Embroidery may be defined as an art and craft that employees a needle and a yarn, with a stretch of fabric hosting the stitches to formulate a pattern. It may be said that embroidery is practiced less often in the recent past, however, its effervesce of serving to be an interesting investment of time has not yet died out. Embroidering letters by hand was considered a royal pilgrimage for those who possessed a sewing wizardry. Embroidery follows two basic types of stitches. One stitch may be called over the top stitch. The most basic type of embroidery style, one needs to pass the thread inserted needle through the fabric, sliding it through the sides of the fabric to derive a pattern. The pattern formed looks pulpy and blobbed. In the second method, the pattern is stitched through the fabric material; the difference being in the appearance of the threaded pattern. The design that is formed on the fabric has a seamless fit on the fabric, giving a flat, non-bulbous effect. Procedure to Embroider Letters by Hand Preparing for the Embroidery If you have made up your mind of stitching letters by hand, you need to have the most important equipment with which work becomes extremely easy, called the embroidery hoop. The embroidery hoop is a round rimmed tool with which the fabric stays optimally stretched and in place. The hoop has two circular segments of wood rims that clips the fabric in between, with a screw on top that locks the site to be embroidered. Decide on the yarn, the color of the thread and the needle that you would be using for the activity. Deciding on the Pattern There are several manuals that may help you in selecting the font that you may like to stitch on the fabric. Looking at a number of font styles and sizes, you may then be in the position to zero down on the type of font you want to encrypt. When you are done with the decision-making, print out the font style of your choice and with a butter paper or tracing paper, trace out the boundaries of the letter or letters you would like to stitch with a pencil. Scripting the Pattern on Fabric The pattern has to be placed on the fabric and traced on the fabric with a pencil. When you are done tracing the letters, you may outline the letters with stitches that you may find appropriate and easy to accomplish. You may use anyone from the four stitches that have been mentioned here:

• Split stitch could be used for outlines and filling the vacant spaces between the outlines. It is when you take your first stitch that you need to bring the needle up through the middle of the stitch creating a split in between the original first stitch.
• Stem stitch is another easy-to-execute stitch where the needle and thread are pulled through the fabric to make the first stitch the shortest, followed by the second stitch starting from the point where the first stitch started. Your third stitch would start at the end of the first stitch. This is how the stitch will continue.
• Back stitch is another great option to complement the fills and the outlines. Begin your second stitch leaving space that equals to the length of the first stitch. When you are done with the second stitch, you have to start the third stitch through the rear ending of the second stitch.
• Chain stitch is a type of stitch that looks beautiful when done up in the form of an outline. When the first stitch is taken as a loop, you need to take the second stitch by sliding the thread at the top of the loop. Taking the loop as the starting point for every other adjoining loop you make, you form chain-like stitches throughout the outline. The bigger the loops the better they look.

Filling in the Letters You may use any of the above mentioned stitches to fill up the letters. If you please you may also use cross stitch which appears like an X-shaped stitch. For your fill to look all the more enchanting you may resort to using back-stitch which gives a smooth finish. Final Touches When you are done you may remove the embroidery hoop that you had placed and flatten the embroidered section of the fabric by ironing it. Make sure that you reverse the true side and have the back side of the stitching facing upwards when you iron. The stitches might knot up with the iron and cause your efforts to go in vain. You may create a monogrammed handkerchief for your loved one, or have a name etched out on a towel for an acquaintance as a reciprocation gift. So, isn't embroidering letters easy and quick! Well, it is I am sure. So when are you starting out with your endeavor to redefine royalty.