Learn how to make these adorable lowercase alphabet felt letters

These easy peasy lowercase alphabet letters are so fun to make and, of course, you can make them in any range of colours. I love picking a palate that focuses mostly on one colour but has a few surprises along the way. Today I chose a mix of strong and subtle shades of blue, a lovely neutral oaty colour and a beautiful contrasting copper felt. I find it easiest to pick one thread colour that will work well with each colour, but you can use multiple thread colours too if you like. Or just one felt colour with different threads for a more subtle look.

Felt letters are great for jazzing up a nursery or just a fun quiet toy for kids to play with when they are starting to learn letters and spell their own name – or yours!

Looking for upper case letters? Check out my post for capital letters in the same font.

How to make these fun lowercase alphabet letters

You don’t need too much to make these super cute letters, no glue gun or sewing machine required here! You can make them with just felt, thread, a needle, scissors, a marker of sorts (I’ve used a ballpoint pen here) and the template. You’ll also need to know how to sew a blanket stitch. Check out this post with detailed instructions if you don’t already know > New to felt craft? Learn these three basic stitches.

What you’ll need:

• Felt in your choice of colour
• Embroidery thread – I’ve used DMC thread in 823 (x4 skeins)
• Alphabet letter template (lowercase)
• Needle
• Scissors
• Fabric chalk or ballpoint pen
• Craft fill (this is optional – you can also stuff your letters with the felt offcuts).

The felt I’m using today is a lovely wool blend that I brought online from Stitchbird – from top to bottom I have used Morning Air, Denim, Moody Blues, Copper Kettle, Driftwood (love, love, love this shade!) and Tropical Wave.

Cutting out the template

To get started, print out the template (print it out to ‘actual size’ rather than fitting it to the printable space) and cut out the letters you need – either the whole alphabet or just the letters you need for a particular name or word.

Cutting out your felt letters

Place the letter template onto the ‘wrong’ side of the felt and trace around it. Sometimes the felt is the same on both sides and it won’t matter, but sometimes it might have more sheen or pattern on one side. Because you won’t see these marks once the letter is all stitched up, I have just used a ballpoint pen for the tracing for most of the felt sheets. It’s just a bit easier. I only had to switch to white fabric chalk for the brightest blue. I’m also using a blue thread, so I know that will hide any marks, but if you are using white felt or a very light thread you might want to stick with a marker that will fade or wash off.

When you trace the second outline of your letter, make sure to flip the letter template over so that your letters mirror each other. This ensures that you definitely have the trace marks hidden on the inside.

Now you can cut out your felt letters. To cut out the inner pieces, simply fold your felt in half and make a little snip either along one of your traced lines, or just right in the middle of the piece you are cutting out. Then you’ll be able to slip your scissors blade into the hole and go from there.

Once you have cut them out, place your two letters together (wrong side or markings together) and check that they are roughly the same shape. You can trim them a little now if they don’t quite align.

Stitch and stuff your letters

The first place to start your stitching will be any ‘inside’ edge. This will make the stuffing easier as we go. When you make your first stitch, it won’t sit quite as straight as the others, but that’s ok. When we come back around and finish up at our starting point, you will pick up that first stitch and pull it tight.

Continue stitching, keeping them even both in spacing and height. You absolutely don’t need to measure every stitch, but just to give you an idea of the size of my stitches I have measured them, and they are around 5mm apart, and 4mm deep. If you don’t feel confident in making even stitches, you could use a disappearing ink pen and mark out where you want the stitches to be. When you are stitching on the curve, your stitches (where you put your needle in) can be ever so slightly wider apart so that at the base they are still similar spacing.

Once you have stitched around a point or have stitched along both sides for a cm or so, gentle stuff the letter with a bit of filling. You just need a little bit at a time and keep an eye on the edges you are stitching, so you don’t complete too much stitching before the letter has some filling. This will make it harder to get an even fill. Stitch a cm or so, and then stuff.

Tying off the thread

When you get to the end, place your last stitch a standard stitch space from the first stitch. Then, use your needle to pick up the loop from the first stitch, and tie the two stitches (first and last) together with a single knot. A single knot will make sure that it’s not too bulky. As close to the knot as you can, thread the needle right between the two pieces of felt and out the other side. Cut the thread where it comes out the other side. This will keep your ends secure, tidy and invisible!

How to change your thread

If you haven’t estimated the length of your thread correctly, or you want to do the larger letters with two lengths of thread (this can help with unruly thread that knots easily!), you’ll need to change your thread partway through. On your next stitch, instead of taking the needle through both pieces of felt, just take it through the bottom one. Your needle and thread will now be between the two pieces of felt. Rather than pulling the thread firm, leave a little slack in it and tie off the thread.

Re-thread your needle with your next piece of thread. At the same point that you just pulled the thread through, begin with a starter stitch. This comes through just the front piece of felt first, and then back through both pieces (the same hole as where you tied off). When you pick up the loop from this stitch, also pick up the loop (which won’t be a loop yet – just a bit of slack in the stitch) from the last stitch. It’s as easy as that!

You can use these lowercase alphabet letters in so many different ways, but I love the idea of spelling out baby’s name to decorate the nursery. You could string these up on the wall or hang them from a mobile. Here’s a sneak peak of how children’s names might look:

These are also great for holiday decorations – you could spell out Merry Christmas, Easter or even Happy Birthday. Leave a comment below and let me know what you make them for!