How to sew a cube - quick and easy sewing tutorial

Follow this step-by-step tutorial for how to sew a cube or fabric baby blocks.

I love sewing for babies. The projects are small, quick and easy and oh so cute!

When sewing baby shower gifts, I’m always looking for ideas that are a little bit different (but still useful for Mum and Bub). Fabric baby blocks are such a fun gift to sew, and a great scrapbuster too!

Stack of colourful fabric baby blocks with text overlay "How to sew a Fabric Cube"

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Somewhere in my craft room, I have a set of I-Spy fabrics that I was going to use for my blocks, but somehow they’ve gone missing. Instead, I bought this fun charm pack from LaLiKul on Etsy (which comes precut).

Animal print fabric squares sewn together to form a quilt.

You can use different textures for each side to create a sensory toy. Here are some ideas:

Minky, fleece or fur for something fluffy and soft to touch,
Satin or silk for something smooth and cool
Rough home decor fabric
Add crinkle material or rattle box for sound effects

Or you a different colour on each side to create a rainbow block. Or use a single colour for each block and make one in every colour of the rainbow.

For very young babies, black and white fabric with bold patterns would be another fun idea for DIY baby blocks.

How to sew baby blocks (fabric cube toy)

Supplies

Six squares of cute animal print fabric, polyfill, sewing clips, a quilting ruler and pen on a white wooden table.

6 squares of fabric (I used these 5-inch precut charm squares)
Polyfill or other stuffing
General sewing supplies (sewing machine, coordinating thread, scissors, pins etc)

Instructions

Watch the video or scroll down for the photo tutorial:

Step 1: Arrange your fabrics in a t-shape.

6 animal print fabric squares layed out in a T shape to make a cube

If you are using 3 fabrics and you don’t want the same fabrics next to each other, lay them out like this:

6 squares (in three different colours) layed out in a T shape to show how to make a cube.

Tip: To sew a box corner, you will start and stop each seam a quarter of an inch from the edge of the fabric. You can use guides on your needle plate or mark the start and end of the seams on your fabric.

Square piece of fabric with marks in the corner a 1/4 inch away from the edges.

A row of stitching between two marks on a square piece of fabric.

Step 2: Place the fabric squares along the centre of the T right sides together in pairs. I’ve put a clip on the sides to sew.

How to sew a cube: first two seams to sew

Mark the start and end of the seams a 1/4 inch away from the edge of the fabric, and sew the pieces together.

Step 3: Place the two pieces you just sewed right sides together, mark the start and end of the seams again and sew together (the side with the clip).

How to sew a cube: sew next seam right sides together to form a strip of 4 squares

Step 4: Press all the seams. For the square second from the left (that will have the top and bottom square attached – the turkey in my block!), press the seams away from that square.

A strip of 4 squares sewn together, plus two other fabric squares.

Step 5. Sew the top and bottom pieces to the strip of fabrics, right sides together. Start and stop each seam 1/4 inch from the edge of the fabric. Make sure the seam allowances for the other squares are folded out of the way. Press the seams.

Note: It’s easiest to sew this seam with the strip of four squares on top, so you can start and stop in the same spot as the previous seams.

Step 6: Sew two adjacent sides together to start to create a cube. Start sewing where the two previous seams meet and finish 1/4 inch from the edge of the fabric.

Fingers pointing to the two sides to be sewn to make a fabric cube.

Make sure the other sides and seam allowances are out of the way:

Fabric right sides together to sew, with other sections folded out of the way

Step 7: Sew the other 3 sides together to form a cube with a flappy lid.

Collage of photos showing the steps for how to sew a baby block

Step 8: Sew two sides of the top “flappy” piece, right sides together, starting and stopping where the side seams end (1/4 inch from the fabric edge).

Sewing the last piece of a fabric cube together

Step 9: On the final side of the top piece, stitch the seam right sides together, leaving a 1.5 inch gap. Turning and sewing into the seam allowance (see photo below) will make it easier to fold in your seam allowance when you stitch the opening closed.

Close up of stitching of final seam of fabric cube, with stitches going into the seam allowance where a gap has been left.

Step 10: Turn the cube right side out through the opening. Gently ease out the corners using a knitting needle or chopstick (being careful not to poke a hole in the fabric).

Step 11: Stuff the cube with polyfill or other stuffing.

Hands pulling apart polyfill next to unstuffed fabric cube

Tip: Break the polyfill up into small pieces before stuffing to prevent lumps. I like to lightly fill my cubes, so the shape isn’t distorted and they are easy for a baby to pick up.

Step 12: Sew up the gap with a ladder stitch, overlapping the machine stitches by 1/4 inch or so.

Hands holding together the opening of a stuffed fabric cube, ready to be stitched closed.

At the end of the opening, tie a knot, and push the needle into the cube and out one side. Trim the thread and wriggle the end of the thread inside the cube.

Now you’ve made one, stitch up a set!

More sewing inspiration

Find more easy baby toy sewing ideas here.
How to sew a baby bib with a pocket
Cutest baby hat sewing patterns