How To Make Your Own Fabric Alphabet
Playing with the alphabet is a great way to help your preschooler learn the alphabet and promote letter recognition, and this easy-to-make fabric alphabet will provide hours of kid-friendly, educational fun! Because kids learn best when their hands are engaged in the learning process, these letters are the perfect way to make the alphabet a tactile activity.
Our free download includes step by step instructions and printable letter templates so you can jump right in and make your own set of fabric letters!
Ready to Get Started?
Print out the alphabet letter templates and cut out each letter using scissors or a utility knife.
Cut solid-color fabric, print fabric, and two layers of quilt batting into twenty-six five-inch squares. Squares should be large enough to accommodate the letter template plus a little bit of extra cutting room around each letter.
Trace each letter onto one square of print fabric. I used a disappearing marking pen, but feel free to use pencil. Pin together all layers.
Using a sewing machine, sew layers together with a wide stitch along the traced line.
Cut around each letter with pinking shears, about 1/4″ from the stitching. Cut out center holes (as in letters A, B, D, etc.) with small fabric scissors.
Repeat steps 3-5 with each letter of the alphabet. If you used a disappearing marking pen, remove the marks with a damp cloth (or follow the instructions for your pen).
Ways to Play with Your Fabric Alphabet
For plenty of transportable (and decorative!) fun, store your letters in a basket on your child’s bookcase!
Admire your handiwork and then give the letters to your little one to let the fun and learning begin! Can she spell her name?
Or spell some easy words? It’s time to let the learning begin!
If you make a set of fabric letters for your child, we’d love to see some pictures! You can share your photos with us on Facebook or Instagram (tag @allaboutlearning)!
Create Your Own Template for Lowercase Letters and Numbers:
Here are instructions for creating your own template:
1. In Microsoft Word, type up the alphabet from A-Z and the numbers 0-9, using your favorite font and font size.
2. Select all of the letters, and then click the Text Effects tool. (In Microsoft Word 2010, the Text Effects tool is in the toolbox under Home, to the left of the highlighting tool. The icon for the text effects tool is a blue A.)
3. Choose whatever outline style your heart desires, and then voilà! That’s it! You’ve made your own customized template!
Fabric Alphabet Tips Recommended by Our Readers:
- Sew magnets into the back layer of each letter so letters can be used on a white board. (Recommended by Chelsea B. via blog comment.)
- Skip the batting and use felt or flannel as the backing so they can be used on the felt board. (Recommended by Chelsea B. via blog comment.)
- Sew letters together with black embroidery floss instead of on a machine so the stitching really stands out. (Recommended by Beverly G. via blog comment.)
- Use a lightweight tear away fabric to trace a whole page and pin or glue it to the fabric layers then sew through the whole thing. When done with each page of templates, there will be four complete sets of letters. (Recommended by Linda via blog comment.
- Use coordinating colors or designs for the letters – apple print for “A”; blue print or banana print for “B”, etc. (Recommended by Paula via blog comment.)
- Have an older child create this set for a younger sibling! (Recommended by Deb via blog comment.)
- Dots for lower case letters – like in “i” and “j” – can be attached by sewing a layer of clear table cloth covering in between. (Recommended by Cynthia via blog comment.)
Did your preschooler enjoy this activity? Try some of our other great letter recognition activities!
Encheri Moore
says:Letter ñ with fabric
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceEncheri,
I would be inclined to try forming the letter ñ by making a letter n and embroidering the ~ on top of it. A nice contrasting coloring of embroidery thread and a satin stitch would look great.
Anita Vallance
says:Can I make them smaller?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAnita,
Yes, you can make them smaller, but there could be a problem with the definition of the letters if you try too small.
Kathy Stangler
says:Love this idea! I am so doing this!
LynneDe
says:Thank you that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel! My son recently called and asked me to make an alphabet set so that he can work with his son (my grandson) who has Down’s Syndrome, to help him learn his letters and numbers. He had thought of felt, but I knew that wouldn’t work with a toddler that puts everything in his mouth. Now, I have the answer! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, LynneDe. And what a great grandmother you are to make all of these for your grandson!
Serenity
says:These alphabet patterns are very beautiful. I guess it would be easier to create them with a kids sewing machine.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSerenity,
This fabric alphabet is easy to make with any sewing machine or even by hand.
Delfina
says:Thanks for sharing, wish I had seen this when my child was growing. Hopefully I can do this for my grand-child.
