How to Hand Sew Monograms

Choose the letters you will monogram. The most common way to hand-sew monograms is to use a person's first, middle and last initials, with the last-name initial largest and in the middle. However, some monograms might use only first and last initials, or just a last initial (within a family, just a first initial might also make sense).

Draw your design on paper. Experiment with different arrangements and styles of lettering. Keep the letters relatively thin, or they will be hard to stitch neatly.

Use chalk to draw your design lightly, wherever you want to hand-sew monograms on a towel or other item.

Gently pull the monogram area of your item flat, using an embroidery hoop. This step makes it easier to hand-sew monograms, but isn't strictly necessary, and may be impossible if your item is thick or unusually shaped.

Thread the needle with embroidery floss, making a knot near the end. Sew up through the fabric at one edge of your chalked area, then pull the thread across the area (across a narrow part, like the thickness of a line) and sew down on the other side.

Bring the needle up again near the first place you brought it up, and make another stitch right next to the first. Continue in this way, changing the direction of the stitches sometimes so that you're always sewing across the thickness of a line (rather than, for example, across the entire top bar of a "T."

Knot the thread securely when you finish a letter (or are about to run out of thread). If you want the back of the monogram to be as neat as possible you can use a needle to thread any short tails through the backs of stitches.