The Alphabet for a Baby's Nursery Wall

A friend of ours recently found out they are having a baby girl. (yay! :)) As a way of decorating the baby's walls they asked their friends to make a letter of the alphabet that was 5" - 10" inches tall. My family was tasked with the letter D . Which is quite fitting as my name and my husbands name begins with a D ^-^. It's the little things right? :D

I managed to come up with an idea of how I wanted to execute our letter and figured why not make a tutorial for others to make one as well. You might be here wanting to make the whole alphabet yourself or just the one for a friend like I am. Have no fear! This will be fun and the end result will be super cute!

What You'll Need:

- Flat Cardboard Piece about 5" x 8 " for good measure so you have something to work with
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Yarn
- Fabric
- Felt
- Tapestry Needle
- Pliers to save on your hands when sewing the edge

Other fun items you can add:
- Handful of buttons
- Pencil
- Lace or fun ribbon

My measuring sheep tape :) And fabric, ribbon, yarn, etc.

First draw the letter you want on sturdy cardboard and cut out.

Next take the fabric of your choice (in this case I used cotton fabric but any should work). Place your letter template on top of the fabric with the right side facing up, draw a line about 1/4 - 1/2 inch away from the edge of the letter and cut the fabric. Honestly I eyeballed this part, but I can appreciate drawing lines too! :) Do whatever works best for you!

Once you've cut out the cotton letter you can glue the fabric to cardboard (this will help sturdy the letter up once it's dry too). Or you can begin sewing the letter around the cardboard. Make sure to make cuts around the fabric areas you'll need to fold in to make sewing easier.

Here is the back side of the letter sewn up tight! :) Mainly sew around the edge and then zig zag between the sides to keep the piece firmly affixed.

After you've added glue to the backside of the letter place the back piece of fabric over the glue.In this case I used white felt material so it'd be wall friendly :) Use whatever you'd like!

Now cut around your letter, careful to only cut the back fabric piece. Feel free to wait until the glue is completely dry for this step.

I started sewing the same night I put glue on the letter and it worked okay. Again feel free to wait for the glue to dry. I had to get some beauty sleep ;) so this wasn't finished the same night. I used some beading pliers to help save on my hands. Sewing through cardboar can be trying without them!

The edging done was using a technique they call blanket stitch. I have to tell you I didn't know what it was called until I went hunting on the internet tonight for this post :D. I found a lovely blog that shows a picture tutorial of how to do it here. Hopefully however you need to use the stitch the pictures will show you how to navigate it! :) Corners, curves and otherwise! :) 

Working up the letter!

Here is the finished letter - I can only imagine how adorable a wall would look with the full alphabet done in this fabric! Shabby chic anyone/? :) What kind of fabric would you rock on your nursery walls? 

Oh! And a back shot! :) 

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions as you work on your letter please let me know! :) Happy to help! 

Best, Dawn

***UPDATE*** 4.7.13

Howzabout I show you how to add an eco friendly way to hang this lil number too huh? ;) 

Here we go! 

What you'll need:

- Tab from that last can you used

- Ruler 

- Sewing Needle

- Thread

Using your ruler or an eyeball ;) figure out where the center of the back of the letter will be and place your tab there. 

Then sew! Sew like the wind! Take necessary precautions of course (thimbles, eye wear, whatever it takes).

When you're all done sewing it should look a little something like this :). Happy crafting everyone! :)