Big Little: Wild Things Coat - A Rainbow Unicorn

Those of you who have been following Big Little for awhile, know that my little girl is rather fond of clothes with sparkles. "Sparkly" dresses and skirts, or those with suitably long, flowing elegant drape to them which trail dramatically in her wake, or those involving tulle.

What she is not fond of is anything that covers over her sparkles! Needless to say, this makes dressing for Kindy, particularly in winter, a real challenge.

So together we set to work designing a coat that she would actually WANT to wear. One that was cute, but still functional and practical. "I'd like a rainbow unicorn coat Mama!" Typically, she chose one of the more challenging animals to design, however, we would give it a go...

Off to the studio to choose a blanket! Unbelievably we found (and made a joint decision on) the perfect one - rainbow colours, but in muted tones and kind of dark-ish overall so won't show the dirt. Paired with a pretty, floral, vintage sheet with pansies on it, we had a winner!

Phew - now all I had to do was design it! So long story short, her new unicorn "Kindy Coat" was born. Of course we had to go galloping along the beach, because that is where unicorns roam don't you know?

Then of course her little friend needed an animal coat too, so we made him a "Max" coat from Where the Wild Things Are.

Too cute and so much fun!

I hadn't actually even sewn the sleeves cuffs up when we took these pics, hence they are rolled rather generously, and there have been a few tweaks to the fit and construction since this original coat - however, the coat is designed to be a roomy fit, with roll back cuffs and a long-line style, which *hopefully* will give two years of wear as the sleeves can be rolled down and the coat worn at a regular hip length the following year.

The pattern for this unicorn coat has just be released in my shop along with another thirteen animals - yes, fourteen different animals all together in one pattern! You could potentially make a different animal coat every year for 14 years as the sizes go from toddler to teen.

If you would like to make your little one a Wild Things Coat you will find the pattern here. Or if you already have the Pixie or Pea coat, you can simply upgrade it here.

Lisa xx

Pps: Gorgeous images by my friend Suzanne Holsted