Free Pattern Friday: Unicorn Cushion/Pillow

Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes a women's one. I publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.

Happy New Year!!! I've gone a bit off piste with this month's Free Pattern Friday pattern choice. I decided to pick a pattern that I could use to make a non-garment Christmas present, so I went with this kitschy unicorn's head shaped cushion by Rebecca Page that I made for my 6yo daughter. Thanks to them for sharing their hard work for free. If you have a child, or kitsch-loving adult in your life with a birthday on the horizon, then you may wish to bookmark this bonkers project... 

(image source: Rebecca Page)

Pattern type:

This cushion/pillow/toy pattern is easily accessible by adding it to your cart and going through the checkout on the Rebecca Page website. The downloadable PDF includes both the pattern pages and instructions in one. The instructions feature step by step photos, plus there's a cheat sheet for those who wish to wing it a bit, or are making it for the second time. You can also leave off the horn to make a horse version. 

Sizing info:

Unsurprisingly, this pattern is for a single sized item. The finished size is approx. 10"/25cm wide by 15"/38cm high. Mine may have ended up in being a bit smaller because I took a more sizeable seam allowance than the suggested 1/4 inch. 

Fabric info:

The pattern advises using woven, non-stretchy fabric for the main part, including cotton, felt and fleece. I had this remnant of corduroy knocking about that I chose to use to give it a lovely texture. For the mane and fringe I used some synthetic transparent stuff that I was given by someone having a clear out a few years ago. I went with some leftover pleather from my lovely colleague Linda for the horn. I'd recommend doing a Google image search to see some of the other people's versions out there for inspiration. Some people have gone really disco with their choice of fabrics for the mane/fringe and horn sections! Please note that I trying to keep things pretty toned down so I left off the suggested braid from the horn and additional ribbon/braid detail from the mane.

Findings:

I'll be honest with you, I have no idea how long this took to make! I was doing it in tiny windows of time when Dolores with either out at school or had gone to bed. The trickiest bit was the eye detail. They suggested a few options to do that, but I ended up using a wide satin stitch on my machine. It was made trickier because of the texture of the cord, and I'd definitely recommend practising on a scrap of fabric whichever technique you go for as it's such a noticeable feature. 

My only real complaint was the aforementioned teensy seam allowance. At one point you're sewing through a LOT of layers (two layers of the main head, plus ears, horn and mane), and taking less than 1cm would have been very tricky I feel, even if your chosen fabric was thinner than mine. I also found the exact positioning of the horn, mane, ears and fringe to be a bit vague, so I kind of made it up by looking at other completed examples. 

Customisation ideas:

Ohmygoodness. As I suggested before, do a Google search to see how other people have interpreted this pattern. There are so many ways this pattern could go. I do feel that a horn-free version for a horse lover would be very cute. 

Would I make it again?:

No offence to the Rebecca Page crew, but probably no. Unless Frankie develops a love of unicorns or horses, I can't imagine I'll return to this pattern. It was ever so fun to make though, a great scrap buster, and Dolores loved the resultant cushion more than I thought she would, so yay!