FUN FABRIC LETTER

This makes a great personalised gift or stylish decoration for your home

Time: 1-2 hours Skill: Intermediate

Materials:

Letter template

Plain or graph paper

Tracing paper

Masking tape

Piece of foamboard

Craft knife and cutting mat

2 pieces of fabric (one for the front and one for the back)

A piece of thick batting (wadding)

1. Draw out the letter you want to make at the desired size. Trace the letter and transfer it on to a piece of foamboard. Use a craft knife and ruler to cut it out. 2 Lay the fabric you want to use for the front of your letter on a work surface, right side up. Place your letter shape on top (again right side up). This way you can see how the pattern falls within your letter. Draw around the shape of the letter approximately 2.5cm (1in) away from the edge. Use scissors to cut the shape out.

Do the same for the fabric you have chosen for the back, but this time place the letter shape right side down (so the letter is reversed) and leave a 15mm (½in) border.

4 Place the letter shape on the piece of batting (wadding) and draw round the edge of it with a felt-tip pen. The batting (wadding) should be the same size as the foamboard, with no border. Use scissors to cut the shape out.

5 Lay the fabric for the front of the letter right side down on your work surface. Place the batting (wadding) on top of it, and the foamboard letter on top of the batting (wadding). Begin to fold the fabric over the edges of the foamboard and secure it to the back using masking tape. Try to keep the border the same width all the way around and pull the fabric smooth as you go. Where your letter has a corner, snip into the fabric at a 45-degree angle and pull the fabric as close into the corner as you can.

With the letter face down on your work surface, pin the backing fabric onto the back of it. Turn under a hem as you move around the shape of the letter and push pins through the overlapping fabric from the front piece of fabric. 7 Use small stitches to secure the backing fabric in place. You may find a curved needle easier to use. When you come to a corner, pull the fabric in as much as you can, and secure with more stitches to hide any raw edges.

Letter Crafts by Clare Youngs, published by CICO Books (£12.99)