How to Monogram a Tote Bag

Personalized monogram canvas tote bags are always popular and make wonderful gifts for friends, teachers, and relatives.  

Machine embroidery monograms look very professional and are so beautiful when complete.  For those who have such an embroidery machine, these monogrammed totes are easily made.

The difficulty that some stitchers have with this is the monogram placement.  It is necessary to center the embroidery design on the embroidery project..

This tutorial shows how to center embroidery designs on a monogrammed tote bag.

Learn more about how to monogram a tote bag by watching our video or keep reading this post.

WHAT YOU NEED to monogram a tote bag

• Embroidery Machine
• Tote bag
• Sulky Tear-Easy Soft, Lightweight Tear-Away Stabilizer 
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Monogram Program for Embroidery Machine

INSTRUCTIONS To Machine embroidery a personalized monogram bag 

STEP 1: Cut the Stabilizer to fit the hoop

Begin by choosing the hoop size that will fit the monogram.

It is important to use the proper stabilizer when machine embroidering.  Sulky Tear-Easy Soft, Lightweight Tear-Away Stabilizer is the preferred type to use for bags and other items that can't be washed.

Place the hoop on the workspace and cut a piece of the stabilizer a bit larger than the hoop size.

STEP 2: center the bottom hoop inside of the bag

Take out the top hoop. Lay the piece of stabilizer that was cut to size over the top of the bottom embroidery hoop.

Slide the hoop with the stabilizer centered on it into the bag. Place the top hoop on the outside front of the tote bag.

In order to center the hoop, measure the distance between the handles with a ruler to find the center of the bag.  The tick mark on the hoop shows the center of the hoop. Make a small mark at the top center of the tote bag.

Simply line up the tick mark with the center point of the bag, making sure it is below the handles of the bag.

To center the embroidery design, it is also important that the hoop be level.  Using a ruler, measure both ends of the hoop to the top of the bag, making sure the hoop is the same distance from the top of the bag.

Step 3: Secure the top hoop

Once the bottom hoop is centered and level inside of the bag, the top hoop on the outside of the bag needs to be snapped into place in the bottom hoop.

Making sure the stabilizer has remained centered on the bottom hoop that is inside of the bag, place the top hoop on the top of the bag directly over the bottom hoop and snap it into place.

It is very important that the top hoop is snapped in properly so it doesn't pop out.  Use the screw to make sure the two hoops are tightly secured.

step 3: expose the stitching area

In order to stitch just the front of the bag, the stitching area must be exposed.  Take the back of the bag and pull it partially inside out.

It is important to get the back of the bag away from the stitching area where the needle will be and not underneath the area to be stitched.

step 4: place the hooped portion into the embroidery machine and monogram the tote bag

For the purpose of this video and the fact that all embroidery machines are different, it is not shown how to place the hooped bag into the machine.  Please follow the directions for your machine to attach the hooped bag and complete the monogramming.

step 5: Remove the Stabilizer

Once the monogramming is complete, remove the hooped bag from the machine.  Pop off the hoops and turn to the back of the embroidery on the tote bag.

Simply tear away the stabilizer.  It should easily be removed, but be careful not to pull too hard which will loosen the stitching.

Admire the beautiful embroidered monogrammed tote bag!

tips for monogramming

•  The bobbin thread should match the color of the top thread since embroidered monograms often pull the bobbin thread up to the top.
• Make sure that the embroidery is hooped correctly once it is put in the machine so that the monogram is not going to be incorrectly embroidered upside down or sideways.
• Check the way the computerized font is orientated in the machine. Set it to the position so it will monogram in the correct direction.
• The monogram can be positioned anywhere within the hoop, but it looks more professional if the monogram is positioned closer to the top of the bag.
• Always stitch a sample on muslin or other scrap fabric first to make sure the letters are positioned correctly.

I hope you enjoyed learning how to monogram a tote bag with an embroidery machine. Happy stitching!

Other useful machine embroidery pages

• Monogramming Tutorials
• Stabilizers
• Trouble Shooting in Machine Embroidery
• Machine Embroidery Essentials