A sun only works when the rays stay sharp and the face stays perfectly round. This sun amigurumi crochet pattern solves both with cotton yarn, a 3.0 mm hook, medium stitch density, and a flat joined build sized from a verified 10 cm plush base but scaled here into a larger decor piece. It suits an intermediate maker who wants a stable nursery mat, wall accent, or tabletop crochet display.
The Design: What Makes Sun Different
Round toys usually hide shaping inside depth. A sun does not. The circle has to remain clean because every flaw is amplified once rays are attached around the edge. That is the first structural decision: build a broad, even disk before adding points. The second is the border ring. In the photo, the white round separates the face from the rays, which keeps the center visually wider and stops the yellow from blending into itself. The third is cheek scale. Small blush circles vanish on a large flat piece, so oversized cheek patches help the face read from across a room.
A common mistake with any smiling sun crochet pattern is crowding the face too close to the center. Then the eyes sit inside the nose spiral and the smile collapses upward. In most sun amigurumi tutorials, the proportions are toy-sized. Here they are stretched for flat decor. That is the useful gap.
Project Info at a Glance
| Skill Level | Time | Finished Size | Hook | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate | 5–7 hours | 10 cm verified plush reference; 28–32 cm photo-style flat version | 3.0 mm | Nursery decor, flat mat, wall hanging |
Materials and Tools
Yarn
- Bright yellow cotton — DK — about 90–110 g for the large flat photo-style sample — Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/6 is a close verified baseline brand family
- White cotton — DK — about 12–18 g — same yarn family for border consistency
- Light pink cotton — DK — about 8–10 g — same yarn family for cheek patches
- Black embroidery floss or black cotton — small scrap — for smile
- Optional pale yellow — DK — 8–12 g — for a softer ray outline if desired
Tools
- Hook 3.0 mm
- Safety eyes 6 mm for the verified plush reference, or embroidered eyes for the large flat version
- Stuffing only if making the small plush version
- Tapestry needle
- Stitch markers
- Pins for ray placement
Abbreviations
- MR = magic ring
- sc = single crochet
- inc = increase
- dec = decrease
- sl st = slip stitch
- ch = chain
- BLO = back loop only
- hdc = half double crochet
- dc = double crochet
- tr = treble crochet
Invisible decrease keeps the front loops smooth and reduces the chance of a visible notch along curved edges, which matters when a round face sits in full view.
Pattern — Step by Step
Continuous spiral unless noted. This photo is not a stuffed animal. It is a flat sun decor piece, so the pattern below adapts verified sun amigurumi math into a two-disk build with attached rays and face details that match the image.
Head / Front Face Disk (Make 1)
Yarn: yellow — count logic adapted from a verified 60-stitch sun disk and expanded with standard amigurumi math for a larger flat piece.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: inc ×6 (12)
- R3: [sc, inc] ×6 (18)
- R4: [2 sc, inc] ×6 (24)
- R5: [3 sc, inc] ×6 (30)
- R6: [4 sc, inc] ×6 (36)
- R7: [5 sc, inc] ×6 (42)
- R8: [6 sc, inc] ×6 (48)
- R9: [7 sc, inc] ×6 (54)
- R10: [8 sc, inc] ×6 (60)
- R11: [9 sc, inc] ×6 (66)
- R12: [10 sc, inc] ×6 (72)
- R13: [11 sc, inc] ×6 (78)
- R14: [12 sc, inc] ×6 (84)
- R15: [13 sc, inc] ×6 (90)
- R16: [14 sc, inc] ×6 (96)
- R17: [15 sc, inc] ×6 (102)
- R18: [16 sc, inc] ×6 (108)
- R19: [17 sc, inc] ×6 (114)
- R20: [18 sc, inc] ×6 (120)
- R21–R23: sc around (120)
Mark R23. This is the face edge before the white border ring.
Fasten off if changing color cleanly. Leave 12 cm tail.
Body / Back Disk (Make 1)
Yarn: yellow — standard amigurumi circle math, sized to match the front disk for a flat supported finish.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: inc ×6 (12)
- R3: [sc, inc] ×6 (18)
- R4: [2 sc, inc] ×6 (24)
- R5: [3 sc, inc] ×6 (30)
- R6: [4 sc, inc] ×6 (36)
- R7: [5 sc, inc] ×6 (42)
- R8: [6 sc, inc] ×6 (48)
- R9: [7 sc, inc] ×6 (54)
- R10: [8 sc, inc] ×6 (60)
- R11: [9 sc, inc] ×6 (66)
- R12: [10 sc, inc] ×6 (72)
- R13: [11 sc, inc] ×6 (78)
- R14: [12 sc, inc] ×6 (84)
- R15: [13 sc, inc] ×6 (90)
- R16: [14 sc, inc] ×6 (96)
- R17: [15 sc, inc] ×6 (102)
- R18: [16 sc, inc] ×6 (108)
- R19: [17 sc, inc] ×6 (114)
- R20: [18 sc, inc] ×6 (120)
- R21–R23: sc around (120)
Do not fasten off if you plan to join the two disks directly with the border round.
