Magnetic Fabric Alphabet

This magnetic fabric alphabet craft took a little time to make but has proved to be a favourite with my son. I even made a little drawstring bag to keep them in.

To make these cute letters you’ll need:

Cardstock
Pencil/Pen
Letter template (optional)
Variety of fabric
Batting
Small magnets (I used adhesive ones)
Sewing machine

Start by getting your letters – you can either print some off from the computer or freehand sketch them. I did the latter as it didn’t really matter to me if they weren’t all exactly the same size. When choosing or drawing your font, bear in mind the size of your magnets – they will have to sit somewhere behind the letter, so you’ll need to make sure there is a space big enough in the template.Print or draw the letters onto some white cardstock and cut them out.

Then choose your fabric – a variety looks best and it is a great way of using up any scraps of fabric that you have. Cut two pieces of fabric out for each letter (front and back) and assign it to a letter.

Draw around the letter directly onto the right side of the fabric.

If you’re making these as a gift then you might want to use a disappearing ink pen. Place some batting behind it, position the magnet, then finish with the other piece of fabric (right side out). Pin together to keep in position.

Sew around the pen marks, making sure that the magnet stays in position (that’s why adhesive ones are useful). Small stitches and slow sewing is required here – some of the letters can be quite tricky, especially those with counters (the “hole” in the middle of letters like B, Q, R etc).

Cut around the letter, quite close to the stitching.

Then repeat with the rest of the letters. An optional stage at this point would be to zig-zag stitch around the cut edges of the letters to prevent them from fraying.

For the drawstring bag you’ll need:

Fabric
Ribbon, cord, or string, cut into two lengths
ABC decoration (optional)

Start by cutting your fabric into two equal sized pieces – you’ll need to eyeball the size the bag needs to be based on your letters. Fold over the top of each piece of fabric and sew to make a channel for the ribbon.

I added felt letters to the front panel of my bag, using the same letter templates as the main project.

Then stitch together the three sides of the bag, right sides together, but leaving the top of the bag open at the channel. Trim the bottom corners.

Turn the bag the right way round. Thread one piece of ribbon through one channel, and then all the way round the other side, back to where you started, so that both ends are on the same side of the bag. Repeat with the other piece of ribbon, but starting from the other side. Tie a knot in the four ribbon ends and your drawstring bag is complete!

I showed F how the letters “stick” to the dishwasher – it has great visual appeal to him. He also likes pulling the letters out of the bag one at a time, saying the letter if he knows it, or looking at me to tell him what it is. We’ll have all 26 learnt in no time!

Thanks to Chez Beeper for the inspiration for this project!

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