Making Letters?!?!
 

Does anyone here make their own letters rather than ordering them through the campus Greek Store....and if so, how? With rush coming up and the fact that we will be wearing letters almost everyday and finding ourselves pressed for cash right now, me and my roommates are trying to figure out how exactly to make our own letters!??:confused:

PM me :)

One of our chapters uses puff paint. It's. . .interesting. But it works if you take time and have enough paint.

Also, my little was responsible for making her pledgeline's t-shirts. She used some sort of acrylic paint.

my roomie made her own letters. she cut them out based on another pair of letters and then used an embroidery stich on her sewing machine to go around it. another girl has used glittery puffypaint too. it works! fabric pens are the greatest invention ever.

One of the girls in our house makes letters using her sewing machine, and has taught many others to do it.
Maybe it's just our campus, but embroidered letters are the only "letters" people wear. You'd get strange looks here if you had a puffy paint shirt...

KD- I agree, noone here wears puff paint letters.. I know several of my sisters have sewed their own letter on, or I know you can get iron on backing and put on them and then iron on them.. I am sure if you went to a local craft store they would be able to tell you exactly how to do it.

When I had to make my little's pillow I found an AWESOME fabric and then simply used some manilla paper to cut the letters out of and then traced it onto the fabric to use as a guide to cut them out. Then I simply used a small amount of fabric glue and then outlined it in gold paint (the edges that is). I'd probably do the same thing on a shirt, but before outlining the edges with paint i'd do a little stitching so the fabric doesn't frey away after washing.

Hootie

I've made a couple of sets of letters. Basically I did what chideltjen described, but I didn't have a sewing machine, so I hand-stitched them on (all the time thinking I should have joined a 2-letter GLO ;) ). I also hand-embroidered a little pattern I designed (letters and a spray of lily of the valley) onto a t-shirt. If you're creative and good at embroidery, you have tons of options.

I am an avid sewing FREAK! I am currently working on a quilt for a sister's wedding.

As for making letters, I must advise AGAINST using any type of paint or quick fixes for making letters unless you only plan on wearing them for a skit during rush or a campus stage show. My reasoning is it just looks cheap and home-made. The integrity of your fraternity deserves the standard heat and bond backing and a simple zig-zag stitch from your mother or grandmother's sewing machine. Furthermore, the paint and other stuff will crack, chip or fall apart within three washes I PROMISE!

So please, for the sake of your chapeter raise your right hand and repeat after me, "I [state your name] promise for the sake of my sisters I will not go astray and tack down MY FRATERNITY'S letters with any type of temporary hold including but not limited to, puff paint, slick paint, seam binding, braided cord, piping, or rick rack in an attempt to save money" AMEN

What I do is take a shirt that I like the lettering style of and make a photo copy of it. Then I cut out the shape and use that as my pattern. Then I go pick out two fabrics 1/4 yard is plenty. I get a solid and a print and a 1/4 yard of something called wonder under. Wal-Mart carries this in the fabric department. Cut out a small section of your printed fabric and iron this on your wonder under. Then, take your pattern and trace it on the paper backing and cut out the letters. So at this point you have two fraternity letters with wonder under on the back. Now take the solid fabric and cut off a small section (make sure it is bigger than the printed material because you will be ironing the printed material to the solid) and iron that on another piece of the wonder under. Don't peel off the paper from the solid yet. Okay, now iron the printed material on the solid peel the paper off the solid and zig-zag around the letters. Then cut out around the printed letters and place the double layer on the t-shirt and iron. Then repeat the zig-zag stitch and tie off your threads. It is easier than I make it sound.

Give this a shot and if you get stuck post your questions.

You can also use tracing paper to trace the letters. I'm in the proccess of making one right now...I've been sewing since I was 7 so hopefully it won't be too hard. :D

How long does it usually take to make each set...once you get the hang of it:confused:

Takes me less than five minutes. :)

It usually takes me about a half hour, if I have all the stuff.

Wow how does it only take you guys like 30 minutes??! I'm working on my first one and I've spent about an hour or two on it...and I'm only halfway done! But maybe when I get better at it I'll be quicker. Right now I'm having some technical difficulties. :D (Can't get my machine's tension adjusted right) I'll let you guys know how my shirt turns out!

Okay so I made my own letters, and I have to admit they look awesome. It's been a while since I have sewn, but I only had one little accident, and I don't think they would take too long after some practice.

Just as a note, I was wishing that I had joined a different sorority when I did the Phi. It's always a pain to draw, cut, sew, you name it. Now I know why I've never heard of any sorority called Phi Phi Phi!!!!

I have to agree with you there... lol :D

All I did was take a set of letters I ruined (paint on the A and G) and I took them off the sweatshirt and glued them to a stiff paper. I then use that as my pattern when cutting fabric. Then you just bond it all together and zig zag stitch your little heart out. Then, instead of it costing tons for letters, it's cheap and they come out looking really good. I am going to be making letters for all of my family line (including my little brothers) b/c I am leaving soon. It's a nice and cheap way to make sure your whole family has a set of letters.

Does anyone know if there is a template for greek letters? I have tried tracking something down but cant find anything. That seems like it would be the quickest way to draw the letters?

Back to the top!
 

I'm trying to track down a pattern myself. Does anyone know where I might be able to find one? (If that doesn't work, I'll try the tracing thing, but I really don't want to go that route!)

M.V.

i am the QUEEN of making letters... i can whip out a shirt in about 10-15 minutes now... i seriously had a sweatshop going on sept 10, i was making flag print letters for a lot of the greek orgs on campus to wear for the candlelight vigil we had campus wide.. i honestly can say i was never so sick cutting fabric in my life.

it was worth it though cuz damn we looked unified. did good things for our PR on a campus where greek life isn't recognized. they think if they pretend we dont' exist we'll go away.. 20 years later we are still going strong though..

10-15 minutes? Is that with a sewing machine or by hand?

either, but i tend to like doing it by hand with a lil glittery puffy paint for the girls and with sewing machine for the guys (they're not a huge fan of the glitter :) )

10-15 minutes with a sewing machine sounds about right. After you do it so many times you can almost do it with your eyes closed!

Bump


Another way to make your own letters is to usse iron on transfers. For our fall semesters pledge class the big sisters made each of the girls a letter shirt. They typed out the letters on the computer (and adjusted the font, sioze, colour accordingly) and printed them out on iron on transfer sheets. Then they took a plain white sirt and just ironed them on. They turned out really well and looked as if they had been screen printed professionally.

I've done the iron ons too. Then I'd use puffy paint to outline the borders of the letters.

Psi Psi Psi would have been much worse! Sewing a Phi on a shirt is much easier than sewing a Psi!

We're not allowed to make our own letter shirts or bags on our campus (Panhellenic rule), but I've made some bags before. I just photocopied one of my letter shirts twice, cut out the inside letter, then cut out the outside letter, traced that onto posterboard so I'd have a good stencil, then traced that onto fabric that I'd applied the iron-on adhesive to. Then I ironed that onto the bag. If the fabric was something dark like blue with silver stars on it, I'd outline the fabric with silver paint. I try to stay away from puffy paint, though, because I'm notorious for messing up and not drawing straight lines!

There's a Phi Phi Phi. It's an underground local here.

And my mommy is great and made me a letter hoodie with Clifford the Big Red Dog fabric!

yep i use to make my own and i would go to a shop in town to get them done too. plus i used paint this last time to make an alumni shirt that had huge letters on it and saying alumni to wear at our homecoming came when i came down to see my girls!

Any idea why this is a rule? Sounds kinda silly to me.

I have patterns if anyone needs them. :)

yeah im confused about that too.. :confused: