When Lucy was younger, I made her some felt letters to help her learn to spell her name.
Somehow we’ve hung on to them over the last few years, and I thought it’d be a great way to teach her how to spell her formal name ‘Lucine’ by making some more. And while I was at it, why not do Theo’s name too. It’s never too early to be exposing kids to letters!
I really love how the felt letters are so hands on and inviting. Kids can easily move them around and flip them over to make words or just learn the letters themselves. And the best part is that they are so easy to make ~ you can do while you are anywhere. It doesn’t take much concentration at all. I was able to do these while the kids were playing over the last few days.
First I typed out the letters I wanted to make on my word processing program. I played around with different fonts. Arial seemed to work the best for me and I sized it to 420. I printed out my letters on paper, cut them out and traced them onto my felt. (I love using 100% wool felt! It’s very soft and feels good to work with. I’ve usually ordered mine through Felt on the Fly on Etsy.) For me, the most time consuming part was just cutting out all the letters. Make sure to make two of each for a front and back!
The letters ready to be sewn and stuffed!
front and back
I pinned the letters together to keep them from sliding around as I worked, then chose some embroidery thread to use.
pinned and ready
I had a huge stash from when I actually had time to do embroidery in the past, so I searched for the closest matches I had to the felt. (There are 6 strands in the embroidery thread~ I pulled it into two sets of three for this project.)
Then I began stitching around the edges using a simple whip stitch. (Here’s a little tutorial if you are unfamiliar with this kind of stitch.)
Save some space before you finish to stuff it!
adding stuffing before finishing
Finally, I sewed up the remainder and tied it off!
Finished!
All the completed letters~
Lucy and Theo enjoyed playing with the completed felt letters. My next goal is to do the letters for our long, 9 letter last name and then finally the rest of the alphabet!
Chelsey~ Buggy and Buddy
Chelsey was previously an elementary teacher for 12 years and is now creating, playing, and learning at home with her two children. You can follow Buggy and Buddy on Twitter or Facebook by clicking on the icons below.
These are so precious…I might have to use your idea for my son..I think he would love to play with these!!
P.S. I love how nice and neat your embroidery floss is…I only wish mine was so organized!!!
I think it’s so organized because it’s been collecting dust!
I love your little felt letters. Such a simple idea, but I bet they will have loads of fun with them.
Thank you! Definitely fun to make and fun to play with.
These are wonderful. Such a great hands-on learning tool! Please consider sharing on Waldorf Wednesday:
http://ourseasonsofjoy.com/waldorf-wednesday-link-up/waldorf-wednesday-link-up-5/
Thank you! I will stop by Waldorf Wednesday~ looks like a lot of great ideas there!
What a wonderful blog post! And thanks so much for mentioning my wool felt shop : ) Great pictures and tutorial.
Janet at Felt On The Fly
Thanks! Huge fan of your shop!
I love these letters! They are so incredibly adorable and useful!! I would love for you to stop by and link them up for Pintastic Monday! http://justdawnelle.blogspot.com/
Dawnelle
Thank you, Dawnelle! Will definitely stop by…
Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to make a set for my little guy! The pics really help!
Beautiful work! I know your children will enjoy these.
Thank you, Sheila!
I’ve been wanting to make something like this for my daughters’ bedroom wall. I have the felt, just need the time….
That sounds cute! And I understand about needing the time!
[...] must have been playing with her felt letters. Found this after she went to [...]
What a super innovative idea! Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing on Tutorial Thursdays, I am very grateful.
x
http://www.marigoldsloft.blogspot.com
Thank you! So happy I found you!
Thanks. This is a sewing project I might actually be able to do!
I felt the same way!
It’s actually very relaxing!
[...] other similar letter toys around the house, like the felt letters I made (see my past post on making felt letters) and a giant, letter floor puzzle. The kids have also enjoyed the magnetic Fridge Phonics (be sure [...]
I love this idea! Thanks for linking to Mom’s Library!
Julie
What a great idea!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Adorable!
[...] homemade felt letters from Buggy and Buddy would be a great Christmas gift [...]
How cute! This project must have taken you quite a bit of time to sew. Thanks for linking up this week to my Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop!
Hi,
I am featuring this awesome activity on Mom’s Library Link-Up. Come check it out and grab a featured button from Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk. Also, I hope you link up some of your latest activities!
http://heymommychocolatemilk.blogspot.com/2012/10/moms-library-link-up-3-for-me.html
Be blessed,
Julie
Thank you so much, Julie!
Super cute!! I’d love for you to link this up to Tot School Tuesday: http://seevanessacraft.com/2012/11/tot-school-tuesday-high-five-color-hands-activity/
I’ve made some of these with fabric, but I like these with felt. Cute.
I love sewing with felt and these are such a cute idea. I’m going to make some for my son who is currently learning how to spell his name. Thanks for the great idea!
[...] Chelsey from Buggy Buddy shows how to sew a set of stuffed felt letters. They’re a fun way to help young children become familiar with the letters of the alphabet. They’re sewn together by hand, so you can work on them during park play dates or waiting times for appointments. Go to Buggy Buddy to see how to make them. [...]
Those are so cute. I’ve been working on letters with my youngest and I really need to make something tactile like that. Thanks for the great idea!
I love these (runs to wool felt stash)
Thanks, Jennifer! I really really want to make enough to complete the whole alphabet. I’m going to head to your wool felt stash….:)
OH- my. Those are so precious. How cute to give to a one year old or a newborn baby!? Thanks for the tutorial!!
Rebecca at thisfineday recently posted…Make a storybook about your kids, for your kids