A while back over on Nest Goodies I mentioned that I’d seen some gorgeous fabric covered letters (search their site for ‘fabric letters’ as it’s a flash site) for £12 each, in shopping heaven itself, the new Anthropologie store on Regent Street. After admittedly getting a bit carried away on ebay when I was pregnant, I have plenty of fabric to make use of, so after buying papier maché letters from Panduro Hobby for £4.50 each (search for ‘large white letter), I used scraps to make my own. Great decorative pieces, they also make lovely gifts and don’t take very long once you’re organised and have prepared your fabrics.
All you need is fabric, scissors and trusty PVA glue. The letters are 17 X 16 cm with a 5.5cm depth so a decent size.
I recommend ironing the fabrics beforehand so that they look as smooth as possible. Cut around the letter leaving around 0.5 cm excess around the edge so that you can fold over and iron a (0.5cm) hem to make the edges neat.
Starting from one side, glue the edge of the letter (a not too heavy line of glue should do it) and then lay the fabric in and smooth it into place – if there is excess glue on the edge it will come out so have something to wipe it.
Work your way around the letter and make sure you smooth it out as you go, ensuring everything is staying lined up where it should be.
For the sides, I used a long piece of (contrasting) fabric. Measure the width and add on .5cm each side for hems as before etc and glue on all the way around lining up the folded edges of the fronts as close as possible.
Total time to make: Probably around 30-45 minutes if uninterrupted. Some letters will be a doddle compared to others….
A bit of digging and I found more letters at The Craft Barn (and cheaper too) for £2.75 each although I haven’t seen them in the flesh. I will update with pics of the remaining letters where I’ll try out some ’embellishments’ too.
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