version, insert the carabiner through the top of the back of the finished dinosaur. Check that it sits securely and that the toy hangs in the direction you want. If you prefer a soft toy, simply leave the clip off and keep the dinosaur as a small play companion. The pattern is free on the designer’s blog thanks to Clover USA, whose tools were used to create it. When you share your dinosaur online, tag @theloopylamb or use #theloopylamb so she can see and share your posts.
Other Free Dinosaur Crochet Patterns You’ll Love
T-Rex Backpack Buddy is listed as another free dinosaur option from the same designer. It keeps the backpack buddy idea, so it can sit beside Backpack Bronto as a second clip on toy for a child who loves big dinosaurs.
Trevor Triceratops crochet pattern is another free dinosaur choice in the closing roundup. A triceratops adds a new shape to a dinosaur collection, with its horns and frill giving it a look that stands apart from the brontosaurus.
Crochetasaurus Rex Free Pattern is described as a baby tyrannosaurus rex toy with a step by step video tutorial. That video support can help if you like to watch each stage, and the baby T Rex shape offers a contrast to the mini brontosaurus.
Derek the Dinosaur rounds out the list of other free dinosaur crochet patterns named by the designer. It gives makers one more dinosaur to explore after Backpack Bronto, so you can keep building a small herd with the same playful spirit.
You can also follow the designer for behind-the-scenes content, giveaways, and news about new free tutorials and amigurumi patterns: Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and the newsletter.
