Crochet Big Kid/ Adult Legend of Zelda Link Costume

Would you like to crochet a Link costume for anyone bigger than a baby? (those patterns are listed all over the internet) Well I did too, and there were no instructions, I didn't have anywhere to start, so I decided that if I could complete the project, I would post how I did it for someone else to find later on! I made this for my 10 year old for Halloween hes in a size 10/12 but you could use these instructions to really make this for anyone, as its just a basic tutorial on crocheting with a measuring tape handy until you're done, I do have to warn you, this will take time, lots and lots of time! So be prepared to sink several hours into it. Also you'll be doing the majority of work here, there is no step by step pattern to follow with rows, this is a tutorial on how I made one by measuring, still with me? =) Alrighty, on to step 1 then

Step 1: Get Those Measurements!

As you can see I was really professional about this step, no but really this was the easiest way to do it for me, I just drew out a guy, and wrote all of the measurements beside all of the body parts, you do have to take a ton of measurements because you're making a hat, arm warmers, "boots" and a tunic, so you really want it to fit correctly, measure everywhere you think you should, and then measure some more, and write everything down.

I should also note that I used the same crochet hook for the entire outfit, mine was a J hook, big is good when you're making a tunic haha.

Step 2: Lets Start With the Hat

Okay so to do the hat you're going to do a magic circle/ring with some double crochets, now there are some patterns for elf hats like this, but the method I used was I think I started with 5 double crochets in the magic circle, and then I did that for maybe 7 or 8 rows, after that I started increasing by half, so like I'd do 2 or 3 double crochets and then 2 double crochets in the next stitch, it moves down by stitch count so if you have 20 stitches total in a row you're going to increase (put 2 double crochets) in the first stitch and then you'd count to the 10th stitch and put 2 more double crochets in that one,(it would count as 10, and 11) the next row you would do 2 double crochets in the first stitch, then count to 11 and put 2 double crochets in that stitch ( it would count as 11, and 12) so yeah just keep going like that until you have the right measurement for the head that wrote on your drawing in the last step,and tuck all your loose yarn, then you're done with the hat. On to the next step, the tunic, don't be scared, its actually not that bad.

Step 3: The Dreaded Tunic..

Okay so this is kind of weird but I didn't want to follow a pattern for a girls shirt for this tunic, it all seemed over complicated so here is what I did, I basically crocheted two really big wide scarfs and then sewed them together down the front and back, leaving a V gap for the head, I added length to the bottom, and sewed up the sides, left room for the sleeves, and then single crocheted some sleeves.

As an example:

My sons waist measures about 24" and from his waist up around his shoulder and to the bottom of his back was like 47" so I made my weird scarf things measure 6" wide, and about 48" long, then when I connected them I had most of my tunic, I attached under the armhole, and just single crocheted around for about 6 rows, and that gave me good cap sleeves.

PRO TIP: It would be good to make your scarf thingies as long as you want your tunic, because I had to add several rows to mine once it was sewn together to make the tunic longer because I just measured from the bottom of his waist, where a t shirt would end, instead of his hips, this will be an annoying mistake to fix later if not.

BELT STRAPS:

Okay so these don't have their own step, they are part of the tunic, so it works here best

I just started with chaining 6, and then I turned and did 5 half double crochets I did this by measurement too, I just ended up making like, 38 rows for the belt at the waist, and then 44 for the belt that goes across diagonal, these will give you the 2 front belts, just sew those on, then make matching ones, and sew them on the back of the tunic so it looks like it goes around.

BUCKLES:

This was simple, just chain however many you want the buckle to measure,slip stitch to connect, and then chain 1 and single crochet around your chain circle, until the single crochets meet, join them and sew it on. I think I chained 14 here, and ended up with like 16 or 17 single crochets.

On to the arm warmers and "boots" in the next step:

Step 4: Armwarmers and "Boots"

Okay, so for your armwarmers you're going to measure around the arm where you want them to come to, I think mine was like 7 or 8 inches, and then chain until you get that measurement. Mine ended up being 23 chains, then I just did about 14 rows of double crochets to get it about 8 inches long, since you're doing double crochets there will be room to stick a thumb through if you want when its finished.

BOOTS

I pretty much did the same thing here, I think my measurement was 12" wide, so I ended up with like 34 chains, and I think I did 14 rows of double crochets to get to 9 inches or so, for the shoe covers, I single crocheted 15 across the bottom, then I double crocheted for 7 rows, on rows 8 9 and 10 I did a double crochet decrease at the beginning and end of the row, then I finished off, to make it stay I ran some yarn through the boot at the top so he could tie it on, and make it tighter, then I ran a piece of elastic through underneath the "shoe cover" part and tied it so my son could slip it over his shoes, it ended up looking just like boots, if you made it this far, then good news, you're at the end, and you either have an awesome Link costume or a good understanding of how to do it, I hope this helps with your project, if you have a question just let me know and I'll try to answer, I know its a pretty vague pattern. =)