Marsha P Johnson

This pattern was created as part of a series of patterns I made for pride month (back in June) on important historical LGBTQ+ figures. It is being released now to celebrate LGBTQ+ history month.

Marsha P Johnson was a self- identifying drag queen and gay/ trans rights activist who set up the charity STAR (street transvestites action revolution) in 1970, along with her friend Sylvia Rivera. She was also a key figure in the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Difficulty:

Medium

You will need:

• A 2.5mm crochet hook
• A 2mm crochet hook
• A 1mm crochet hook
• dk yarn in dark brown and black (the black must be acrylic)
• 4ply yarn in pink
• embroidery thread in white, dark brown, black, bright red, dark red, yellow, light purple, dark green, cream, and pale orange.
• Craft wire
• Polyester toy stuffing
• A darning needle

Note:

• This pattern includes the back-to-front single crochet stitch (bfsc). A video to show you how to do this can be found here. It's pretty simple but if you can't work it out you can just use a regular single crochet stitch, but this will give it a slightly different look.
• 'fasten off neatly' refers to a special way of fastening off which is neater and makes it easier to see where you should be crocheting on the next round (also known as invisible fastening off). This involves pulling up your yarn through your stitch, threading the yarn underneath the second stitch from where you pulled your yarn up, then threading your yarn back through the top of this stitch and down through the back of the work. There is a very helpful site that explains it clearly found here.

For the body: 
With brown make a magic loop with 6sc
Round 1: 2sc in each st (12sc)
Round 2: sc in the first st, 2sc in the next st, rep  to end (18sc)
Round 3: sc in the first 2 sts, 2sc in the next st, rep to end(24sc)

Rounds 4 - 9: (6 rounds) sc in each st (24sc)

Round 10: sc in the first 2 sts, sc2tog, rep to end (18sc)
Round 11: sc in the first st, sc2tog, rep to end (12sc)

Round 12: sc3, sc3tog,sc3, sc3tog
Rounds 13 - 15: (3 rounds) sc in each st

Stuff firmly
Round 15: sc, slip1. ch1, turn
Round 16: bfsc, hdc3, bfsc
Fasten off
Stuff firmly

For the arms (make 2):
With brown make a magic loop with 6sc
Round 1: sc in the first st, 2sc in the next st, rep to end (9sc)
Rounds 2 - 3: (2 rounds) sc in each st (9sc)
Round 4: sc in the first st, sc2tog, rep to end (6sc)
Round 5: sc in each st
Fasten off black yarn and fasten on grey yarn.
Rounds 6 - 9: (4 rounds) sc in each st (6sc)
Fasten off

Lightly stuff these arms and sew them to the sides of the body

For the legs (make 2):
With brown make a magic loop with 6sc
Round 1: 2sc in each st (12sc)

Round 2: sc in the first 3 sts, 2cs in the next st, rep to end (15sc)
Rounds 3- 4: (2 rounds) sc in each st (15sc)
Round 5: sc2tog 3 times, sc in the last 9 sts (12sc)
Round 6: sc in the first 2 sts, sc2tog, rep to end (9sc)
Fasten off. Fasten on in grey yarn
Rounds 7 - 11: (5 rounds) sc in each st (9sc)

Fasten off
Stuff the legs and sew them to the underside of the body

For the head:
with beige ch4
Round 1: sc8 around
Round 2: (sc3, make 2sc in the next st) twice (10sc)
Round 3: sc4, make 2sc in the next st, sc3, make 2sc in the next st, sc (12sc)
Round 4: sc4, make 2sc in the next st, sc5, make 2sc in the next st, sc (14sc)
Round 5: sc5, make 2sc in the next st, sc5, make 2sc in the next st, sc2 (16sc)
Round 6: sc6, make 2sc in the next st, sc, make 2sc in the next st, sc7 (18sc)

Round 7: sc6, make 2sc in the next st, sc3, make 2sc in the next st, sc7 (20sc)

Round 8: sc4, make 3sc in the next st, sc12, make 3sc in the following st, sc2
Rounds 9 - 13: (5 rounds) sc in each st
Round 13: (sc4, sc2tog 3 times)twice (14sc)
Round 14: sc2, sc2tog 3 times
Stuff firmly
Round 15: sc2tog 3 times
Fasten off

For the nose:
With a 2mm hook and dark brown 4ply yarn make a magic loop with 1sc. ch1, turn

Row 1: make 3sc in this st. ch1, turn(3sc)

Row 2: make 2sc in the first st, sc, make 2sc in the last st (5sc)

Fasten off

Sew this to the face

After this you should create the eye sockets by making repeated stitches through the head either side of the nose and pulling tightly, as can be seen below

For the ears:

With a 2.5mm hook ch3

Row 1: sc in the 2nd chain st from hook, hdc in this same st, hdc in the following st, then sc in the same st (4sc)

Fasten off

Sew these to the sides of the head

For the hair:
With a 2.5mm hook and black dk yarn ch14

Row 1: sc in the 2nd chain st from hook, then sc in each of the next chain sts to end. ch1, turn

Rows 2 - 16: (15 rows) sc in each st. ch1, turn

Fasten off

Boil some water and place the crochet into a bowl along with the hot water. Remove and leave it to dry.

Once it is dry you should unravel this section and cut the yarn lengths into 3.5cm long strips (it should be 3.5cm long when unstretched, as shown below) 

Attach these to the head. This should be done by folding each length in half and then using a crochet hook to pull the folded end though a stitch in the head. The loose ends should then be threaded through the loop created and pulled tight to fasten.

