Great Scott! Doc and Marty Crochet dolls. There are not many films that I can watch over and over again but Back to the Future is one of them. I’m not a massive sci-fi fan (unlike my husband) but I am quite partial to a story about time travel. Growing up in the 80’s and having a crush on Michael J Fox as a teen makes Back to the Future one of my all time favourite movies. So it was only matter of time that I created my favourite characters in yarn, and I have finally finished them.
Because of copyright reasons I will not be selling a pattern for Doc or Marty. But I will go through the steps I took based on one of my doll patterns in case you wanted to make your own versions.
I tell you what though, making these purely for myself and not having to worry about writing the stitches down after every round or stopping to take step by step photos has been quite freeing and has let me able to add quite a lot of detail.
So do you want to make your own Doc & Marty? Here’s how I did it.
(NB: this post contains some affiliate links).
What you will need:
Ricorumi Yarn 100% cotton.
2.5mm hook
Toy filling
7.5mm Safety eyes
Dark blue sewing thread
A time machine (optional)
Getting started…
I started with my Chad & Chrystal doll pattern as the base for both dolls which you can find here. First up, I did a lot of research (aka getting my two children to watch the trilogy with me) and googled many images online. I like to get details right, so I even googled ‘Marty Mcfly’s socks’. You can barely see the socks on the final doll but I need to know the detail is correct! There are actually quite a lot of versions I could have made with the different clothes they wear from all three movies. But I decided to stick with the classic scene at the start of movie one where Doc first reveals the DeLorean to Marty. “You made a time machine…out of a DeLorean?’
Doc & Marty are based on my Chad & Chrystal doll design.
Shoes
These are the shoes from the Chad & Chrystal pattern but I just changed up the colour. Marty’s shoes are a classic white Nike trainer, so I made the whole shoe in white and crocheted a little tongue at the front and a red tab at the back. I also added the shoe laces. The Nike swish was sewn on over the top. Doc’s shoes (Nike again) have a white sole with a tan upper.
Marty
I made Marty’s legs, arms and body one round shorter as I wanted to have a height difference between him and Doc. I started with grey socks then colour changed to denim for the jeans. Working in the back loops only after the first round of denim meant I could then attach a row of dc (sc) afterwards. This gives a nice edge and finished off the bottom of the jeans. I did the same with the arms, but attached the cream colour to create the shirt cuffs.
Layering to create Marty’s look.
Layering up
Marty has a lot of layers on his top half but I knew if I were to make them all it would become too bulky. So I made the shirt as part of the main doll with a colour change after the jeans. I made the arms in the denim colour for the jacket so i didn’t have to crochet separate sleeves. The ‘life preserve’ (padded gilet) is something I made for my Explorer in my Crochet at Work book.
I added the check details over the white shirt with some dark blue sewing thread (this was one of the trickiest parts trying to get the lines straight, but I am really happy with the result). For the rest of the denim jacket i made a couple of small panels which could slide under the gilet attached to a collar. For the rest of Marty I followed the base doll pattern using the same hair as Chad.
I used the Explorer’s gilet for Marty’s jacket.
Doc
I initially thought that I would make Doc a bit like my astronaut, where the white suit is crocheted as part of the main doll. But I wasn’t sure how I would do the v-neck at the top and I also wanted it to look more chunky than that. So I crocheted the whole radiation suit as one piece. It’s slightly bigger than the main doll (it needed to be a snug fit). I basically made a whole second doll. If you have made one of my dolls before then you will know they are made in one piece from the feet up which is how I made the suit too.
For the main doll underneath he has black socks, tan trousers and an off-white long sleeved t-shirt. Most of it is not seen but I had to use something so why not be accurate. The green shirt is made in a similar way to Marty’s denim jacket. I’ve made a small panel with a collar which I’ve inserted at the top so that it looks like a full shirt but doesn’t add any bulk.
Doc’s details.
Adding Accessories
The doll from the neck up is the same as the base doll pattern. For the hair I’ve used the hair from my Diver from Crochet at Work and just changed it to white. Then I had a bit of fun with the the accessories for Doc. I added the orange triangles ay the bottom of the trouser legs. The tool belt is made by starting with a small chain then crocheting into both sides of the chain. Continue to work in a spiral to create a pocket. The stop watch around the neck is just a magic ring and 1 round in black with a couple of grey stitches over the top. Most details are made with either small circular or square panels. The only non-yarn part is a bit of wire for the antennae for the remote control.
I used the Diver’s hair in white to create Doc’s mane.
And that’s the finished Doc and Marty dolls. I might not stop there though. I’m thinking of making Einstein, maybe Biff, Jennifer, all the different outfits. Oh and the DeLorean. Maybe. One day. If I had time.
‘Wait a minute, I got all the time I want! I got a time machine!’
