Vintage Monograms-Machine Embroidery

One of my most sought after collections of linens are various Monogrammed tea towels and handkerchiefs. None match  however yet they are among my most prized possessions. Ever since I started the Vintage linens collections, I have received numerous emails requesting some sort of monograms that would enhance the designs from the Vintage linens collections. With that in mind, last year I had started to compile together various designs that would qualify as almost replicas of eras gone by but with just a modern twist to them. Also the latest craze in the fashion world is to use monograms on just about any surface. With that in mind, I started to doodle some letters of the alphabet. I wanted simplicity yet a bit of the Vintage delicate appearance.

Most of the Vintage linens were monogrammed with flourished alphabets heavily padded to give a dimensional appearance. Working that into machine embroidery is not an easy task as a monogram can be anywhere from 2.5″ to 3.5″ tall. Width of its various parts do not allow easily for a padded satin stitch unless one uses puffy foam to give the dimensional look. My goal was to create something that would be delicate yet have a presence and size that would work well not just on handkerchiefs but also just about any linens, hand bags, etc.

I’m rather fond of the straight stitch or the outline tool when it comes to digitizing. The effects one can create with just this one tool are amazing. With that in mind, I set out to digitize using simple running stitches within the letters themselves using a lighter shade of a color. The whole letter was then accented by using a darker shade of the same color family and using it several simple flowers and vines were created to give a vintage look. Stitching out the samples, I was rather pleased. Not only do the letters stitch out fast yet they definitely give a vintage look. 

However as not everyone is so gaga over vintage as I am, the letters can also be adapted to modern color schemes by using two totally opposite colors: green/orange or blue/pink etc to change the look of the monograms. At least I feel I am trying to live up to one of my New Year Resolutions….create a library of all my vintage linens and heirlooms that I have collected over the years. The collection called Vintage Monograms I hopefully will be released within the month.