Colorful Crochet Smiling Murakami Flower Pattern: Your Complete Guide to Making This Joyful Design

If you’ve spent any time on craft social media recently, you’ve probably seen them — those cheerful, round flowers with big smiling faces and bold, eye-catching colors that seem to radiate pure happiness from every stitch. The Smiling Murakami Flower has taken the crochet world by storm, and for good reason. Inspired by the iconic floral motifs of Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, these colorful crochet flowers are playful, versatile, and surprisingly satisfying to make. Whether you’re a seasoned crocheter or someone who just learned their first chain stitch, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know to create your own collection of these joyful blooms.

What Is the Murakami Flower, and Why Is Everyone Crocheting It?

Takashi Murakami is one of the most recognized names in contemporary art, known for his “Superflat” aesthetic that blends Japanese pop culture, anime, and fine art into something entirely its own. His smiling flowers — with their symmetrical petals and cartoonishly happy faces — have appeared on everything from luxury handbags to museum installations, and their cheerful energy has made them one of the most beloved motifs in modern visual culture.

Crochet artists quickly recognized that Murakami’s flower design translated beautifully into yarn form. The circular construction, the layered petals, and that iconic center face are all achievable with basic crochet techniques. What makes the crochet version especially appealing is the texture: yarn gives these flowers a softness and dimensionality that flat prints simply can’t replicate. You can make them as coasters, wall hangings, bag charms, patches for jackets, or simply as standalone decorative pieces to display on a shelf.

The craze for these flowers also taps into a broader movement in the fiber arts community toward bold, maximalist color and designs that spark genuine joy. After years of muted tones and minimalist aesthetics dominating the craft world, crocheters everywhere are embracing color with full enthusiasm, and the Murakami-inspired flower sits right at the heart of that shift.

Materials You’ll Need

Before you dive into the pattern, let’s talk about what you’ll need to gather. One of the most wonderful things about this project is that it works up quickly and doesn’t require a massive yarn investment, making it a great stash-buster.

For the yarn, you’ll want a worsted weight yarn in several colors. You’ll need a center color (typically yellow or golden, as this is where the face will live), a petal color or multiple petal colors if you want multicolored petals, and a contrasting color for the face details — usually black or dark brown. If you want to create the classic Murakami look, go for the most vibrant shades you can find. Think electric pink, sunshine yellow, vivid orange, grass green, cobalt blue, and hot purple. The more saturated and unapologetic, the better.

You’ll also need a crochet hook sized appropriately for your yarn — for worsted weight, a 5mm (H/8) or 5.5mm (I/9) hook works beautifully. A yarn needle for weaving in ends is essential, along with scissors and stitch markers to help you keep track of rounds. If you plan to make the faces using embroidery rather than crochet, a tapestry needle and embroidery floss in black and white will come in handy.

Optional but helpful: a small amount of polyfill stuffing if you want to give your flower center a slight dome shape, and pins for blocking if you’re working with a yarn that benefits from it.

Understanding the Construction

The Smiling Murakami Flower is built in two separate main sections: the center circle (where the face lives) and the petals that surround it. Some crocheters make these as one continuous piece, while others prefer to make the center and petals separately and then join them. Both approaches work, and I’ll explain the logic of each so you can choose what suits your working style.

The center is essentially a flat circle worked in continuous rounds using the magic ring method or a foundation chain joined into a circle. It expands outward from the center point, and you’ll want it to stay flat and lie cleanly without any curling or bunching. The face is typically added afterward — either embroidered directly onto the finished circle or created with surface slip stitches.

The petals can be worked in several different ways. Some patterns produce petals that are worked directly from the outer edge of the center circle, while others have you crochet individual petals and attach them. Both give slightly different results in terms of dimension and texture. Petals made directly from the center tend to lie flatter, which is ideal for coasters or flat appliqués. Individual petals that are sewn on tend to have a little more lift and dimensionality, which creates a more three-dimensional flower effect.

