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Hi everyone! I’m so excited to share this fun and easy sewing project with you! As a mom to four young crafters, I love finding ways to introduce my kids to the joyful world of creating things with their hands. Today, we’ll be making a simple felt unicorn that’s perfect for kids ages 6 and up (with a little adult supervision!). Not only is this project a great introduction to sewing, but it allows for a lot of creative expression. Ready to dive in? Let’s get started!
What You’ll Need:
- Felt (in your chosen colors for both body and mane)
- Free Unicorn pattern (link below)
- Sharpie Creative Markers (or similar) for tracing
- Embroidery floss (try to match the colors to your felt)
- Needle with the big eye / Embroidery Needle (a child-friendly one works best)
- Scissors
- Stuffing (polyester filler, scrap felt, or even ripped-up plastic grocery bags)
Before anything else, grab your free pattern, print it out, and let’s trace! This pattern includes the unicorn’s body, legs, mane, and the tail.
Click Pattern Image to Download and Print
Step 1: Trace and Cut
To start, lay the pattern pieces on your felt and trace around them using your marker. A sharpie works wonderfully on felt, ensuring good visibility. Remember to flip the pattern pieces when tracing any of them that you trace twice, tracing both the side with text and the side without. This will help the pattern match up better when sewing. After tracing, carefully cut out your felt pieces, cutting off your marker lines where you can. (Hang onto any scrap felt, it works great as Stuffing for the unicorns insides!)
Step 2: Create an Eye and Add Legs
Add some eyes! You can do a simple “knot eye” or choose a small piece of felt (maybe a bright color) for the eyes.
Option 1)
- Make a simple knot at the end of the floss, then poke the needle from the back of the unicorn body piece to the front where you want the eye to be placed.
- Secure it by making a “knot stitch” — just pull the thread tight and tie a little knot by looping the floss and pulling it through.
- Before you repeat for the other eye, place both your unicorn piece on top of each other and see where the rough/inside threads are on your first unicorn. Add an eye to the second unicorn piece, making sure the knots and messy parts of the stitches are inside the unicorns body on both of the unicorn body pieces.
Option 2)
- For the example above I did a slight more complicated eye, to give it a try rather than using embroidery floss I used standard thread for the eye (which is much thinner) I threaded my need and pulled the two ends of the thread together before tying a loop knot.
- Then I started the stitch on the back of the unicorns face and poked it forward and made a very small stitch before poking back into the unicorns head. Then I poked the needle forward again, just a little bit down from where I’d made my first stitch, and made sure that when I poked my thread back through, I went through the starting stitch of my first stitch. and repeated those steps a 3rd time.
- For the eyelashes I poked my needle up a little away from the end of the eye, and then poked my need back through the end of the eye hole, and repeated that 3 times.
Now, let’s attach the legs. Place two back leg pieces on either side of the unicorn body piece. Remember horses knees bend backward, toward their tails, rather than forward like our knees. Thread your needle again, and use another simple knot stitch to secure them in place. Repeat with the front legs.
Step 3: Start Sewing the Body
Starting at the back leg, knot your starting stitch behind one of the legs. Use a blanket stitch around the bottom of the unicorn’s body, stopping where you want to attach the tail.
How to Blanket Stitch: To make a blanket stitch, start by threading a needle with some sturdy thread and tying a knot at the end. Choose the edge of your fabric where you want to start stitching. Poke the needle up from the back of the fabric, so the knot is hidden. Pull it all the way through. Next, bring the needle back down into the fabric a little bit away from where you came up, then pull it through again. Before you pull the thread all the way tight, loop the thread around the edge of the fabric and bring the needle back through the hole where you first poked it up. Keep repeating this process, making sure to keep the stitches evenly spaced and pulling the thread tight each time, until you reach the end of your stitching line.
Step 4: Attach the Tail
When you reach the unicorns bottom, it’s time to add the tail. Place the tail piece in the middle of the two body pieces, and use a running stitch to sew the tail in place.
How to do a Running Stitch: To make a running stitch, start by getting your needle and thread ready with a knot at the end. Begin by pushing the needle up through the fabric from the back to the front, pulling it all the way through. Then, move the needle a little forward and poke it back down through the fabric making sure to leave a small space. Pull it through until the thread is tight. Next, poke the needle back up through the fabric right where you came down so it makes a little stitch. Keep going back and forth, moving forward a little each time and sticking the needle down and then back up, making sure the stitches are nice and straight. Continue until you reach the end of where you want to stitch!
Step 5: Attach the Mane
Continue with a blanket stitch around the top of the unicorns bottom, then before you start going up the back, add the piece of felt that is for the unicorns mane between the two pieces of body felt, and like you did with the tail, do a running stitch to attach the mane to the unicorn. When you reach the ears continue doing the running stitch along the bottom of the ears, where the attach to the unicorns face, but don’t sew the top of the unicorns ears together.
Step 6: Work on the horn and face
Continue with a blanket stitch around the unicorn’s horn and face, and neck while adding small amounts of filler to the head and neck cavities as you go.
Step 7: Fill and Finish
Leave an opening at the bottom near one of the front legs to fill your unicorn! Use small pieces of polyester filler or scrap felt for stuffing (I’ve even used torn-up plastic grocery bags before). For harder-to-reach areas like the head and neck, use the back of a pencil to help push the filling in. Once it’s nicely stuffed, use a blanket stitch to close up the belly and knot it off back under the leg.
And there you have it—a magical felt unicorn made with your own hands! This project not only introduces kids to sewing basics but also fosters creativity and the joy of crafting. I can’t wait to see all the colorful unicorns you create! Happy sewing!
