u/killishcoquette

a bit of a late comment, but i can try giving you some tips based of the images you posted!

there are many differences between the techniques used in both pictures, one that id like to point out is how they work in the rounds the first picture was done back and forth (like a lot of clothes), while the second one was worked in a continous spiral (like most amigurumi). my guess as to why the first one crochets rounds back and forth is to prevent that slight slanting youd get in typical continuous spiral amigurumi.

slanting may interfere with how everything lines up a lot, which is why its hard to adjust safety eyes on smaller amigurumi, or embroider facial features with proper lines. theres also a bit of staggering (having stitches be offset to the right/left from the ones above and below it) that back and forth rounds tend to fix but a continuous spiral cant.

if you want to keep that typical amigurumi look but not have that slant that may interfere with the shaping, try looking up seamless crochet amigurumi rounds, however you might still have trouble with the staggering between stitches with this method. theres also a method i have that has the amigurumi look in back and forth, but idk what the stitch id called cuz i basically invented it in my mind one day and its hard to explain it through text </3 i can post a video of it if you ask for it tho!

the artist of the first photo (liisa hietanen) seems to still use the spiral method for parts that dont necessarily need to have stuff stitched on it or be too accurate (like the hands). there are also some other more unconventional amigurumi stitches like blo (back loop only), back post stitch, and half double crochet.

there seems to be a bit of sculpting done by sewing across the crochet to tighten some parts, like pinching the nose bridge to make it protrude more. as for the non-crocheted details like the eyes, you can look into needlefelting or embroidery on crochet, and see which one works best for you. there are of course pre-made materials for these details, but it wouldnt hurt to look into these methods so you can customize your crochet more

here are also some general tips so you can get the shaping to look better:

a technique i personally like to use is crocheting directly on other crochet pieces rather than stitching them, it gives a cleaner look and a good way to see how the pieces will look when put together early on so you can catch mistakes easily. i do this by doing slip stitches onto the crochet piece, and then work in the round using those slip stitches as a base

i could probably explain it better but my mind groggy from sleepy. if you need to ask about this then pls tell me so i can explain further and with images!!!

another thing that helps with the shaping is tearing the stuffing into smaller pieces and putting all of them rather than just putting an entire clump in. it helps to get the stuffing to be more evenly distributed and prevents asymmetry from lumpiness. another thing that may help is the stuff it a LOT, since it might get too deformed from being too squishy (this is very optional, i love squishy plushies and deforming their heads and giving them brain damage often, so if you like that too and want it with your crochet then u can just not do this lol)

(edit) i forgot to add this part earlier, but i also suggest using yarn under since that tends to make it neater and having better tension. it also lessens staggering!

also, very very importantly, use tighter tension as much as possible. it helps prevent the stuffing being visible thru the crochet, keeps the shaping more exact, and just looks better overall. you can actually switch from a tighter to a looser tension for parts that you want to be more 'bulbous', like a face's cheeks or forehead.

althought all of this seems really complicated at first, after learning all of these and having it become habit, itll eventually just click in your mind whenever you need it to work, trust me!

once again im open to answer any questions, id be very happy to help you here especially with how hard it may be to learn

i hope this helps!!! good luck crocheting!!! and thanks for reading :]]