Linda
says:I’m making this alphabet for a friend’s 4 y.o. son who has autism. It’s important that the letters stay the same shape so he has them presented to him in a consistent way. So that they won’t get folded over, I’m using Phoomph with fabric on both sides. These are also easier for him to hold. In order to give him a sensory experience, I’m making the letters with different textures using different kinds of fabrics and other materials as well as different colours except for the letters of his name which I’ve made with blue satin on both sides. This will help him identify those letters and teaches him that they are special.
Thanks for this! I’ll definitely be making it again.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLinda,
What a lovely thing you are doing! Using Phoomph will make these letters very sturdy, and I have always felt that this project is perfect for tactile fabrics.
One thought, however. If you make letters with the same fabric front and back, it will be easy for the child to get the letters backward. If you use the same plain fabric for the backside of every letter, then he will be able to easily know what side is the back, or what side to place down on the table, and it will limit him getting letters backward. Muslin is a great fabric for this, although if you use a plain flannel the letters will stick to a flannel board or even some furniture surfaces.
We would love to see pictures when you finish!
Linda
says:That’s a great idea – thanks! I’m, of course, visualizing them from my already-learned-my-letters perspective. ;-)
Maria
says:This is awesome. Thank you.
Laurie
says:Note that inexpensive magnetic strip is not sufficient to hold these for refrigerator magnets
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you for this tip, Laurie. Good to know.
Oma Ja
says:I made two sets for my 3 year old grandchildren, and I love them. I used scraps of fabric that I already had. they are durable, washable and kid friendly. LOVE THEM.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you for letting us know that fabric alphabets have been so well received by your grandchildren!
Marylou S.
says:Hi. Can I use a heavier weighted interfacing to give the letters a stiffer body?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMarylou,
Yes. A heavier interfacing would give the letters a nice stiff body. Another option would be a fleece interfacing which would both stiffen and make them fluffier.
Nien
says:I love it so much
Dotty J Boucher
says:I love what you did here, I have actually been thinking of doing my own letters for my granddaughters room.
@tisonlyme143
Evadnye wilson
says:I sew for schools and would like to make my own templates for each school in different colours. (Eg, on white fabric I print red and on red fabric black or white. How can I make such templates.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceEvadnye,
These templates are not designed to be printed onto fabric. Rather, they are designed to be printed onto paper and traced onto fabric with a special disappearing fabric marker. You could simply use one template and just trace onto different color fabrics.
Ms Marie Newton
says:I can not down load the alphebets i have not got a printer ,is there any way of buying them.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMarie,
I am very sorry for the delay in answer this.
We do not have these templates for sale, nor do we sell fabric letters. Maybe you can print from a public location, such as a library or internet cafe.
Marie N ewton
says:I have not got a printer to down load and print them off,is their any other way i can buy these letters please.
Areata
says:Very creative and inexpensive. Thank you for the idea.
Heather
says:These look fantastic! I’ve been searching for a good tutorial. Do you have any templates for lowercase letters or numbers? Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceHeather,
We do not have premade templates for lowercase letters and numbers. However, Marie described how to make your own template in this blog comment.
Sara L
says:I love the idea of any collection of letter shapes. And with a DIY project, you can make as many of each letter as you want! I recently saw the idea of creating the alphabet with perler beads (those tiny plastic ones that melt together with an iron). An image search will lead you to multiple designs.
Christy
says:Could you please make a matching template for lower case letters?
Roslyn
says:Hi the alphabet letters are an amazing idea I’ve bought myself a small sewing machine but I’ve never used one before so I was wondering if you could give me any ideas on what I should try doing first until I get used to machine sewing. Because soon I really want to do a whole patch work quilt for my teenage daughter but as I said I have never used a machine so before I can start the quilt I need a bit more experience.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceRoslyn,
Read the machine’s manual and start sewing. Do lots of straight lines at first, and then move into your quilt. There are many “beginning sewing” blogs and videos online, but I can’t really say which is best because I started sewing almost two decades ago. I mostly used the library to learn, as there are lots of how-to-sew books out there. And I didn’t follow the rules on learning to sew; my first project was a dress with princess seams and set-in sleeves (and I wore that dress until it fell apart and I learned the lesson that cheap fabric isn’t always a good deal).
Most of all, don’t be afraid. It’s just fabric. There is always more fabric.
sydney
says:I love this project, I just two layers of 100% wool felt to use these on our large felt board at home.
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceSydney,
I don’t have a felt board, but I love the feel of 100% wool felt. Such a lovely texture.
