How to Sew Letters on Letter Jackets

Finish your team jacket off with an attached letter.

Letter jackets are well-known ways to identify students and their schools. The letters themselves are sew-on patches. These can be added to a jacket by attaching the letter to a piece of fabric and sewing the fabric to the jacket.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Fray-free fabric
• Fabric marker
• Iron on fusible interfacing
• Sewing machine or Needle and thread
• Scissors

1. Trace the outline of the letter on your fabric, adding at least 1/2 inch of fabric around the shape. The extra fabric is needed while you are sewing the letter on to make sure it is attached securely.

2. Iron fusible interfacing to the reverse side of the fabric using the highest heat setting allowed for the fabric. This will make the fabric for the letter patch sturdier and help it keep its shape after it's attached.

3. Pin the fabric to the jacket, both inside and outside the letter shape. Make sure that that none of your pins cross over the lines you drew.

4. Sew a short zigzag stitch with a sewing machine or, if sewing by hand, use a small whip stitch, following the lines you drew. You can leave the pins in the fabric while you sew to keep it securely in place.

5. Clip the excess fabric around the outside of the letter close to the threads. Be careful not to clip the threads themselves or you may notice some unraveling and the edge of your letter may detach. You should end up with a securely attached letter on your jacket.

Tips & Warnings

• Fleece or felt are good fabrics for letter patches because they do not fray.

• If you are concerned about clipping the threads when removing the excess fabric, cut the fabric to 1/4 inch around the shape and then slowly clip the fabric closer.

Resources

• Sewing: Basic Stitches