ABC...Easy as 3.5 Hours of Work

This is not an origional idea. I got the idea from Chez Bebe although I did put my own spin on it.


1. I made the letters all lower case. Most kids have a lot of exposure to the capital letters. When I taught kindergarten it was the lower case letters that were hardest for the kids to master.

2. I used a solid color for the back. This will help kids to see which side (the pretty side) faces up and will help with reversals which are so common for little kids. Also, it makes it much easier on the eyes to cut them out with a high contrast thread on a solid back.

3. I drew my letters free hand. I used Sharpie markers on the front for some and chalk on the dark back for the ones that are the same front and back. They are not at all perfect and I am just fine with that.

4. To save time I cut the scrap fabric, batting, and backing all at once, layered and pinned them together. This took an hour or maybe more because I linger over fabric. Then the next day I sat down with a movie (Bride Wars -meh) and happily sewed along. It took about 2-2.5 hours. This would be a great project to spread out since it's easy to pick up where you left off.

5. I didn't have magnets so I left them out. It's gonna be a frugal Christmas in these parts.

6. This is a gift for my sister-in-law who is far too busy (teaching kindergarten and working for a theater company) to read my blog. For that I am very thankful. It's nice to be able to share at least one gift here before the holidays! Anyway, since it's for her class I made a bunch of extra letters so the kids can make words.

Oh, and since I was humming right along here, I decided to make a set to give away!

Just leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on Sunday.

Updated: See what I did with the little scraps leftover from this project here.

I am linking to Met. Monday. Be sure to visit over there for lots of other "Before and Afters."