Embroidered Monograms for Weddings & Anniversaries

When two people are getting married or celebrating an anniversary, the embroidery machines start humming and stitching to make that extra-special gift. Monogram accent designs at Embroidery Library let you add a personal touch to towels, pillows, wall hangings, and more!

These designs are inspired by the age-old tradition of carving initials into the trunk of a tree, making a permanent and indelible statement of love.

Monogram accent designs follow in that tradition's footsteps. These designs have open areas incorporated into them where you can add the initials of the bride and groom, making a personalized gift that will be treasured for years to come. Read on for details!

When you are looking at the monogram accent designs, select the size and style that you'd like for your project.

You'll note that the product description (located under the picture of each design) tells you which size letters will fit in the monogramming area.

From there, browse through the alphabet designs to find the style of lettering that you'd like to use in the design. Embroidery Library has dozens of different alphabet styles to choose from. Click here to find them! Once you've settled on a style, choose letters that fit within the size of the monogram design.

For this tutorial I'm using the Unity Candle design that's 8.74 x 5.86 inches. The description advises that the size of the openings works best with letters that are 2.5 x 2.5 inches or smaller. With that information in mind, I clicked my way to the Formal Affair alphabet department and selected two letters that are in that range.

If you have an embroidery software program that has the ability to merge designs together, then open the three designs (monogram accent and letters) in your program. Arrange the letters in the areas until you have them the way that you'd like them. Then, save the design as one file, and upload it to your machine to stitch.

If you don't have embroidery software that can merge designs, then follow the steps below.

Begin by printing templates of the monogram design and the letters. For this project I'm using letters from the Formal Affair alphabet, and the Unity Candle design.

A template is a printout of the design at the size that it will stitch. It includes horizontal and vertical axis lines that help you to position the design correctly on the fabric.

Templates are produced by printing from an embroidery program. If you'd like a recommendation, we use Embird, Buzz Xplore, and Wilcom's TrueSizer. All three can print templates. (If you don't wish to install a program, then tips for working without templates are included later in this tutorial.)

After printing the templates, I generally trim around them to make them easier to work with.

Arrange the letters within the monogram design. It's up to you to decide what looks the best. I prefer to center the letters within the spaces, so I measured the area of the openings for the monograms to place the letters in the middle.

When you have the letters arranged where you'd like, tape them into place onto the larger template.

Position the template onto the fabric or item that you'll be embroidering. I'm making a pillow with this stitchout, so you can see that my fabric is already marked for placement.

Using an air-erase pen or other marking tool, mark the axis lines (both horizontal and vertical), as well as the center point of the designs, onto the fabric.

Do this for the monogram design, as well as both of the letters.

Remove the template and draw lines on the fabric connecting the marks.

You can see that my fabric has horizontal and vertical axis lines for the monogram design, as well as the letters. Now I'm ready to start stitching!

I'll begin by embroidering the monogram design. I hooped the fabric and stabilizer together, making sure that the axis lines matched up with the marks on the hoop.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Scoot the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point (most embroidery machines have this capability).

Embroider the design!

After embroidering the monogram design, load the letter that you want to stitch. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over that letter's center point. Embroider the design!

Then, repeat this for the second letter.

Voila! Now I have a panel for my pillow, personalized with the bride and groom's initials.

You can use this idea to make towel sets, wedding day banners or altar cloths, reception table decorations, quilts, wall hangings, even shirts for rehearsal dinners.

If you don't have embroidery software to print templates, you can create paper templates by using the dimensions of the designs that are listed on the website.

For example, if you're working with a letter that is 2 1/8 inches by 2 inches, draw a rectangle to those dimensions. Fold in half, then fold in half the other way (or use a ruler to measure and mark) to get your axis lines and center point.

Then, position those templates in the area that you'd like to stitch. Make alignment marks as shown in the instructions above.

The growing collection of monogram accent designs reflect a variety of diverse tastes and hobbies. This fishing design has room in the lures to tuck initials of the happy couple. In this example, we used letters from the Dauphin alphabet.

You might know a couple of "nuts," or perhaps they're nature lovers! This design of a pair of acorns features letters from the Branch alphabet.

A classic love design! This design is called Two Hearts As One, and we added letters from the Arnold alphabet.

Stitch the flower, hearts, flourish, and lettering in the bride's chosen colors for a perfectly coordinated look.

Foodies will adore this design of two place settings, with initials tucked onto the plates in a tasty and tantalizing manner. For this example, we used letters from the Monogram Script alphabet.

For the cowboys and cowgirls in your life, choose this horseshoes design. Tuck the initials of the happy couple right into the shoe. For this example, we chose letters from the Board alphabet.

In this design, two wedding rings are joined together in a classic look. The letters are from the Enchantment alphabet.

In this example, we paired the Elegant Dove Accent design with the Bodoni alphabet -- but we used lower case letters for a more contemporary effect.

A classic Damask spray, with letters from the Formal Affair alphabet.

Stitch this sweet wedding chapel, complete with doves and hearts to tuck in letters. This design is called Chapel of Love, and we added designs from the Curlz alphabet.