Categories: Fashion Accessories, Spring, Fall

This rocking rainbow unicorn appliqued jean jacket is perfect for the 1st week of school, whether you’re a student or a teacher. This style of unicorn gives off a Lisa Frank and 80s kid vibe. I had an old jean jacket that didn’t fit me anymore, but fits my daughter perfectly. I let her pick out a design theme for the back applique. I drew a rainbow unicorn onto a piece of computer paper with pencil. Then, went over it with black marker. Next, I traced the pattern guide to create all the pattern pieces. I’ve made this pattern making part easy for you. Download the pattern guide and pieces PDF to make this applique with your own choice of fabrics and clothing piece. I applied to a jean jacket, but could applique it to a different fabric item. If this unicorn motif isn’t your style, feel free to use a different design. If you aren’t artsy, trace a simple coloring page into pattern pieces. The bigger the pieces, the more the fabric print shows.

What you need to make this project

Materials: 1/4 yard Stick Fusible Interfacing; 4 Fat quarters of Black and white cotton fabrics; Hot pink fat quarter of cotton fabric; Orange fat quarter of cotton fabric; Yellow fat quarter of cotton fabric; Green fat quarter of cotton fabric; Blue fat quarter of cotton fabric; Purple fat quarter of cotton fabric; Black thread; Hot pink thread; Orange thread; Yellow thread; Green thread; Blue thread; Purple thread

Supplies: 3 Sheets of computer paper; Computer; Printer; Paper scissors; Black pen; White pencil; Fabric scissors; Parchment paper; Iron; Ironing board; 7 Bobbins; Sewing machine

Instructions

Rocking Rainbow Unicorn Appliqued Jean Jacket PAGE AA

Step One

At a computer, print out the PDF file of the pattern guide and two pattern sheets. Cut out the pattern pieces, with paper scissors.

Rocking Rainbow Unicorn Appliqued Jean Jacket 2

Step Two

Coordinate the chosen fabrics with the pattern guide. I labeled the actual prints and colors I used.

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Step Three

Work one pattern piece at a time for this step. Cut out a piece of fabric and Stick a little bigger than the matching pattern piece. Lay the Stick on the back of the fabric. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over the layers. Turn the iron to cotton and dry (no steam). Press the iron onto the parchment paper, for a few seconds, moving the iron around if the layered pieces are large. Remove the iron. Let the paper fully cool. Carefully peel off the parchment paper from the fused fabric. Lay the pattern piece onto the fused fabric back. Use a pen to trace the pattern. If the fabric is dark, use a white pencil on the fabric front, to trace the shape. Using fabric scissors, cut out the fabric piece along the lines. Repeat this step for each pattern piece and coordinating fabric. I organized my pieces by which fabric they coordinated with, to keep track of which pieces had been cut out.

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Step Four

Starting with the head, fuse it back to a clean piece of parchment paper. Lay the center diamond strip onto the head. Iron in place. Repeat with each piece of the head, fusing the pieces together as the placement is determined. Then, add the hair. The hair part didn’t look correct at beyond the horn, so I trimmed that little section even with the horn. One all the pieces are fused together, let the fabric cool completely. Carefully peel the applique away from the parchment paper.

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Step Five

Place the jacket back onto the ironing board flat, with the sleeves and front dangling off the sides. Place the applique onto the jacket. Once the placement is determined, iron the applique onto the jacket well.

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Step Six

At the sewing machine, load a bobbin and the machine with black thread. I set my zigzag stitch to 0.5 length and 4.0 width. If I were to do this again, I’d shorten the length to 0.4. Zigzag stitch around all the head parts. I back stitched at the beginning and end of each run of stitching. I’ve read that I’m supposed to tie zigzag stitching off on the back. However, with a lot of wear by a teenager, I didn’t think the stitching would hold up without backstitching.

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Step Seven

For the hair, wind a bobbin and switch the thread color for each hair color stripe. I wound a new bobbin about 1/2 way to be safe, before stitching the next stripe. Same as before, zigzag along each fabric edge overlapping onto the next fabric.