Get personal: Embellish clothing and accessories
Jazz up fashion and accessories with monograms
By Julie Stoyka
Ah, September. Back to school, back to work, back to boring and functional clothes. If your fall wardrobe seems a tad dreary after those bright and cheerful summer outfits, maybe it's time to learn the ABCs of monogramming.
While monograms have been around for hundreds of years, those flowery letters of yore have made a comeback in fun, modern fonts on clothing and accessories.
Kids will love making monogram creations such as T-shirts, headwear and pencil cases, but there's no reason to let the kids have all the fun. Breathe new life into a white dress shirt with a classic monogram. With hundreds of fonts to choose from, you can find the perfect style of lettering for any item.
Materials
- cotton blend T-shirt, canvas pencil case, cotton blend baseball cap
- iron-on transfer paper
- printer
- iron with a no-steam option
- paper scissors
Step 1: Download a design template
- Download our Monogram template in Word.
- Delete any letters you do not require for your project.
- Customize the colour, font and size of the letters.
- Print a test sheet on normal paper before using the transfer paper. Check the Mirror Image printing option. Note: Mirror Image may not be necessary for dark T-shirt transfer paper. Consult the product’s instructions.
- Load iron-on transfer paper, following the instructions provided with the product.
- Select the highest-quality setting on your printer and print the letters you have designed.
Tip #1: If you’d like to add Clip Art to your letters, place the cursor beside the letter and go to Insert > Clip Art, find the image you would like to add, select Text Wrapping > In Front of Text, size the image and move it into place.
Tip #2: If you’d like to fill a letter with a pattern like a stripe, repeat the Clip Art instructions above, but select Behind Text. Turn the letter into an outline by clicking on the arrow on the Home > Font box and checking the outline box.
Step 2: Transfer the image onto the fabric
- After you have printed the image onto transfer paper, use paper scissors to cut around it. Keep as close to the image as possible.
- Heat the iron to the highest setting and select the no-steam option. Follow the ironing instructions for your transfer paper product. Most transfers take three to four minutes to affix to the fabric. Move the iron in a circular motion over the entire transfer, and make sure to cover all the edges.
- Let the transfer cool slightly (one to two minutes), and slowly peel back the transfer paper from the fabric.
Choosing T-shirt transfer paper
The best thing about monograms is that you can apply them to just about any colour and style of clothing, but make sure you choose the right iron-on transfers. For white- and light-coloured fabric, you can use any kind of transfers. For darker or brighter colours, purchase T-shirt transfer paper for dark fabric.
All styling and photography by Julie Stoyka of Zariel Creative