Marie-Laure
says:Thank you from France for this great idea ! I’ve finished my alphabet today, my son is really happy with it ! I’ve made some letters twice to “create” more words.
It allowed me to use a lot of my little pieces of fabrics (the ones you want to keep “just in case” ! this project was the case :D )
A friend asked me one for her son ;)
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceMarie-Laure,
Have fun! Making extras of some letters is a wonderful idea. Thanks for sharing it.
Serenity
says:Oops . Nevermind, just saw your post. Thanks for the specs!
Serenity
says:Sorry, forgot to make this clear. I would really appreciate details such as the exact quantity of fabric. I’m very new to sewing and I don’t have scraps of fabric either. I hope that clarifies things. ..
Serenity
says:Just saw this post because my son is doing AAR-PRE. I’m so excited about it and this post. AAL is an immense blessing.
I’d really like to make the quilts asap, can you please provide details of materials needed for us newbies. I wouldn’t know where to start. Also, suggestions for less expensive places would be great. I want them to hold out, but don’t want to break the bank of course. I’m looking to make 2 sets of capitals, 2 sets of lowercase, and 2 sets of numbers. I’ll be using my mother’s sewing machine. Thanks in advance.
Merry at AALP
says: Customer ServiceHi Serenity,
Do you have something like a JoAnn Fabrics by you? Ours often has good sales. If not, you may need to talk to other moms in your area, find someone who sews and see where they go for fabric. I would go to a place like that and look at remnant squares, because you can usually get a good price on remnants. Quilters use remnants a lot, so if you ask at a fabric store, they’ll know what you mean and can direct you to what they have. Typically they’ll have a number of small blocks bundled together. You’ll need 5-inch squares of each type of material. For one set of the alphabet, you would need:
26 squares (5″ each side) of solid-color fabrics
26 squares (5″ each side) of print fabrics
Enough quilt batting for 52 squares (2 layers for each letter).
Kay
says:I go to thrift store “bag” sales. Then I stuff it with clothing I want to cut up for fabric remnants. I try to pick clothes no one wants. Easy cheap way to have lots of variety. $5 and good to go. Of course would be cheaper to use family’s old clothes…
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceKay,
What a clever way to make these letters very inexpensively. I bet you could get some lovely textured fabrics that way too.
Stephane
says:I’ve also gone to thrift stores for old curtains to use for sewing projects – including making an entire fairy dress (with the tie-backs for sleeves). Some of the lighter curtain fabrics could work for this.
Chelsea B.
says:Thanks for sharing this great idea! I am working with my 8-year-old to make this as a Christmas present he can give his 2-year-old brother. If I were to make another set, I wonder how it well it would work to sew magnets into the back layer so it could be used on the white board. Or skip the batting and use felt or flannel as the backing so they can be used on the felt board. Just wish I had a larger fabric scrap stash so I could match the print on the fabric to the letter (an apple print for A, flower print for letter F, etc)!
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceChelsea,
You have some great ideas here! I think you would have to use strong magnets, to hold the weight of the letter through a layer of fabric, but it definitely could work. Backing it with flannel to use on a felt board would be great too!
As for matching the print to the letter, each letter uses so little fabric that you could get multiple letters per 1/8 yard. I estimate you could get as many as 8 letters from a standard 1/8 yard, and if you organized a group of friends each would only have to buy 3 or 4 1/8 yards of fabric for everyone to have the entire alphabet of phonics prints. I’ve done a similar type of thing with people online for squares of fabric for an I Spy quilt-along, and it was a lot of fun.
Tabitha Wolf
says:just a random, probably dumb question. I just got done with my first letter and I noticed that the batting is very noticeable and in fact strands are pulling off.. Did I use the wrong type of batting?? I don’t want these to be pull apartable!!! Thank you :) they are really cute and I’m excited to give them to my son!
beverly garsee
says:I made this alphabet last year for my 5 year old grandson as a teaching tool for his mom. I also found the lower case letters and numbers and made a whole set for him with bags for storage. He is still using them and I also made a set of all for my 2 year old great-granddaughter. I loved making them. The only thing I did different was to actually sew then together by had with black embroidery floss so the stitching really showed up. thanks so much for sharing this wonderful idea….
happy crafting
Beverly aka “nonnie”
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceI bet they looked awesome with the black embroidery floss! I definite work of love. Thank you for sharing, Beverly.
