Crochet Dim Sum | Pattern Reviews

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Hi. It’s been a while. You know how it goes – life just happens, and so it’s been a while since I’ve posted. But I’ve recently gotten back into crocheting and would like to share my Crochet Dim Sum series with you.

What is Dim Sum?

Think of dim sum as an Asian brunch. It’s served before lunch time, but not too early. There are lots of little bites – similar to tapas. It’s just yummy all around and I am lucky to be here on the West Coast where dim sum abounds!

Why Crochet Dim Sum?

More like, why not? If you haven’t noticed already, crochet dim sum is so cute. There are lots of free crochet patterns online. These are the ones I used.

As I organize my new crafting room, I realize that I have a lot of stuff….I mean – a LOT. After giving some fabric and yarn away, I was determined to use up what was in my stash.

So for these projects, I didn’t necessarily use exactly what was asked for. That’s okay! It all turned out great. It was good to use up what I already had.

New to amigurumi? Don’t worry, I have you covered.

Now, let’s go through all of my crochet dim sum projects.

Siu Mai

This was a nice easy one to start to crochet dim sum with. I used the free Siu Mai pattern from All About Ami.

I have used some of the All About Ami patterns for my Chinese New Year series. She has really good amigurumi patterns.

For this pattern, I used some yellow and brown yarn from my stash as well as 9mm safety eyes. The yarn was worsted weight (category 4) and I used a 2.5mm crochet hook. The pattern calls for a 2.0mm crochet hook, but I couldn’t find mine so I used a 2.5mm. So they turned out a tad larger than normal but I think it’s okay.

Instead of embroidery thread for the mouth, I used orange yarn as it was more pronounced – I could have used embroidery thread and gone over it a couple of times, but I had orange yarn handy.

This was quite a simple pattern to follow. As the siu mai are not that big, it works up quickly.

Just like at Dim Sum, I made 4 Siu Mai. When making multiple items that are the same, I find it easier to make is assembly line style. I did all of the yellow, outside wrapper pieces in a row, then the brown meat part. Then I did all the faces, and then I did all the assembly.

Dumplings

You always have to have dumplings. I make dumplings regularly at home, so of course, I had to make some dumplings for my crochet dim sum.

This pattern is from the Caffeinated Snail. It’s a nice, easy pattern that works up quickly. I love how they turned out. I made a whole platter of them!

Don’t you love those little scalloped edges? I chose to make these in a cream colour as we prefer to steam our dumplings, but feel free to choose a darker colour if you like them pan-fried.

Xiao Ling Bao

Xiao Ling Bao are the delicious soup dumplings. Once I saw this pattern, I knew I had to make them. This pattern is from Sweet Softies.

For this pattern, I used white bulky yarn (category 5) and a 3.5mm crochet hook. The original pattern uses super bulky yarn (category 6) and a 5mm crochet hook. Again, I wanted to use what was in my stash, and so I used what I had. They turned out smaller than the pattern suggests – it said the finished product would be 3 inches wide, but mine are 2.5 inches wide.

As suggested in the pattern, I used 12mm safety eyes, as well as black and pink embroidery thread for the face. They’re so cute! At first, I thought the eyes might be too big, but I really like the look.

This was a really easy pattern to follow. I love the little twisted part on top.

Bao

BBQ pork buns or any kind of bao are a favourite to eat in our family. I even make my own bao and keep them in the freezer. They steam up from frozen easily and make a great snack. So of course I had to add bao to my crochet dim sum series.

This pattern is from Curious Papaya. This easy pattern works up really quickly, as basically you are just crocheting a little pouch that you sew together at the top

In order to keep the sizing relatively proper, I wanted to make sure these bao were larger. So I used super bulky yarn for this, along with a 5 mm crochet hook. This was the first time I used super bulky yarn to make amigurumi. I love how quickly it worked up!

I used the 12mm safety eyes as well as black and pink embroidery thread. I chose a different pink for this as I wanted it to be a little different from the Xiao Ling Bao.

As it is served in dim sum, I made 3 of these to go together as a set. Again, I found it easiest and quickest to make them assembly line style – so all the crocheting at first, then all the faces and then all the sewing.

What I really like about this pattern is how systematic and perfect the sewing up at the top is – it makes 6 perfect pleats!

Fortune Cookies

I have made fortune cookies with paper, so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to crochet. It’s basically a circle, folded in half and then pinched. So of course I had to add fortune cookies to my crochet dim sum.

I followed the pattern from the Mohu blog, and it was easy to whip up using some tan yarn I had on hand. It does require a little bit of stuffing. I originally tried without, but it lacked structure. You don’t need a lot of stuffing, but you definitely need some. Given the shape and the fact that they are so small, I thought I could get away without stuffing it, but decided against it.

While the pattern shows the fortune cookies in various colours, I decided to go traditional and made mine all brown. I used regular worsted-weight yarn (category 4) and my trusty 3.5mm hook.

Egg Tarts

For us, dim sum always ends with some egg tarts, so of course, I had to add this to my crochet dim sum series. I used the crochet pattern from Once Upon a Cheerio.

This is a really cute pattern. Interesting to note that this pattern makes rounds slightly different. Typicaly patterns that I have followed have all the increases in the same place, which, I must admit, makes more of a hexagon, instead of a circle. This blog moves the increases to different places so that it creates a more even circle. When sewing the circle to somethingor using the circle as a base and then building up – I find that it doesn’t make a huge difference, but it was nice to try something different.

I really like how the face is lower. It is a different look, but still cute. I did modify the pattern slightly. When making the tart shell, I did not make it as high. I felt that it was too tall and looked more like a cupcake. For me, egg tarts are quite low. So instead of making the sides 5 stitches high, I only did 3 stitches high, and I prefer this look.

When finishing off the tart shell, the instructions say to leave a long tail. Be sure to leave a really long tail – you will use that tail to sew the custard part to the tart shell, and it really takes a lot of yarn.

I really like the tart shell pattern. The ruffles really look like the flaky pastry.

My crochet dim sum series is complete! I really love how they all turned out. Now I feel like making other crochet food. What should I make next? I’m thinking French…..

Want to remember all of these patterns to crochet dim sum? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.