These lovely little smiley sunshines never fail to make people smile!
This is part of my series of what has been my consistent best selling crochet items over the last few years, and as a maker and seller, my theory is, ‘Make What Sells.’
I am very happy to be able to share my free crochet sun pattern with you, and I hope you enjoy making it as much as I do.
What To Crochet That Sells Well
I’ve been selling at craft fairs for over 20 years, and over that time I’ve learnt what I should (and shouldn’t) crochet to sell.
I will always have a few really big, eye catching crochet items, even if I don’t think they will sell because they would be too expensive for a particular market.
But I do make sure to fill my stall with smaller, more affordable items that I know people will love!
With that in mind, I have a few patterns that I can crochet up very quickly, they don’t use much yarn, and I always know they are going to sell well.
One of those items, is this super cute Smiley Sunshine Keychain!
In fact, I have a few styles of crochet keychains that I make and sell, because they have been a consistent top seller, and customers will often buy a few different ones at the same time.
This Is What You Will Need To Make Them
- Crochet Hook – I use a 3mm
- Yarn – I use Paintbox 100% Cotton in ‘Buttercup Yellow’ and ‘Mustard Yellow’ from LoveCrafts I also use a little bit of red for the mouth.
- Toy Stuffing
- Scissors
- Darning Needle
- Safety Eyes – I use 6mm or 8mm which I buy from Amazon
- Keychains –
- Keychain Display Cards – I have these in my Etsy Store as a digital download, so you can print as many as you need
The stitches used are in US crochet terms and here are the abbreviations;
Single Crochet – sc
Slip Stitch – sl st
Chain – ch
Half Double Crochet – hdc
Double Crochet – dc
*—–* – repeat the sequence between the * to the end of the round.
The numbers in the () is the total number of stitches in the round.
We’re going to be using a magic circle, but if you prefer, you could chain 4, and then slip stitch into the first chain and work into the circle it creates.
If it helps, place a stitch marker in your first dc of each round.
I do mine with two shades of yellow, but if you prefer, you do it all in one color.
I start with the lighter shade, which in my case is the ‘Buttercup yellow’ and make a magic circle.
- Round 1 – Ch 1, then 5 sc into the magic circle and then sl st into the first sc of the round. (5)
- Round 2 – Ch 1 then *2 dc in each stitch around and then sl st into the first sc of the round. (10)
- Round 3 – Ch 1 then *2 dc in the first stitch and 1 sc in the next stitch* … repeat until the end, and then sl st into the first sc of the round. (15)
- Round 4 – Ch 1 then *2 dc in the first stitch and 1 sc in the next 2 stitches* … repeat until the end, and then sl st into the first sc of the round. (20)
- Round 5 – Ch 1 then *2 dc in the first stitch and 1 sc in the next 3 stitches* repeat until the end, and then sl st into the first sc of the round. (25)
- Snip the yarn and tie both the tail ends together to secure, or sew the ends in if you prefer.
You will need to make two of the above circles, one for the front and one for the back.
Now attach the safety eyes on the front of one of the circles and sew on a smiley mouth with the red yarn… I have a very simple method of doing the mouth, so feel free to check that out in the video below.
How To Crochet The ‘Sun Rays’
For the sun rays, we’re going to use the darker shade of yellow… Unless you’re doing yours all one color…. In my case, this is the ‘Mustard Yellow’
Place the two sides together, with the right sides on the outside, attach the yarn by inserting your crochet hook through a stitch on both pieces, pull the yarn through, and chain 1.
*In the next st, do a hdc and a dc, then ch 3 and sl st into the top of the dc… This will make a nice little point at the top of the sun-ray.
In the next stitch do a dc and a hdc, in the next st, do a sl st*
That has completed the first sun-ray… we need to repeat this until we have 8 sun-rays.
To finish off, sl st to the bottom of the first sun-ray and fasten off, then weave in the ends.
Attaching The Keychain
There are lots of different styles of keychains and I use a few different ones so customers can choose exactly which style they prefer. Amazon have a really good selection, these are some of the ones I buy
I simply sew the keychain on with the same yarn I make sun-rays with…and that’s it all finished.
The final step I always do, is to attach it to a display card, it makes them look so much more professional and the feedback I’ve had from my customers is that if they are buying it for a gift, it makes it a little more special for the recipient… It also makes your stall even more eye catching!
Now that you have made this Smiley Sunshine Keyring, I think you’re going to love this Rainbow keychain crochet pattern!