Halloween crochet garland – free pattern

Crochet cute bunting for Halloween with this free pattern. You can decorate your mantelpiece with a spooky garland or hang some Halloween crochet bunting on a wall or door.

Choose from several motifs to crochet your own unique Halloween garland decoration you can enjoy year after year.

Materials & Notes

• 4 ply/sport/DK weight yarn for the garland chain. I used black Lion Brand Vanna’s Glamour in Onyx
• 3.5mm (size E) crochet hook – I love Addi swing hooks

All motifs use the same hook size, but please see individual motif patterns linked below for yarn & any additional supplies needed for each design you want to include.

Choose & crochet your motifs

There are 4 Halloween crochet motifs to choose from:

1. Spider web (easiest)
2. Friendly or scary ghost
3. Pumpkin face
4. Halloween cat face (takes longest)

You can make bunting of any length using any combination of these designs.

I used all 4 motifs in my garland pictured above, with a central cat & the other 3 designs on either side edged with spider webs. If you want to make this exact version, I’ve included step by step instructions below.

You may prefer to alternate between ghosts & pumpkins, or just have a striking strand of spiderwebs.

Think about where you want to hang your bunting & have fun coming up with your own one of a kind arrangement.

Halloween Crochet Decorations Video Tutorials

New for Halloween 2023, I’ve added full step by step video tutorials for the spider web and ghost crochet patterns. Check them out below:

Crochet the garland chain

Once you have made your motifs, it’s time to join your motifs with chains to form your garland. There are a few options here:

• Start at one end and work all the way along to the other end.
• Start with a central motif and work out to one end & then repeat for the other side.
• Join each pair of motifs separately with a length of chains, weaving in the ends at each motif side.

Joining individually is simpler as it avoids needing to work across the back of each motif (excluding the pointed spider webs). But you have to weave in the ends on each motif. I also find the bunting chain is more robust if you chain several motifs together.

I prefer to chain the whole garland together in one go. If you want to change some motifs in the middle afterwards, you can just cut the chain and join a new chain instead. It’s no big deal to alter & your bunting should hang just as well.

Top tip: just join a few together first and hold these out to review the spacing. It may take a few goes to get it right for your setting.

I’ve provided full instructions for my garland version below, but the general guidelines are:

• Use the same length chain between pumpkin, ghost & cat motifs.
  I made 17 chain which gave a hanging gap of 11cm.
• Use a longer length chain either side of a spider web, because these hang from a point & take up more space horizontally.
  I made 21 chain which made a hanging gap of 14cm.
• Make a longer length chain at each end, dependent on your use case & whether you need to tie the ends etc.
• You can optionally add a loop at each end for hanging by making an extra 20 chain at the end and then slip stitching into the 20th chain to form a loop. Do more/fewer chains to adjust the size of the loop as needed.

Attaching motifs to the garland chain

If you are joining multiple motifs together at once, you need to attach the back of your motifs in between your chain lengths.

If you just want to make my exact version, attaching is outlined in the step by step pattern instructions for that. But here are more detailed guidelines for attaching each motif type that will work for whatever layout you choose.

How to attach a spider web motif

Spider webs are the easiest to attach. First chain until you want to add it. With the back of the web facing you, put your hook through one of the 8 edge points of the web, yarn over hook & pull through the web and the chain on your hook. Your web is now attached & you can continue chaining.

How to attach pumpkin & ghost motifs

First chain until you want to add your motif. With the back facing you, put your hook through 1-2 loops near the top & side closest to you. Yarn over hook & pull through the motif loop(s) and the chain on your hook. Your motif is now attached at a single point.

Make enough chains to make a gentle downward curve across to the other side of the motif. I did 8-10 chains for a pumpkin & 5 chains for a ghost.

Repeat as for the previous side, put your hook through 1-2 loops near the top & far side. Yarn over hook & pull through the motif loop(s) & the chain on your hook. Your motif is now attached at each side, connected by a loose chain curve. Check the front to make sure you can’t see the stitches & continue on with your chain until the next motif.

How to attach cat face motifs

I found getting the cat face motifs to hang right a bit trickier. Attaching the tops of the ears distorted the face shape when hung. But attaching between the ears made the ears droop.

So I used a modified version of the method used for pumpkins & ghosts as follows.

With the back facing you, insert your hook a little below the nearest bottom ear corner, close to the edge. Yarn over hook, pull through the cat loop & your chain. Repeat this process to make another slip stitch beside this moving inwards. Now make a loose chain curve to reach across to the far side of the ear. I did 12 chain approx.

Now work in slip stitch across the middle part of the head. Put your hook into a loop at the bottom of the top row of crochet, yarn over hook & pull through the cat loop and the loop on your hook to make a slip stitch and repeat across 7-8 stitches until you reach below the other ear.

Make another loose chain curve (12 chain approx) here & then do a couple of slip stitches near the far edge below the ear to match the other side.

So on the back of your cat face you now have 2 loose chain curves under each ear, connected by slip stitches across the back of the head and at each side of the cat. Your cat face is now attached & you can continue chaining.

I hope you have fun creating your own halloween crochet garland or bunting. I’d love to see a picture if you do. Just tag @craftfixblog on Instagram.

If you have any questions or feedback about the patterns, just comment below.

This free pattern is for personal, non-commercial use only. It may not be copied, sold, translated or distributed in any way, nor any finished items made using it sold, without permission.