Serenity
says:Hi Beverly. Would you happen to have a tutorial on hand sewing the pieces? I’d love to learn! If not, can you please provide any helpful details such as: 1. What needle you used 2. What type of technique/stich you used to hand sew the pieces 3. How long did it take to complete the project
Thanks so much
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceSerenity,
Hopefully, Beverly will see this and reply, but just in case she doesn’t I’ll give a shot at it.
For the needle, a regular hand sewing needle will work fine, but if you plan to use embroidering thread as Beverly did look for needles with long, large eyes, as opposed to small circular eyes that are used for finer thread. A plain running stitch would probably look best in a nice contrasting embroidery thread, such as Beverly did. You can find lots of videos and tutorials online on how to do a running stitch.
Lastly, I have no idea how long this project would take to complete. I guesstimate cutting all the fabric for the entire alphabet would take at least a couple of hours. Sewing the letters together with a running stitch could take as little as 10 minutes to as much as an hour for each letter, depending on how small and closely spaced you made the stitches and how many rows of stitching you wanted.
Serenity
says:Thanks for the suggestions and the quick reply!
Sandra
says:I love this! My 2yo is already learning some letters, and this a great way to keep it going while using more of his senses. Thank you!
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceSandra,
You’re welcome. Check out our ABC Snacks too, for even more letter fun!
Dr Rajesh Sharma
says:Many thanks Marie for the creative ideas. Very nice for tiny -tots to learn alphabets.
Angela England
says:Those are COMPLETELY adorable. Totally awesome.
Olusayo Marks- Adegbite
says:I love this idea but I will need to learn how to use sewing machine. Thanks
Olusayo Marks- Adegbite
says:I love everything am seeing here, it makes teaching and! learning so easy. Thanks for being a blessing
Marie Rippel
says: Customer ServiceThe pleasure is all ours, Olusayo!
Rebecca
says:I’ve been wanting to do something like this so the timing is great for my ideas board. Now the baby just need to cooperate with time to do it!
Holly
says:I LOVE this! Thank you for these ideas! Now I need to learn how to use my sewing machine!
Linda
says:Thanks, I love this idea. Here is a tip for those who want to make some gifts, or have duplicate letters for spelling. Use a lightweight tear away fabric to trace a whole page and pin or glue it to the fabric layers then sew through the whole thing. When done with each page of templates, there will be four complete sets of letters.
Katie
says:I love this Idea! Now I just need to find the time to learn how to use my sewing machine. I figured it out up until tension just can’t seem to get it right
Nicole
says:Love the idea that my little one can “play” with the letters! Play makes learning so much more fun. Thanks for the free templates.
Beth
says:Love this idea! Thanks for the templates and instructions. Great use for scraps!
Erika
says:What a wonderful idea! I can’t wait to make these for my little guy; he’s absolutely fascinated by all things letter.
Heather @GeminiRed Creations
says:So glad I found this post. I am going to make a set for my friend’s granddaughter for Christmas!
Paula
says:What a wonderful project! My great-granddaughters are both the right age for this. I would use co-ordinating colors or designs for the letters– apple print for “A”; blue print or banana print (or one of each) for “B”; etc. The possibilities are endless!! Thanks!!
Jeanine
says:Hello Marie! Found your space here through the latest LINKY at HomeschoolCreations.net Thank you SOO much for sharing this idea! My Littlest (not so little lol) has been asking & asking to “sew”! I haven’t been able to find anything educational to throw into that request so I’ve left it alone a while. NOW, thanks to you, I am already listening to the printer printing your free shared printable, and will prepare the fabric before end of daycare day for her! This is a perfect activity to learn for her & share some much enjoyed family time creating together. I think I may even get the teen involved! God Bless, TY
beverly garsee
says:do you have the numbers and lower cased letter templates…..making for my grandchildren who are all home schooled….wonderful idea for someone like me who loves to sew…..thanks for sharing
Merry
says:Sorry, we don’t at this time!
Marie Rippel
says:Hi Bevely,
While we don’t have a pre-made template, you can easily make a template for lower-case letters and numbers. Here’s how:
In Microsoft Word, type up the alphabet a-z and the numbers 0-9, using whatever font size that you would like. Then select all of the letters and click the Text Effects tool. (In Microsoft Word 2010, the Text Effects tool is in the toolbox under Home, to the left of the highlighting tool. The icon is a blue A.) Select this tool, choose whatever outline style your heart desires, and then voila! That’s it! You’ve made your own customized template!
Katie Olson
says:What font would you recommend for this?
