This may be my new favourite gift to make — personalised and hand embroidered shirts! I have now created shirts with both monograms and full first names, and they are always so well received! And I often do pairs of them so siblings can each wear one.

Embroidery is really very simple, and you do not have to be a professional or even hobbyist sewer or embroiderer by nature or training — I am certainly not! This DIY craft that takes me a half an hour from start to finish for a 4 or 5 letter name. So it also isn’t too time consuming either.

Here are my tips and hopefully you will try these as well. I am sure that teens would be happy to personalise their own items — and not just on shirts, but bags, jeans, towels, etc. Who doesn’t love their signature with a hand spun quality?

Materials for DIY embroidered names:

• Clothing item – I love these organic cotton t-shirts by Little Cotton Clothes. They are a great fit, and wash well. And they are on sale! I have also bought these shirts that are a great short sleeve option and come in selection of lovely and unique colours. Buy one size larger for so they will last longer. And avoid any shirts that aren’t 100% cotton — if there is any stretch it makes it tricky to embroider.
• Embroidery hoop — at about £2.50 this is an easy purchase for a craft experiment!
• Embroidery floss — 50 colours for £5 is also so cost effective. And think of the endless options of things you can craft with these. Including making bracelets of course!
• Marker / fabric pen / pencil for writing names

Steps :

• Gather materials then plan the spot for the name or initial to go! Keep it away from travelling into an armpit area 🙂
• Trust yourself and your handwriting… I think each style of writing adds character to the finished product. I used cursive writing to avoid the need for stopping and starting (and tying off notes) as often.
• And if you really don’t want to write it yourself, you can print it out using a font on your computer and then print it out and stitch over the paper.
• I used a running stitch but I love these stitch examples here, written by someone with far more experience in embroidery than me!
• Make sure you do shorter stitches around the curves of letters to help control the letter shape better.
• Stitch in good light, and have patience. And perhaps not too much distraction.

The finished product will be so appreciated. Anything with a personal, hand made touch always is!

Have fun!
Lara  x

To see more of my daily thoughts, travels, crafts, and general mama juggling on Instagram visit @laraoflondon