Mar
Making Crochet Crowns Without Losing Your Mind
So last spring I made like three crowns in one week because my neighbor’s kid had a birthday party and then suddenly every parent on the block wanted one. I was watching that baking show with the british judges while making them and honestly the repetitive motion was the only thing keeping me sane.
The basic crown pattern isn’t actually that complicated once you get past the weird way people explain it online. You’re basically making a band that fits around someone’s head and then adding pointy bits on top. That’s it. Everything else is just decoration.
Starting With The Band Part
I used Red Heart Super Saver for my first crown because that’s what was in my stash and honestly it worked fine. People get all precious about yarn but for a kid’s dress-up crown you don’t need fancy merino or whatever. The gold colorway is actually pretty decent if you can find it. Later I tried Caron Simply Soft in like a burgundy color for a “king” version and that was softer but also stretched out more which was annoying.
You wanna chain enough to wrap around the head you’re making it for. For a kid maybe 50-60 chains depending on their head size. Adults need more like 70-80. I always make it adjustable anyway so don’t stress too much about exact measurements.
First row is just double crochet across the whole thing. Then you chain 2 and turn and do another row of double crochet. Keep going until your band is about 2-3 inches tall. I usually do like 6 or 7 rows but it depends on how chunky you want it.
The thing that really annoyed me was joining the band into a circle. Every tutorial says to slip stitch the ends together but they never mention how bulky that seam gets. I ended up just using a yarn needle and whip stitching the short ends together which looks way cleaner. Takes longer but you’re not gonna have this weird bumpy spot on the crown.
Adding The Points
This is where it gets fun or frustrating depending on your mood. For a princess crown I do five points usually. King crowns look better with more points, like seven or nine, but that’s more work obviously.
You need to space them evenly around the band. I just eyeball it honestly but if you’re the type who needs precision you can use stitch markers. Join your yarn to the top edge of the band where you want a point to start.
Chain 10 or 12 for a medium sized point. Then you’re gonna work back down that chain. Skip the first chain from your hook, then do a slip stitch in the next chain. Single crochet in the next chain. Half double crochet in the next. Then double crochet for like 3-4 chains. Then reverse it – half double, single crochet, slip stitch. That gives you a triangular point shape.
When you get back to the band, slip stitch into the band and then skip like 8-10 stitches along the band edge before starting your next point. This spacing is what makes it look like a crown instead of just a spiky headband.
I made one in summer 2024 for my friend’s kid who was obsessed with that princess movie, you know the one with the ice powers or whatever. Used this sparkly yarn I found at Michaels that was on clearance. I think it was Loops & Threads Impeccable in silver shimmer? It shed glitter everywhere and my cat was tracking sparkles around the apartment for weeks but the crown looked amazing.
The Adjustable Closure Thing
Instead of making the band a complete circle that has to fit perfectly, I started leaving about a 2-inch gap at the back. Then I add ribbons or ties so you can adjust the size. Way more practical especially for kids who are growing.
Just crochet your band as normal but don’t join it. Leave those couple inches open. On each end of the opening, I attach ribbon by weaving it through the stitches. You need like 12-15 inches of ribbon on each side so you can tie it in a bow. Grosgrain ribbon works best because it doesn’t slip around.
Some people do buttons but that seemed like more work and also kids can choke on buttons or whatever so ribbons felt safer.
Decoration Ideas That Actually Work
Okay so you’ve got your basic crown shape but it probably looks kinda plain. Here’s what I’ve tried that didn’t totally fail:
Fake jewels: Hot glue those plastic gem things from the craft store onto the band. They fall off eventually but it looks good for photos. I used E6000 glue on one crown and those jewels are never coming off, like that crown will outlive us all.
Embroidery: If you’re feeling ambitious you can embroider designs onto the band before you assemble everything. I did little flowers on one with regular embroidery floss and it was cute but took forever.
Different colored points: Instead of making the whole crown one color, switch yarn colors for each point. Gives it a carnival tent kind of look. I did this with a rainbow crown using Red Heart scraps and it was actually the most popular one I made.
Pompoms: Add little pompoms to the tips of the points. You can buy them or make them. I’m too lazy to make them so I just buy the tiny ones in bulk.
The King Crown Variation
King crowns are basically the same but you make the band taller and the points shorter and more numerous. Instead of dramatic tall triangles you want shorter more uniform points all the way around.
I made one last year for a halloween costume and used Bernat Blanket yarn because I wanted it really thick and substantial looking. That was actually a mistake because it was too heavy and gave the person a headache after wearing it for like an hour. Stick with worsted weight yarn even for king crowns.
