I came up with this quick project when my brother didn't have a costume for the school's Halloween parade that he could wear. I always wanted to make a Totoro hat, however, hats take a while to create and it was almost dinnertime and I needed it for school the next day. I needed to think of another way to dress my brother up as a Totoro and that is when I came up with this easy crocheted Totoro headband. It didn't take very much time to make and was pretty simple of a design. It made my brother so happy that he could have a Halloween costume to bring to school the next day. After he wore it in the parade, he loved his Totoro headband so much he would continue to wear it around the house or outdoors to keep his ears warm.

This Totoro headband can work as a cold-weather earband or even double as a fun and cute dress up item for creative children. This pattern takes about 1.5 hours to create and is a perfect pattern for beginners who are interested in some 3D crochet/amigurumi!

Fits: 5 to 12 year olds (yarn is quite stretchy)

Time: 1 to 2 hours

Materials:

Black worsted weight yarn
White worsted weight yarn
Grey worsted weight yarn
Green worsted weight yarn
Small amounts of stuffing
G/6 - 4.25mm crochet hook (Metal works best)
Scissors
Small child model

Stitches you should know -

Sc - If you don't know how to single crochet check here!

Ch - If you don't know how to chain check here!

Slip Knot - If you don't know how to slip knot check here!

MC - If you don't know how to magic circle check here!

Inc/2sc/3sc - If you don't know how to increase check here!

Dec/sc2tog - If you don't know how to decrease check here!

Once you have your materials and are ready to go, you can begin to crochet your Totoro headband.

Step 1: The Basic Headband

Start with the grey yarn.

Ch 74 and slst to 1st stitch You should now have a long loop that fits around a child's forehead with out too much stretching and no twisting.

(1-8) Sc in each st around once (74) You should now have a medium sized band that is completely grey and fits along the child's forehead.

F/O

On the opposite side, connect white yarn to the ch where you first began. Note: It is very important that you connect the yarn to the opposite side or else the color changing for the triangles on the band will not work.

(1) Sc in each st around once (74) You should now have a grey headband with a white stripe 1/8 of the size at the bottom.

(2) Sc once in next 26 stitches, (sc once with white in next stitch, put hook through the next stitch and pull up a grey loop, before pulling through, change to white and pull through both loops once more to complete a sc) repeat 10 times, Using white sc in last 28 sts.

F/O hiding the ends.

When you are finished making the band, it is time to start on the eyes.

Step 2: The Eyes

The outer eye: make two times.

Start with white yarn.

Make a MC with 6sc (6)

Continuing in a circle.

Make 2sc or inc. in each st around (12) Your circle should be twice as big as before.

(2sc, sc) - repeat 6 times around (18) Your circle is now finished and should be almost as big as the grey part is from top to bottom on the basic headband.

F/O leaving a tail to sew.

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The inner eye: make two times.

Starting with black yarn.

Make a MC with 6sc (6)

F/O leaving a tail to sew

After you are finished making the eyes, it is time to start on the nose.

Step 3: The Nose

The nose: make one time.

Start with black yarn.

Make a MC with 6sc (6)

(3sc, sc, sc) repeat 2 times (10)

F/O leaving a tail to sew.

After you are finished making the nose, it is time to start on the ears.

Step 4: The Ears

The ears: make two times.

Start with grey yarn.

MC with 6sc (6)

(1-2) sc in each st around (6)

(3) (2sc, sc, sc) repeat 2 times (8)

(4-6) sc in each st around (8)

F/O leaving a tail to sew and stuff lightly.

After you are finished making the ears, it is time to start on the leaf umbrella.

Step 5: The Leaf Umbrella

Leaf: make one time.

Start with green yarn.

MC with 3 sc ch 1 and turn (3)

2sc in each st across ch 1 and turn (6)

(2sc, sc) repeat 3 times ch 1 and turn (9)

(2sc, sc, sc) repeat 3 times ch 1 and turn (12)

ch 4, sk 1 and turn

sc in each st across (3)

F/O leaving a tail to sew on.

After you are finished making the leaf, it is time to start on the whiskers.

Step 6: Embroidering the Whiskers

Using the tapestry/yarn needle, thread a good amount of black yarn onto the needle and embroider equal sized bird feet shaped whiskers on both sides of his cheeks.

It should look like so (shown on paper background).

After you are finished making the whiskers, it is time for assembly.

Step 7: Assembly of Totoro Headband

Sew the inner eyes onto the middle of the outer eyes.
Sew the eyes on to the headband about two inches apart, with the triangles in the middle front.
Sew the ears on top of the headband, matching up with the position of the eyes.
Sew the leaf in between the ears, overlapping the headband a little in front.
Sew the nose in between the two eyes.

Hide any extra ends that are still showing.

Make sure that your pieces are sewn on really well so that they don't fall off and pose a threat to young children as a choking hazard.

Don't forget that any project or pattern can be altered from the original instructions to create the desired look. If this headband size doesn't work for you and you have a little bit of crocheting experience, you should be able to change the size to what works for you.

Step 8: Finished!

Once finished, your headband should be really cute and should be 100% ready to wear.

This pattern has only been tested twice and I am pretty sure I have not forgotten anything, but if you find anything that looks wrong or anything that I need to explain better, you can comment about it and I would be happy to fix it as soon as possible.