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says:I’ve always liked Comic Sans for kids things, as it looks quite similar to the style of Handwriting Without Tears, the handwriting curriculum I used.
If you were doing upper case letters any font that doesn’t have fancy extras, like Veranda or Arial would work. However, if you are doing lower case, you want a font that forms a and g like we handwrite them, and Comic Sans is the only one that pops to mind that is standard.
However, if you know how to install custom fonts, there are lots and lots of options out there.
Brandy
says:These are so cute!
Katrina
says:Thanks for sharing these! I was planning to make them for my preschooler and Kindergartener but now I’m killing two birds with one stone. I’m giving my 7 yr old sewing lessons and she is making them for her younger siblings! We are doing all of the straight line letters first and then the curved ones once she gets better at sewing. :)
Deb
says:My 8 year old daughter just learned to sew – what a great idea to have her make them for her younger siblings. Could be a fun Christmas gift!
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceWhat a great idea, Deb! Your 8 year old gets to practice her new skill and her siblings get fabric letters. Win-win.
Natalie
says:This is such a wonderful idea!!! I’m not usually a crafty kind of person, but I’m for sure going to try my hand at this.
Does anyone have any recommendations on colors for the backside?
Linda
says:Hi, Natalie! I would pick a color that coordinates with all of the colors of your face fabrics! Or a color that coordinates with your child’s bedroom or playroom…or maybe even the basket you hope to store the letters in!
In other words…any color!! This “patchwork” style project really is very forgiving when it comes to color selection…sometimes the more color you have, the better it is!
Hope that helps!
Linda
Heather
says:My pinking shears won’t cut through 4 layers of fabric. What kind are you using?
Marie Rippel
says:Hi Heather! My pinking shears are Fiskars brand, and they cut through the layers with no problem. I’m sorry that you are having difficulty with it! Here’s an idea: you could use regular fabric scissors and cut a straight line. The edges of your alphabet letters may fray slightly with repeated use, but that could be a good look, too.
Heather
says:Thanks Marie, I’ll look for that brand on my next set. I borrowed a rotary cutter with a pinking shear blade. It worked great except for a little trouble on the curved letters. I really enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing!
Marie Rippel
says: Customer ServiceYou’re so welcome, Heather!
Cynthia
says:What about templates for lower case? Dots – like in “i” and “j” can be attached by sewing a layer of clear table cloth covering in between.
Marie Rippel
says:Hi Cynthia!
I just posted the instructions for creating a template for lowercase letters–scroll down to Juliene’s comment below.
Great idea about attaching the dots for “i” and “j”! Thanks for sharing! :)
Juliene
says:This is fantastic! My kids and I are having fun making these. I wonder if you would create templates for the lowercase letters also, or maybe numbers?
Marie Rippel
says:Hi Juliene!
Making a template for lower-case letters is as simple as pie. In Microsoft Word, type up the alphabet a-z, using whatever font size that you would like. Then select all of the letters and click the Text Effects tool. (In Microsoft Word 2010, the Text Effects tool is in the toolbox under Home, to the left of the highlighting tool. The icon is a blue A.) Select this tool, choose whatever outline style your heart desires, and then voila! That’s it! You’ve made your own customized template for lower-case letters!
Have fun with your fabric alphabet!
Hopefully this tutorial helps those of you that had questions about customizing the template. Better yet, because you now know how we made our letters, you can take some creative liberties and make as many templates as you want, for numbers even!
Linda Engel
says:Couldl you tell me which font you used for the lower case letters. I’ve been trying to do this, but Microsoft won’t allow me to change the amount of space surrounding the letters, and I can’t seem to get four on a page at the height it appears the capitals are.
Maybe if I know your font, I can get them to go 4 on a page.
Robin E. at All About Learning Press
says: Customer ServiceLinda,
I don’t know the exact font Marie used, and she is out of town currently. However, one possibility is the margin settings you have set up. In the capital letter template, you can see that there is a narrow margin, just 0.5 inch. The standard set up on Microsoft Word is a full 1 inch margin on all four sides. See if adjusting the margin down to a little as 0.25 inch will help.
Linda Engel
says:Thank you so much for your quick reply, and I forgot to say thank you for your lovely gift! This appears to be a great site. Lots of valuable info.
Audrey Thomas
says:I love the fabric alphabet. I look forward to making them. Thank you!
Marie Rippel
says:Hi Audrey! I’m glad you like the fabric alphabet! :) Thanks for your comment!