For the king version I did 9 points instead of 5. Each point was only about 6-8 chains tall instead of 10-12. The band itself was like 4 inches tall instead of 2-3 inches. Makes it look more like a medieval crown instead of a fairy tale princess thing.
You can also add a cross on the front point if you want to get fancy. Just chain up extra on that one point and make a horizontal bar across by doing single crochets into the chain, then continuing back up to make the vertical part. It’s kind of fiddly but looks impressive.
Sizing For Different Ages
Baby crowns need like 40 chains to start. Toddlers maybe 45-50. Kids around 5-10 years old need 55-60. Teenagers and adults are more like 70-80 chains but honestly everyone’s head is different so having that adjustable ribbon closure saves you from redoing the whole thing.
I made a tiny one for my friend’s newborn photo shoot and it kept sliding off because babies don’t really have heads that can hold up crowns? We ended up just placing it next to the baby instead of on the baby. Still looked cute in photos though.
Common Problems I Ran Into
The points flop over instead of standing up straight. This happens when your yarn is too soft or thin. You need something with a bit of body to it. I fixed this once by doing an extra row of single crochet around each point after I made them, which stiffened them up enough.
The band twists when you join it. Make sure you don’t twist the strip before you sew the ends together. Sounds obvious but I’ve done it twice because I wasn’t paying attention.
Uneven point spacing. This is why stitch markers exist but I still just eyeball it most of the time. If one section looks too crowded just undo that point and move it over. Frogging a few stitches is faster than living with a wonky crown.
The crown is too tight or too loose. This is literally why the ribbon adjustment exists. But if you’re determined to make a fixed-size crown, you gotta actually measure the person’s head with a tape measure first. I know it feels weird but it’s the only way to get it right.
Making It Fancy Without Extra Work
Sometimes you want it to look impressive but don’t wanna spend hours on details. Here’s my shortcuts:
Use variegated yarn instead of solid colors. The color changes do the visual interest for you. I used Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable once and it looked way fancier than the effort I put in.
Add a ribbon trim around the bottom edge of the band. Just hot glue or sew a ribbon along where the band meets the head. Covers up uneven stitches and looks intentional.
Make the band in one color and the points in a contrasting color. Two color projects look more complex even though you’re just switching yarn.
Metallic yarn. It’s annoying to work with because it splits but even a basic crown looks expensive in gold or silver metallic yarn. Just gonna warn you that your hands will hurt more because metallic yarn is usually stiffer.
Storage And Care
These things get crushed if you just toss them in a drawer. I store mine by stuffing the inside with tissue paper to keep the round shape, then putting them in a clear plastic bin. The points still get a little bent but you can reshape them with your hands or a quick steam from an iron held above them (don’t touch the iron directly to acrylic yarn unless you want melted plastic).
They’re machine washable if you used acrylic yarn but the jewels will fall off. Hand wash in cool water if you decorated it. I usually just spot clean with a damp cloth unless a kid got like chocolate or something gross on it.
Time Investment Real Talk
A basic princess crown takes me maybe 2-3 hours start to finish including decoration. King crowns with more points take closer to 4 hours. If you’re new to crochet maybe double that time because you’ll be checking what stitch comes next and fixing mistakes.
The most time consuming part is honestly the decoration, not the actual crochet. Sewing on jewels or embroidering or whatever takes way longer than making the crown structure itself.
I can make the band in like 45 minutes while watching TV. The points take another 30-45 minutes depending on how many you’re doing. Then assembly and decoration is the rest of the time.
When To Give Up And Start Over
Sometimes you get halfway through and realize it’s just not working. Maybe the yarn is wrong or the sizing is way off or you hate how it looks. I’ve frogged three crowns completely because they just weren’t salvageable.
If your tension is super inconsistent and the band looks wavy, just start over. You can’t block acrylic yarn into submission like you can with wool, so uneven stitches will stay uneven.
If you used yarn that’s too thin and the whole thing is floppy, you could try holding two strands together and starting fresh. I tried to save a floppy crown once by crocheting a second layer over it and it just looked bulky and weird.
The yarn you picked shows every single stitch mistake. Dark colors especially show tension problems. Sometimes switching to a different color in the same weight fixes the visual problem even though your technique hasn’t changed.
Anyway that’s basically everything I figured out through making way too many of these things. The pattern itself is pretty forgiving once you get the general idea of band plus points equals crown. Everything else is just customization based on what you’re going for.
