If you want to purchase an ad-free printable PDF version of this crochet pumpkin bookmark pattern, you can find it HERE on etsy.
Last year I did my first summer market in a long time. I was trying to come up with a more unique crochet item to sell year-round.
I looked all over Pinterest for ideas and inspiration for different items you can sell at craft fairs – and stumbled across the idea of selling bookmarks!
People read year-round – whether for school, for fun, or with their friends. So why not try to create and sell some?
I only made 3 bookmarks for the fair – two bees and one sunflower – just to see if they would sell. And people loved them! One woman said she would’ve bought more if I had them so she could give them as gifts to her book club members. Another bought one, circled the fair, and actually came back and bought another one for her sister!
Each bookmark only takes me about 30-40 minutes to make now, and it’s been fun to try making different colored bees!
Whether you’re making this bookmark for your own book, for a friend, or to give as a gift I know you’ll love your little creation!
NOTE: If you want to sell finished products from this free crochet bee bookmark pattern you’re welcome to, just make sure you link back to my pattern here and credit me with the design. Thank you!
Abbreviations
- sc – single crochet
- ch – chain
- inc – increase
- dec – decrease
- FO – Finish off
- rnd – round
- sts – stitches
Materials
- Size C (2.75mm) crochet hook
- DK weight yarn in yellow, brown, green, and white
- Scissors
- Yarn needle
- Stuffing (I use polyester fiberfill)
- Small piece of cardboard (2” x 2.5”)
- Optional: 4mm safety eyes
Pattern
To make this bee bookmark you’ll first crochet the bee, add the wings, and embroider on the eyes.
After that you’ll create the green bookmark chain and tassel and stitch them to the bee.
Bee Body
Begin with your C crochet hook and the yellow yarn.
Rnd 1: 5 sc in a Magic Ring (5)
Rnd 2: inc in each sc around (10)
Rnd 3: *sc, inc* 5 times (15)
Rnd 4: sc 15
Change to brown yarn.
Rnd 5: sc 15
Change to yellow yarn.
Rnd 6: sc 15
Change to brown yarn.
Rnd 7: sc 15
Change to yellow yarn.
If you’re using safety eyes, add them now.
Rnd 8: sc 15
Stuff.
Rnd 9: *dec* 7 times, sc (8)
Cut the yarn leaving a 6-8 inch tail.
Use a yarn/embroidery needle to thread the tail through the front loop only (photo A) of the remaining sts (photos B, C). Pull tight to close the hole, similar to closing a drawstring bag (photo D).
Then weave the tail in back through the head (photos E, F).
Wings (make 2)
Begin with your C crochet hook and the white yarn.
Ch 2. Turn and work 5 hdc in the 2nd ch from the hook. Cut the yarn and pull through to finish off (photo G).
You’ll now stitch the wings to the top of the bee. The “top” is going to be the side opposite from where you changed colors for the bee strips – this keeps the jagged parts more out of sight. Stitch on the right wing (photos H,I,J).
Stitch on the left wing where indicated in photo K. You’ll want the wings to be 1-2 stitch widths apart. Knot and weave in ends (photos L,M,N)
Eyes
Using your brown yarn, embroider the eyes on.
Stitch the eyes between rnds 2 and 3 (photo O). Begin with the right eye by making 2 stitches, one over the other (photos P,Q).
Then stitch on the left eye in the same manner (photos R,S,T). Weave in your ends (photo U).
Bookmark Chain and Tassel
Begin with your C crochet hook and green yarn. Leaving a 6 inch tail at the beginning, ch 66. Cut the yarn leaving a 6 inch tail and pull it through to FO.
Thread the tail you left at the beginning onto a needle and stitch the ch onto the bottom side of the bee (photos V,W).
Knot and weave it in (photos X,Y,Z,a).
Now let’s move on to creating the tassel!
You’ll need a scrap piece of cardboard about 2” tall and 2.5” wide.
Grab your green yarn and wrap it around the short side of the cardboard 13-14 times (photo r). Then cut across what you’ve wrapped (photo s) so that you have 13-14 lengths of yarn about the same size (s) and lay them down in a little bundle (photo t bottom). Then cut another piece of yarn about 6” long (photo t top).
We’ll now attach the yarn bundle to the bottom of the bookmark at the end of the green chain we just attached to the pumpkin.
Grab the yarn tail at the bottom end of the bookmark chain you attached to the bee earlier. Using a yarn needle or your fingers, split this tail in half. You’ll now have two thin tails coming out from your chain (photo u).
Lay one tail (we’ll call it the bottom tail) on a work surface in front of you coming straight down from the chain and lay the other tail (we’ll call it the top tail) in the opposite direction so it’s parallel to the chain (photo v).
Now place the yarn bundle you cut earlier on top of the bottom tail centering it as much as you can. You also want it as close to the base of the chain as possible. (photo w)
Now take your two tails and tie them in a very tight knot around the center of your bundle (photo x). To make sure it’s really tight, pull the first half of the knot as tight as you possibly can (photo y) before you finish tying the knot (photo z).
You should now have something that resembles the Lorax’s mustache hanging from your bookmark (photo .a). Use your hand to smooth it down so that the strands from your tassel and the tails you tied all point down (photo .b).
Now lay your 6” piece of yarn down horizontally on a work surface (photo .c). Place your tassel on top of this yarn so that it’s about ¼” down from the top of the tassel (photo .d).
Now tie the yarn piece in as tight of a knot as you can around the tassel. To make sure it’s really tight, pull the first half of the knot as tight as you possibly can before you finish tying the knot (photo .e). Pull the tails left from the knot you just tied down with the rest of the strands of the tassel so they blend in (photo .f).
Flip the tassel upside down and use your fingers to smooth all the strands of the tassel and get right up to the edge of the shortest strands (photo .g). Then cut across the tassel in a straight line to give it a clean edge (photos .h, .i).
And your little crochet bee bookmark is complete!
If you made a little guy from this Buzzy the bee crochet bookmark pattern, feel free to post a picture on social media with #lifewithbubbins or tag me on instagram @lifewithbubbins so I can see your lovely creations!
And if you liked this crochet bee bookmark pattern, check out some related free patterns of mine below.
Thanks for following along!
