Fabric covered letters - a hair clip holder?

I've always loved the look of these fabric covered letters. You can save some cash and customize with your choice of fabric by making them on your own! They also make a cute hair-clip holder... if you're into that kind of thing.



Check out the No-Sew DIY after the jump.

What you need:

-Two complimentary fabrics - I used two random fat quarters from Joann Fabric's with plenty to spare.
A. One piece large enough to cover the front and back of your letter plus 1/2" all around.
B. And one piece to cut into long strips for your edge.


- Fabric Glue

- Batting (mine was a bit too thin, I would suggest a thicker batting or several layers)

- A cardboard letter form. Joann Fabrics has a wide selection of sizes. I really want to try a giant letter next!

- Scissors

- latex gloves (because glue is only fun to pick off of your fingers for the first 1/2 hour)

- Disappearing ink marker or fabric pencil

- Ribbon (optional) for the hair clip holder.


What to do:

1. Iron your fabrics. Well.

2. Trace your letter form, face down, onto the reverse side of fabric A.


3. Trace your letter form, face up, onto the reverse side of fabric A. Leave enough fabric around the traced edge for 1/4-1/2" margin.

4. Cut out your letter shapes leaving 1/4-1/2" margin around the tracing.


5. Trace your letter form, face down, onto the batting. If you are layering several layers of thinner batting, glue them together first so you only have to trace/cut once.


6. Cut out your batting as precisely as possible.

7. Measure the depth of your letter form and cut long strips of fabric for your edge. As an option, you could add 1/4" to each side, fold and iron for a neater edge. I decided the raw edge worked fine for me (read: lazy).


8. Don your latex gloves and apply a string of glue over the front of your letter and spread out with finger. Doesn't need to be total coverage, it's just so your batting doesn't slip.


9. Place your batting letter face down and carefully lower your cardboard letter form into position. Turn over.


10. Apply a thin layer of glue to the top of the batting as well, make sure it is also spread out and not too wet. It's only to hold things in place.

11. Lay your front fabric face down and lay your letter, face down, on top of it using your tracing as a guide for positioning.

12. Starting on the largest straight edges, add a thin line of glue to the cardboard and pull the fabric up to adhere. You want to pull snugly but not too tight that you create ripples on the front of the letter. Hold it in place until it sticks, smoothing out any glue bumps. It is ok to get glue on the from of these edges, they will be covered, plus the glue dries clear.


13. For outer corners cut several small v's out of the fabric to eliminate bulk and glue up just like before.


14. For inside corners, make small cuts straight into the fabric, but don't cut any fabric away.

15. Your top will look like this.


16. Now repeat steps 11-14 for the back. You can spread a little glue on the back of the cardboard to hold it in place. It will look like this when finished.


17. Starting on the least-noticeable edge (for a c, I started on the inside), add a thin line of glue along the depth of your letter and glue the edge of your fabric strip down. It is more important that the fabric strip be flush with the back of the letter than the front. Apply a bit of glue to both sides of the edge and glue more fabric down. You want to glue quite close to the edge to hold the fabric strip in place and to manage fraying. Keep going all the way around. When you have to pick up a new strip, check that it is the exact same width as where you left off. If not, trim a smidge.


18. When you get to the end, simply glue your end down.


Now your letter is ready to sit on a shelf! If you want to hang it on a wall, attach a small triangle hanger to the back with glued strip of fabric.

If you would like to turn your letter into a hair clip holder, simply glue ribbons to the back!