The Beddy Byes crochet doll set: nine dolls for a nursery shelf

Who is in the set

The Beddy Byes crochet doll set runs to nine: Baba, Gramma Leeba, Memo, Play tree, Yummy Dog and the four Yummies — blue, green, red and yellow. They are the softest thing the studio makes, and the set most often bought before a baby arrives rather than after.

Four Yummies, one pattern

The Yummies are the same body in four colours, which sounds like a shortcut and is the opposite. Identical shapes side by side show every difference in tension, so the four have to be crocheted in one run by the same hands or the smallest one ends up visibly tighter. Buying two or three of them together is the usual order, and they are made together for that reason.

Nothing sharp, nothing loose

Every face here is embroidered into the fabric rather than added as a separate piece. There are no plastic eyes and nothing glued, which is what makes this set the one to choose for a very young child — the reasoning is set out in are crochet dolls safe for babies.

Which size

At 6 inches a Yummy fits a cot rail or a pram; at 10 the faces carry properly and Gramma Leeba's glasses read as glasses. For a nursery shelf where the whole set stands together, pick one size and stay with it — mixed sizes read as a jumble rather than a family.

Where they come from

Beddy Byes is bedtime told as a place: a small world of soft companions whose entire job is to make the end of the day calm. There is no villain and no peril, which is unusual, and it is why the characters are drawn round and low to the ground.

That shapes the dolls more than it sounds. A set meant to sit beside a sleeping child is made without a hard edge anywhere on it, and the faces are kept simple so nothing reads as startled at two in the morning.

See the whole set at Beddy Byes crochet doll set, browse more in cartoon crochet dolls, or compare sizes first in the crochet doll size guide.