I anticipated that this these pillows might not be as well-liked as the other camp crafts because hand stitching is rather time consuming. Surprisingly, these fleece alphabet pillows were very popular at girls camp. I got the idea from a book titled 101 Crafts Under $10 from the editors at Butterick. Their craft is called “Felt name pillows.” The Butterick editors ironed the rest of the name in smaller letters onto the pillow, which I loved but decided was too difficult for camp purposes. We used fleece instead of felt because it’s softer and cheaper. The hardest part (for me) was drawing and cutting out each letter of the alphabet in cardboard for the girls to trace onto the fleece, but you won’t have to make the whole alphabet. Mostly everyone made a pillow out of their first initial, but I thought it would be cute to make “X” and “O” (kiss and hug) pillows. I used red embroidery floss on the “X” and charcoal floss on the “O” so they coordinate.

Fleece alphabet pillows

Supplies and tools

• two 16-inch square pieces of fleece (found at Walmart and JoAnn)
• embroidery floss
• embroidery needle (we liked Singer’s large eye hand needles the best)
• 16-inch square piece of thin cardboard
• pencil & ruler
• fine tip Sharpie or water-erasable fabric marker
• paper scissors
• fabric scissors
• polyester fiberfill

1. Draw your letter onto the cardboard. Cut it out. For best results, make the letter as fat as possible and round the corners so they aren’t as pointy as my “X” pillow. Two alternatives to freehand drawing your patterns: 1) Print out your letter in Gill Sans Ultra Bold, Lithos Pro Black, or Insolent font and enlarge to 16 inches tall, or 2) Try McCall’s pattern #3274 (minus the seam allowance).

2. Trace the pattern onto one piece of felt.

3. Cut out both pieces at the same time. If you used a permanent marker, cut just inside the line, so the ink will be cut away.

4. Line up the edges of the two fleece pieces. Thread your needle with a long piece embroidery floss, using all six strands. Tie a knot in the end.

5. Blanket stitch all around the letter, stuffing the pillow with fiberfill as you go. Alice at futuregirl craft blog has an excellent tutorial on how to sew felt (or fleece) using the blanket stitch. Follow her instructions here. For letters such as A, B, etc., blanket stitch around the opening(s) in the letter first, then around the outside.

4. You’re done!

Before you pack away your summer clothes for the winter, you might want to set one of your tank tops aside to make one of these easy totes. The best kind of tank tops to use for this project are ones that have front and back necklines that are the same height—or very close. Otherwise, your tote bag will be lopsided. The brown tote is reversible, so the pockets can be on the inside or outside. I made that tote small because the straps were thin and wouldn’t hold a lot of weight. The magenta tank top had a gathered neckline in front and back, so a gathered bottom was ideal. A pink store-bought flower pin finished it off.

Tank top tote with six pockets

Supplies and tools

• tank top
• straight pins
• water-erasable fabric marker
• sewing machine and thread
• fabric scissors
• seam ripper
• sewing gauge or ruler

1. First remove the tags with a seam ripper or scissors.

2. Turn the tank top inside out.

3. If your tank top has a bra liner, cut the elastic off the bottom of it.

4. Fold so that the straps lie on top of each other.

5. Fold the bottom of the tank over itself. This will become the pockets.

6. Pin in place, making sure the seams line up. Mark where you want the seams in between each pocket with pins or an erasable fabric marker.

7. Using a stitch that stretches with knit fabric, such as the triple straight stitch, sew the seams that divide each pocket. Make sure the bra liner is lying flat before sewing. Back-stitch to lock the seams.

8. Sew the bottom together about 1/4 inch from the edge. Back-stitch to lock the seam.

9. Turn the tote bag inside out so the pockets will be on the inside—or leave it as is.

Gathered tank top tote

Supplies and tools

• tank top
• straight pins
• water-erasable fabric marker
• sewing machine and thread
• fabric scissors
• seam ripper
• sewing gauge or ruler
• flower pin

1. First remove the tags with a seam ripper or scissors.

3. Fold so that the straps lie on top of each other. Measure and mark where you want the seam to be. I placed mine five inches from the bottom of the tank top.

4. Baste two rows (about 1/4 inch apart) along the line you marked. Do not back-stitch. Then pull the bobbin threads tight as you slide the fabric inward to gather it. Then use a straight stitch with a shorter stitch length and sew between the two basted seams. Back-stitch to lock the seam. Pull out the basted seams.

5. Cut off the excess fabric about 1/2 inch past the seam.

6. Turn the tote bag right-side out.