DIY Monogrammed Onesies

I have a very stylish friend whose darling little boy has just celebrated his first birthday. Because he’s such a fashionable little guy, I thought he needed something a bit fancier than your average, everyday baby wear. I found these very cute nautical onesies at Carter’s and I knew just what to do with them.

Is it pretentious for a one-year-old to wear his monogram? No. He’s a little gentleman and he can do what he wants. Well, whatever his mama wants. And she’s a monogram kind of girl. So there you are.

I made these monograms using my Cricut Explore out of iron-on vinyl. I like to get my vinyl from Expressions Vinyl, because they have a huge selection of colors in several different sizes. They have outdoor vinyl, iron-on vinyl, regular adhesive vinyl, glitter vinyl…so much crafty vinyl goodness.  I have gotten iron-on vinyl from my local craft stores, too, but they don’t have as many colors to choose from, and they make you buy a whole big roll of the stuff, which can get pricey. Yay, Expressions Vinyl!

I’m sure you could do this project with other kinds of craft cutters, but I have a Cricut and that’s what I know. Here’s my shameless plug for the Cricut: I have the Cricut Explore, which lets you use your own fonts and images you’ve designed (like monograms), and that gives you the ability to make whatever you want! I LOVE THIS THING. There. I think every mom should have one.

Now, there are lots of ways to design your own monogram. For this project, I followed this tutorial from With Glittering Eyes. It was SO easy. There are several styles to choose from, including the circle style and the anchor I chose. It’s really a lot of fun to play with. Try it!

Since onesies are pretty small, I decided to make the monograms no bigger than 4″. The anchor is about 4″ by 3.25″, the circle monogram is 3.75″ by 3.5″. You decide what looks good to you, based on the size of the shirt you’re personalizing. It can help to cut a paper sample out first and lay it on the shirt, to get an idea of what the finished monogram will look like. That can save you from wasting your vinyl if you aren’t happy with the size or color the first time around.

I went with navy blue and white vinyl, sticking with the nautical theme.  The tutorial walks you through the details, but the basic steps are:

1. Designing the monogram (either directly in the Cricut Design Space, or by uploading a completed design from another program).
2. Setting your machine to cut correctly. DO NOT forget to tick the box for Mirror Image for Iron-on! Then turn your little dial to Iron-on.
3. Make sure you put the shiny backing of the vinyl down on the Cricut mat. The iron-on setting will cut through the top (vinyl) layer of the material, leaving the shiny backing intact for you to use when ironing on the design.
4. Weed out the excess vinyl carefully. Be sure to get any little bits in the “windows” of your design. Refer back to the original design if you need a guide. It can be tough to see them all if your design is small, or if you’re using glitter iron-on.
5. Position the design on your shirt and iron it on! Easy!

I made a few button-down shirts this way for the birthday boy, too. A guy likes to have options, right? I just sized the monograms down to fit the space for these.

The plaid one is actually a romper. I was really tempted to put a little anchor on the tush, but I resisted. Your call on that.

You can use these steps to put designs on other things, too. Once you see how easy it is, you’ll be monogramming everything. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Cheers!

Note: This is not a sponsored post. Links provided in this post are purely meant to be helpful. I promise, Cricut has no idea who I am or what I do in my craft room.