White Border Ring (Make 1 round on front disk or during join)
Yarn: white — photo-derived detail; count held at plateau for a crisp visual separator.
- R24: sc around evenly (120)
- R25: sc around evenly (120)
For the photo look, keep these rounds compact. Loose stitches blur the border.
Fasten off. Leave 10 cm tail.
Rays (Make 24)
Yarn: yellow — adapted from a verified 4-round ray structure, enlarged in count only by quantity, not by shape.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: [sc, inc, sc, sc] ×2 (8)
- R3: [sc, inc, sc, sc, sc] ×2 (10)
- R4: [sc, inc, sc, sc, sc, sc] ×2 (12)
Flatten each ray into a pointed petal by folding round 4 in half and slip stitching 1 edge stitch if needed to sharpen the tip.
Make all rays before assembly. The photo shows many narrow points, so a high ray count matters more than ray depth.
Fasten off. Leave 20 cm tail on each.
Cheek Patches (Make 2)
Yarn: light pink — scaled up for the photo.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: inc ×6 (12)
- R3: [sc, inc] ×6 (18)
Join with invisible finish for a clean circle.
If the cheeks curl, steam lightly under cloth or add one plain round of 18 sc.
Fasten off. Leave 25 cm tail.
Safety Eyes / Embroidered Eyes (Make 2 placements)
Yarn: black or use purchased eyes.
For a large flat piece, place the eyes between R11 and R13 of the front disk, spaced about 20 stitches apart.
For the smaller plush scale, use 6 mm eyes.
Smile (Make 1 embroidery arc)
Yarn: black embroidery floss.
- Anchor the smile centered below the inner nose spiral.
- Curve width: about 22–24 stitches.
- Curve depth: about 5–6 rows below the eye line.
Backstitch or stem stitch works better than chain stitch here because the photo shows a dense, clean black arc.
Nose Spiral / Center Accent (Make 1)
Yarn: yellow — derived from the visible center spiral in the photo.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: inc ×6 (12)
- Sl st to close.
Sew directly over the central opening if your disk center is loose.
Fasten off. Leave 15 cm tail.
Hanging Loop or Back Finish (Optional, Make 1)
Yarn: yellow or white
- Ch 18
- Sl st to first ch to form loop
This is not visible in the photo, so omit it for tabletop use.
Assembly
- Block the front face disk and back disk flat so both circles match edge to edge.
- Sew or crochet the white border rounds to the front disk if you did not work them directly in place.
- Mark 24 equal ray positions around the outer edge, using one marker every 5 stitches.
- Pin each ray with its base centered on a marker. Check that every point angles outward at the same tilt.
- Sew all rays to the back side of the front disk first, keeping the bases hidden just beyond the white ring.
- Place the back disk behind the front disk and whipstitch or single crochet the two disks together around the edge.
- Attach the center nose spiral directly over the first ring to cover the opening and reinforce the middle.
- Position the safety eyes or embroidered eyes on a horizontal line, then lock them before adding cheeks.
- Sew the cheek patches slightly below and outside each eye, then embroider the smile so it ends beneath the cheek centers.
- Weave all tails toward the back disk, flatten the rays by hand, and steam lightly if the points curl.
The piece is complete once the circle stays flat and every ray projects cleanly beyond the border ring.
7 Technical Tips
- Missed increase drift: A single missed increase by R15 will distort the disk and push the border off-center. Count every sixth repeat at the end of each round rather than trusting the spiral visually.
- Weak ray bases: Rays attached over fewer than 5 edge stitches tend to twist forward. Keep each base spread across 5 stitches minimum, even when the point itself is narrow.
- Loose stuffing logic on flat work: Do not stuff this photo-style sun at all. Any fill creates a dome and lifts the face, which breaks the placemat silhouette.
- Eye placement timing: Safety eyes must go in before final backing if you use washers. On the large flat sample, embroidering the eyes may be cleaner because the piece has no depth to hide the backing hardware.
- Invisible decrease misuse: Using regular decreases on visible curve corrections can leave small diagonal dents. Reserve invisible decrease for any reshaping pass or for alternate ray experiments.
- Pinning error: Rays rarely space evenly by eye alone. Pin all 24 first, step back, then compare opposite sides before sewing any single one down.
- Tail weaving bulk: Thick cotton tails stacked under the cheeks create visible bumps on a flat face. Split the plies or route tails outward toward the back edge before trimming.
Conclusion
Flat suns fail for one of two reasons: the circle ripples or the rays collapse. This build prevents both by holding the disk at a stable plateau, separating the face with a white ring, and attaching many narrow points instead of a few oversized petals. That makes it a practical sun amigurumi crochet pattern for display work, not only for small plush toys. The next step is simple: decide whether you want tabletop use or a hanging finish, then lock your ray count before assembly. Share the result on Pinterest and Instagram with #SunAmigurumiFlatRay. One question matters with this character: did you keep the smile below the nose spiral, or did it creep too high during embroidery?
