Craft Scales: Dragon scales for Crochet & Jewelry

My reinforced 3D-printable dragon scale pieces for crochet, beadwork, or jewelry! Great for decorating purses, crochet wearables, costume accents, and other creative accessories.

I came across these Scalemail scales and loved the idea in the comments about crocheting them!  After using them, I was inspired to design my own from scratch with:

• Reinforced strength/attachment points
• Optimized hole size
• Multiple scale and hole sizes for different use cases
• A rounded  “fish” scale variant for mermaid aesthetics

Most of my pictures use a rainbow silk PLA and and the 104-scale plate to get that fun gradient of colour.  I'm also testing optimized angles for printing with dual/tri-coloured filament.

Update: It looks like different angles work well dual-colour and you can reliably get one colour on one side. I've done my best to take pictures of the outcome but I've also uploaded the profile I used to test the dual/tri-coloured filament so you can run your own testing.

Tip: Your plate must be very clean to print the full plate of scales!!

Dragon Scales

Currently available are:

• Base Model
• Base Model with 4mm hole
• 75% scale with 4mm hole
• 50% scale with 3mm hole

Fish Scales

Designed for PETG transparent filament - adjust your infill settings for a specific look. 

• Gyroid infill: strength and subtle wavy texture
• Honeycomb infill:  cool bubble effect
• Concentric infill: least visible pattern

Crochet Usage

• Full-sized Dragon and Fish scales fit my 6mm Clover hook
• Small-holed Dragon scales fit my 3.5mm Clover hook

Example projects:

• NEW! Play Armour (pictured above): used a 6mm hook, half-double crochet stitches, light grey sparkle yarn (weight 4). Scales were attached every other row and stitch.
• Purse (pictured above): used 6mm hook, half-double crochet stitches, and Bernat Premium (weight 4) yarn. Scales were attached every other row and stitch.
• “Magic Glove” (pictured above and below): used 6mm hook, single crochet stitches, and same yarn. Scales were attached every other row and stitch. 

The scales used above are alternating rows of Green/Red Dual and Blue/Orange/Green Tri-coloured filament printed with my angled scales profile. If anyone wants pattern notes for these gloves let me know!

Important note for Usage terms:
This model is licensed for non-commercial use of the digital file.

I made this to share with and support other crafters so you may sell physical items (such as jewelry, crochet pieces, or other handmade works) that incorporate prints made from this design as long as you don’t sell or share the digital file itself.
Please don’t sell standalone prints or packages of the scales - they should be part of a finished or handmade item.

Attribution is appreciated but not required for small-scale craft sales.