Easy Crochet Projects: A Hanging Fern Plant for Your Car

If you like the idea of a little greenery swinging from your rear-view mirror, this mini hanging fern is calling your name. It is one of those easy crochet projects you can finish in an afternoon, using tiny amounts of yarn you probably already have in your scrap bin. The finished piece is a small beige pot brimming with soft green fern fronds and a curled fiddlehead, hung on a cord so it sways gently as you drive.

Small hanging plants like this are some of the most satisfying easy crochet projects because they are quick, forgiving, and genuinely useful as gifts. You make a shallow pot, whip up a handful of leaves, and sew everything together — no complicated shaping, no color charts. Read the pattern through once so the leaf rows make sense, then grab a 2.5–3.0 mm hook and settle in.

What You Will Make

This is a miniature potted fern designed to hang from a car mirror, a doorknob, or a small hook. The pot is a shallow beige bowl worked from a magic ring, five long fern leaves fan out of the top, a single curled fiddlehead adds a botanical touch, and a doubled chain forms the hanger. Worked in super fine yarn, it stays small, light, and delicate — exactly the scale you want dangling in a car.

Quick facts:

• Skill level: Easy
• Finished size: A small hanging plant, roughly palm-sized pot with longer trailing leaves
• Time to make: An afternoon
• Construction: Round pot, five leaves, a fiddlehead, and a chain hanger

Materials You Will Need

• Super fine (fingering) yarn, about 1.8 oz (50 g) total: tan/beige for the pot and fern green for the leaves
• 3.0 mm hook for the pot, 2.0 mm hook for the leaves and fiddlehead
• Stitch marker
• Sewing needle
• Cotton filling (a small amount)
• Scissors

Abbreviations

This pattern uses US terminology.

• MR — magic ring
• ch — chain
• st(s) — stitch(es)
• sl st — slip stitch
• sk — skip
• sc — single crochet
• dc — double crochet
• inc — increase (2 stitches in one stitch)

How to Crochet the Hanging Fern, Step by Step

Pot (beige) — use the 3.0 mm hook

• Row 1: Magic ring, ch 1, 10 sc into the ring. (10)
• Row 2: Ch 1, (1 sc, inc) 5 times. (15)
• Row 3: Ch 1, (2 sc, inc) 5 times. (20)
• Row 4: Ch 1, (3 sc, inc) 5 times. (25)
• Row 5: Ch 1, (4 sc, inc) 5 times. (30)
• Row 6: Ch 1, (5 sc, inc) 5 times. (35)
• Rows 7–10: Ch 1, 35 sc. (35)

Add a small amount of cotton filling near the end so the pot keeps a rounded shape.

Green Circle (pot topper) — 3.0 mm hook

• Row 1: Magic ring, ch 2, 10 dc. (10)
• Row 2: Ch 2, inc in each dc around. (20)
• Row 3: Ch 2, (1 dc, inc) 10 times. (30)
• Row 4: Ch 1, (5 sc, inc) 5 times. This sits inside the pot rim as the soil.

Hanger (make 2)

Ch 60–70 for each strand, depending on how low you want the plant to hang. These two chains form the hanging cord.

Fern Leaf (green, make 5) — use the 2.0 mm hook

Make a slip knot and ch 27, then work the fronds along the chain:

• Hook in the 2nd st, 4 sl st, 1 sc, ch 8. Hook in the 2nd st, 7 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 8. Hook in the 2nd st, 7 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 8. Hook in the 2nd st, 7 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 7. Hook in the 2nd st, 6 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 7. Hook in the 2nd st, 6 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 6. Hook in the 2nd st, 5 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 5. Hook in the 2nd st, 4 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 4. Hook in the 2nd st, 3 sl st, 1 sc.
• 2 sl st, ch 1, 2 sl st (this rounds the tip of the leaf).
• 1 sc, ch 4. Hook in the 2nd st, 3 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 5. Hook in the 2nd st, 4 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 6. Hook in the 2nd st, 5 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 7. Hook in the 2nd st, 6 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 7. Hook in the 2nd st, 6 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 8. Hook in the 2nd st, 7 sl st, 1 sc.
• 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 8. Hook in the 2nd st, 7 sl st, 1 sc.
• 4 sl st. Leave the tail uncut for sewing.

The chain forms the central stem and each little branch is one frond, so you end up with a leaf that has matching fronds down both sides.

Fiddlehead — 2.0 mm hook

Slip knot, ch 21. Hook in the 2nd st, work 12 sc then 8 hdc along the chain. The taller hdc end curls naturally into a fiddlehead spiral. Leave the tail uncut for sewing.

Assembly

Sew the green circle inside the pot to form the soil, adding a little more stuffing so the pot stays plump. Arrange the five fern leaves and the fiddlehead so they fan out of the center, then sew them securely into the middle of the pot. Attach both hanger chains to opposite sides of the pot rim and knot the tops together so it hangs level. Weave in all the ends.

Tips for a Better Hanging Fern

• Use a smaller hook for the leaves. The 2.0 mm hook keeps the fronds tight and defined so they read as fern leaves rather than loose loops.
• Don’t overstuff the pot. A light amount of filling keeps the plant airy and stops the little pot from bulging.
• Balance the hanger. Attach the two cords at even points and check it hangs straight before knotting the top.
• Raid your scraps. Few easy crochet projects use as little yarn as this, so it is perfect for leftover green and beige oddments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these easy crochet projects good for beginners?

Very much so. The pot is basic single crochet increases, and the leaves are just chains and slip stitches worked in a repeating rhythm. If you can chain and slip stitch, you can make this fern.

How long does the hanging fern take to make?

Most makers finish it in an afternoon. Small, quick makes like this are exactly why easy crochet projects are so popular for gifts and craft-fair stock.

What yarn should I use for a car hanging?

A super fine or fingering cotton keeps the fern small and crisp, and cotton holds the leaf shape well. Any thin scrap yarn in green and beige will do the job.

Will it be too heavy for a rear-view mirror?

No. Worked in fine yarn with only a little stuffing, the finished fern is very light, which is part of what makes it such a good little make for the car.

Final Thoughts

A tiny crochet fern swinging from your mirror is a small thing that brings a real smile every time you get in the car. It costs almost nothing in yarn, comes together in a single sitting, and makes a lovely little gift tucked into a card. If you are building a list of easy crochet projects to work through on quiet evenings, add this hanging fern near the top. Happy crocheting.