Sew Unicorns, Dragons & Mermaids: 14 Mythical Projects to Inspire Creativity

By Annabel Wrigley

Now makers can make believe—with this guide to 14 fun and fantastical sewing projects by the author of the We Love to Sew series.

Acclaimed author and textile artist Annabel Wrigley is back with 14 adorable sewing projects to help spark magic in your life. From a mystical mermaid tail blanket to a narwal softie and dragon pillow, these colorful gifts and accessories will delight children and unicorn lovers of all ages.

Using your brightest and most fun fabrics?like glitter felt and gold lame?you'll be amazed at how simply these projects come together. Some are simple and others take a bit more skill, but handy rainbow icons will help you choose a project that's perfect for you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644030066

Book preview

Introduction

HELLO! I have been teaching creative kiddos how to sew for many years and whenever I ask a class what projects they want to tackle, they always involve unicorns or mermaids. It totally makes sense to me! I mean who wouldn’t want to make a gorgeous and mythical creature! There is something beautiful about imagining a mythical and fantastical world filled with color, imagination, and in our case, glitter!

When I was offered the opportunity to write a book with this topic in mind, I jumped at it. There is nothing more fun than designing a group of sewing projects that are so adorable and colorful that I would want to keep them all for myself. All the mythical things in this book are designed to be made by kids and kids at heart!

I hope you enjoy the projects in this book—they are easy to sew for beginners, with a bit of challenge for those with a little more experience.

Prepare to Get Magical

Photo by Francey / Shutterstock.com

How to Use This Book

Patterns, how-to instructions, and difficulty ratings are provided for all the magical projects featured in this book. You might consider, if you haven’t sewn much recently, to start with the single rainbow projects and work up to the two or three rainbow projects. Or jump in and get started—and just like magic, your world will be full of unicorns, mermaids, and dragons!

Level of Difficulty

All the projects in this book have an individual difficulty rating. However, they are all designed with a beginner to intermediate sewist in mind. The step-by-step illustrations help make the sewing steps much easier to understand.

Rainbow 1

Super-simple for beginner sewists who have some sewing machine confidence.

Rainbow 2

A little bit more challenging, but still straight forward enough for those with minimal sewing experience.

Rainbow 3

Requires a little more time and patience. These projects are more intricate and require good sewing knowledge and experience.

Using the Patterns

All the pattern pieces you need to make the projects in this book can be found on the pattern pullout. The materials list for each project also lists the pattern pieces you need so that you can gather all the patterns before you start each project.

The patterns on the pullout are sometimes nested within larger patterns. Tracing the patterns is a great way to preserve the pullout pattern page so that it can be used over and over.

I like to use Pellon 830 Easy Pattern. It is a lightweight, nonfusible interfacing that is designed for pattern tracing.

1. Locate the pattern pieces for your chosen project.

2. Use tracing paper or tracing cloth to trace each pattern piece, making sure to trace all the markings and cutting information. This is really important not only for cutting out the fabric, but also for placement references, such as ears, horns, and so on.

3. Cut out your traced pattern pieces and set them aside until you are ready to lay them out on the fabric.

Cutting the Fabrics

The instructions for each project include a list of which pattern pieces need to be cut from which fabric. Additionally, the pattern pieces have cutting instructions printed within them.

•Pay attention to the number of times you need to cut the pattern. If you need to cut 2, fold the fabric so you can cut 2 at a time. This method also works if a pattern piece needs to have the reverse (mirror image) cut.

•For some small pattern pieces, the instructions will tell you to trace around them onto the fabric, and instead of cutting them out, you will stitch directly on the traced lines. Once stitched, cut them out about ¼˝ from the stitching.

•If there is a grainline marked on the pattern, make sure that the grainline is positioned parallel to the fabric selvage edge.

•If a pattern indicates that one edge should be cut on the fabric fold, be sure to do so.

Note: About Grainline

You will notice there is an arrow printed on some of the pattern pieces. This arrow indicates which direction you should lay the pattern on the fabric for cutting. This is called cutting straight on the grain or against the grain. The grain refers to the direction of the woven threads on a piece of fabric. Cutting straight on the grain means cutting the pattern piece so that the arrow is parallel to the selvage. Cutting against the grain means that the arrow on your pattern piece is perpendicular to the selvage.

For example, many of the projects in this book are made from fleece fabric. Fleece stretches more horizontally than