The Pattern

This pattern creates a flower that measures approximately 6 inches in diameter using worsted weight yarn and a 5mm hook. The abbreviations used are standard US crochet terminology: ch (chain), sl st (slip stitch), sc (single crochet), hdc (half double crochet), dc (double crochet), tr (treble crochet), and MR (magic ring).

Center Circle

Begin with your center color yarn. Create a magic ring, or chain 4 and join with a slip stitch to form a ring.

Round 1: Chain 1, work 6 single crochets into the ring. Pull the tail to close the ring. Join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet. You now have 6 stitches.

Round 2: Chain 1, work 2 single crochets in each stitch around. Join with a slip stitch to the first stitch. You now have 12 stitches.

Round 3: Chain 1, work 1 single crochet in the first stitch, then 2 single crochets in the next stitch. Repeat this pattern all the way around. Join with a slip stitch. You now have 18 stitches.

Round 4: Chain 1, work 1 single crochet in each of the first 2 stitches, then 2 single crochets in the next stitch. Repeat this pattern all the way around. Join with a slip stitch. You now have 24 stitches.

Round 5: Chain 1, work 1 single crochet in each of the first 3 stitches, then 2 single crochets in the next stitch. Repeat all the way around. Join with a slip stitch. You now have 30 stitches.

Round 6: Chain 1, work 1 single crochet in each of the first 4 stitches, then 2 single crochets in the next stitch. Repeat all the way around. Join. You now have 36 stitches.

Fasten off and weave in your ends. Your center circle should measure approximately 3 inches across.

Petals

Switch to your petal color. Join your yarn in any stitch of the outer round with a slip stitch.

For each petal, you will be working into 3 consecutive stitches of the center circle, creating 12 petals total (using all 36 stitches of the outer round, 3 stitches per petal).

Single petal construction: Chain 1, single crochet in the same stitch, half double crochet in the next stitch, then work the following sequence all in the center stitch of your 3-stitch group: double crochet, treble crochet, double crochet. Then half double crochet in the next stitch and single crochet in the following stitch. Slip stitch in the same stitch to close the petal. This creates one rounded, slightly pointed petal.

Continue working around the entire circle in this way until you have 12 petals. When you complete the last petal, join with a slip stitch to the first stitch of your round. Fasten off and weave in ends.

If you want bolder, more pronounced petals that stand up a bit from the center, you can chain 2 instead of chain 1 at the beginning of each petal, which adds just a touch more height to each peak.

Adding the Smiling Face

This is the step that transforms a regular crochet flower into a Murakami-inspired piece, and it’s completely customizable depending on your skill level and the look you’re going for.

For the eyes, you have several options. The simplest approach is to use two small black buttons sewn onto the face about a third of the way up from the center, spaced evenly apart. If you prefer a yarn-based approach, you can use black yarn or embroidery floss to create small oval or oval-with-a-highlight shapes — embroider a solid black oval and then add a small white stitch or French knot inside each eye to create that shiny, alive look.

For the smile, use black yarn or embroidery floss and a tapestry needle to embroider a gentle curved line across the lower third of the center circle. The classic Murakami smile is wide and generous — it stretches nearly from one side of the face to the other and curves upward at both ends in a way that radiates warmth and contentment. You can add small upward curves at each end of the smile line to complete the expression. Some crocheters also like to add small white teeth by embroidering short straight stitches along the inside of the smile curve, giving the flower a toothy grin.

Rosy cheeks are another optional but absolutely charming detail. You can create these by embroidering small circles or oval patches in pink or coral yarn, or by using a pink fabric marker on a small piece of felt and attaching that to the face. Some crocheters use a small amount of actual blush powder or chalk pastel dusted lightly onto the yarn for a subtle effect that looks surprisingly realistic.