Continue adding the hair all over the head

For the eyes:

Use white embroidery thread to sew the whites of the eyes in place

Use 2 strands of dark brown embroidery thread to embroider the irises over the top, then add the pupils using 1 or 2 strands of black embroidery thread

For the mouth:

Embroider the mouth in place using 2 strands of dark red embrodeiry thread.

For the earrings:

Use 6 strands of cream embroidery thread to sew pear earrings to the earlobes.

Sew the head to the body

For the dress:

Use a 2mm hook and pink 4ply yarn throughout

Ch29

Round 1: sc in the first chain st you made, then sc in every following chain st to end (29sc)
Rounds 2 - 10: (9 rounds) sc in each st
Round 11: (Sc6, make 2sc in the next st) 4 times, sc (33sc)
Round 12: (sc7, make 2sc in the following st) 4 times, sc (37sc)
Round 13: (sc8, make 2sc in the next st) 4 times, sc (41sc)
Round 14: (sc9, make 2sc in the next st) 4 times, sc (45sc)
Rounds 15 - 16: (2 rounds) sc in each st
Round 17: (sc10, make 2sc in the next st) 4 times, sc (49sc)
Rounds 18 - 19: (2 rounds) sc in each st
Round 20: (sc11, make 2sc in the next st) 4 times, sc (53sc)
rounds 21 - 25: (5 rounds) sc in each st
Fasten off neatly

For the sleeves:

ch12

Round 1: sc in the first chain st you made, then sc in every following chain st to make a loop.

Round 2: sc in each st

Round 3: (ch1, sc in the following st) 6 times (24sc)

Round 4: sc in each of these 24sts

Fasten off

Sew these to the sides of the cast-off edge of the dress. You may also wish to add a few gathering stitches around the top edge of the sleeve so that it isn't so floppy and wide.

For the flower crown:
For the roses (make 4):
With a 1mm hook and red embroidery thread ch2

Row 1: sc in the 2nd chain st from hook. ch1, turn (1sc)

Row 2: make 2sc in this st. ch1, turn (2sc)

Row 3: sc in each st. ch1, turn

Row 4: make 2sc in the first st, sc. ch1, turn (3sc)

Row 5: sc in each st. ch2, turn

Row 6: hdc2, sc. ch1, turn

Row 7: sc, hdc2

Fasten off

Roll this section up and add a few stitches through the end of the roll to secure it in place.

For the leaves (make 8):

With a 1mm hook and dark green embroidery thread ch2

Row 1: sc in the 2nd chain st from hook. ch1, turn (1sc)

Row 2: make 2sc in this st. ch1, turn (2sc)

Row 3: sc2tog (1sc)

Fasten off

For the violets (make 10):

With a 1mm hook and light purple embroidery thread ch2

Row 1: sc in the 2nd chain st from hook. ch1, turn (1sc)

Fasten off

Sew all the violets together in a row

For the dandelion (make 3):
With yellow embroidery thread and a 1mm hook ch4

Fasten off

(Rejoin yarn to the first chain st.

ch3

Fasten off)4 times, as shown below

For the other flower (make 2): 

Cut a rectangle of cardboard 1cm wide and wrap a length of cream embroidery thread around it many time. Cut one along one edge so you have many 2cm long strands, then secure in the middle by tying another length of yarn around the middle. 

To assemble:

cut a length of wire 28cm long and wind it around twice to make a loop (as can be seen below)

Sew the flowers to the wire band, then wind dark green embroidery thread around the remainder of the wire, weaving it between the two strands.

Sew the band to the hair using a few small stitches.

For the high heels (make 2):

For the sole:

With a 2mm crochet hook and pink 4ply yarn ch7

Round 1: sc in the 2nd chain st from hook, then sc in each of the next 4sts. Make 3sc in the first chain st you made, then sc in the back loop of each of the previous chain sts you crocheted into in turn. Make 2sc in the back of the first chain st you crocheted into (14sc)

Round 2: make 2sc in the first st, sc4, make 2sc in each of the next 3sts, sc4, make 2sc in each of the last 2sts (20sc)

Round 3: sc, make 2sc in the next st, sc4, (sc, make 2sc in the following st) 3 times, sc4, (sc, make 2sc in the next st) twice (26sc)

Fasten off neatly

Trace around the outside of this section one a section of cardboard. Cut this out.

Rejoin yarn to the 2nd st after the new st you made when fastening off neatly

Round 4: sc in the back loop of this st and the next 25sts (26sc)

Rounds 5 - 9: (5 rounds) sc in each st

Trim the section of cardboard you cut out so it fits inside the shoe (as shown below). Insert it into the sole of the shoe, then sew the sole over the top. Continue as follows.

Round 10: sc5, sc2tog, sc4tog, sc2tog, sc8, sc2tog, sc3 (20sc)

Round 11: sc4, sc2tog 3 times, sc10 (17sc)

Round 12: sc3, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, sc9 (15sc)

Round 12: sc in each st

Fasten off

For the heel:

cut a 1cm wide strip of cardboard, and roll it up into a cylinder 7mm in diameter. Tape it in place.

With a 2mm hook and pink 4ply yarn make a magic loop with 8sc

Round 1: sc in the back loop only of each st

Rounds 2 - 3: (2 rounds) sc in both loops of each st

Fasten off

Insert the cardboard section, then sew this to the base of the shoe

That's all from this pattern, I hope you have enjoyed it! If you have any questions about this or any of my other pattern please get in contact me via either my  Ravelry or Instagram page. My Instagram is also a good place to find out what I'm currently working on and find out when I post any new patterns.

You are very welcome to sell finished products, but I do ask that you don't re-post this pattern or claim it as your own. Thank you!!!