Color Combinations to Try

One of the most exciting aspects of this project is the endless color experimentation it invites. The classic Murakami palette features flowers in a rotating spectrum — each one a different saturated hue. If you’re making a collection, consider doing petals in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and pink, all with the same yellow center and black face. Displayed together, they create a rainbow effect that is genuinely stunning.

For a more cohesive single-flower look, try a bold complementary color pair: orange center with blue petals, pink center with green petals, or purple center with yellow petals. These high-contrast combinations have the most visual pop and look especially striking on a dark background.

If you’re a bit more reserved in your color sensibility but still want to capture the spirit of the design, try working in analogous colors — shades that sit next to each other on the color wheel. A flower with a coral center and tangerine petals, for example, feels warm and harmonious rather than loud, while still celebrating color in a meaningful way.

Variegated or self-striping yarn in the petal section creates a really magical effect, especially if the yarn moves through several hues as you work around the flower. The result looks like a botanical illustration brought to life.

Ways to Use Your Finished Flowers

Once you’ve made your first Murakami flower, you will almost certainly want to make more — and the good news is that they’re so versatile that you’ll never run out of reasons to. A single large flower makes a gorgeous focal point for a tote bag, sewn flat onto the front panel with a few whipstitches. A collection of smaller flowers (made with lighter weight yarn and a smaller hook) can be assembled into a garland for a party, a mobile for a nursery, or a colorful wreath for your front door.

Crocheted Murakami flowers also make wonderful patches for denim jackets, jeans, and backpacks. Because they’re constructed in the round and have a naturally clean edge, they sew on easily and look polished without requiring any special finishing. Just whipstitch around the outer edge with a matching thread and you’re done.

For a truly showstopping wall piece, make a large collection of flowers in varying sizes and arrange them in a grid or a loose, organic cluster on a piece of fabric stretched over a canvas frame. This kind of textile art has a richness and texture that prints simply can’t achieve, and it’s a wonderful way to showcase your color sense alongside your craft skills.

You can also use your Murakami flowers as the starting point for larger projects like blankets or pillow covers, joining the individual flower motifs together with a simple single crochet join or a decorative picot join for a look that’s part granny square, part modern art installation.

Tips for Getting the Best Results

Tension is everything in this pattern. Because the center circle needs to lie flat, it’s important to keep your tension consistent through every round. If your circle starts to dome or cup in the center, your tension is probably too tight — try loosening your grip a little or going up a hook size. If the edges start to ruffle and wave, your tension is too loose — go down a hook size.

When you’re adding the face, sketch it out first on a piece of paper the same diameter as your center circle so you can plan the placement. Getting the eyes and smile positioned correctly and symmetrically makes a big difference in how expressive and charming the finished face looks.

Block your finished flowers if you’re using a natural fiber yarn. Even a light wet block — just pinning the flower to your blocking mat and misting it with water, then leaving it to dry flat — will even out any uneven stitches and give the petals a clean, defined shape.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of the weave-in. Taking the time to properly weave in your yarn ends (going in two directions, through the backs of several stitches each way) means your flowers will hold up beautifully over time, whether they’re handled frequently as a bag accessory or displayed as wall art.

A Final Word on Making It Your Own

The Smiling Murakami Flower is, at its heart, a celebration of joy — and the best way to honor that spirit is to make the pattern genuinely your own. Change the number of petals. Make the face sleepy instead of smiling. Go monochrome. Use metallic thread in the center. Add a pompom to the middle. Work tiny flowers and giant flowers. Let this pattern be a starting point rather than a rulebook.

The crochet community has embraced this design so warmly precisely because it has room for so much creative expression within a recognizable and beloved framework. Every crocheter who picks up this pattern brings their own color instincts, their own tension, their own little improvisations — and the result is always something that feels personal even while being part of a larger shared aesthetic.

So gather your most cheerful yarns, find a comfortable seat, and let yourself be delighted by the process of bringing a smiling flower into the world. There’s something genuinely lovely about the fact that with a hook, some yarn, and a bit of patience, you can create an object that makes people smile every single time they look at it.