Toogie this is beyond me as its bedtime in the UK. I am sure that someone will be along with the answer to your problem and I will read all about it tomorrow morning. On re reading what I have put I would use an applique to do this and not use a embroidery machine and then move the bits of fabric about to get the placing where required then sew it down with a zig zag. Have fun with your project.

Toogie, could you try making the m a little narrower & the s a little wider? I have done that with some letters. I guess it depends on the letters & how they look after the narrowing or widening. Just an idea to try.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
That is hard---I can do small monograms but you have chosen something I could not do----You are so brave---All the suggestions sound good to me--I wish you luck and hope you will post your pictures when you have completed your projects. God bless you.

Wow, Toggie! I would just go with the centering of the S, then go from there. The M is just naturally wider, so I am like you...I think it would look off with the S not centered.

osueo, this is the one I was talking about. Click on the link to see. I did this by adding all the widths of each letter and spaces, dividing measurement and started at center, working my way out to each side. I had to be careful not to get mixed up on the spelling!

This is how I do a job like this. In my program there is an X (north and south) and a Y (east and west) axis. I put the middle letter at 0.00 X axis and 0.00 Y axis. I then put the left letter at 0.00 x axis and see where it falls on the y axis when I'm pleased with the way it looks. For this example lets say it fell at -2.33 Y. I then place the right letter at the 0.00 X axis and at 2.33Y axis. That way the center of each letter is exactly the same distance from the center of the Middle letter. They will not always look the way I envisioned because naturally a M and an S are different widths. Hope this makes sense.

Now I understand why your old 2010 post was up again. hehehe...
Hugs, Lidia

I think you are over-thinking this. And I agree with getting the design the way you think you like on the computer screen, then printing out a template. Good luck. Hugs. Nan W

OK I will add another option to your mix. I also like things very symmetrical and balanced for them to look ok to my eye, and I am this bad about most things and embroidery and balance in sewing projects bug me the most. So, I would center that center S dead on. Any side to side and to me it would throw off everything. Next I would think if you were putting the letters into a monogram crest, then I would measure so that both the smaller letters were the same distance from that crest edge and then vary the space between the large S and the start of the 2 smaller letters, but since you are not putting a crest around the letters and as long as you are not having a material that would create a border effect around those letters, then I would space them exactly the same distance from the large S and then to help make the distance to the outer edge of the pillow not be as noticeable then I would try to make the pillow large enough that there would at least be several inches before the seam, the more the better. It is expected that the letters M and W take up more space and the key is to look where the balance would be most obvious, first being the center of the design, then if there was a border like a crest or some type of border that letters would come close to and then finally looking at the balance between the letters. If the pillow size is so small as to create a border effect where that would draw so much of your attention then I would go back to placing the 2 smaller letters the same space away from the seam and again vary the distance between the large S. I also should say that as this is a gift and will not be in your own home you likely are worrying a bit too much as it will be loved no matter how you placed the letters. If nothing seems to sound right to you, or look right to your minds eye then maybe change things and put the letters at an angle corner to corner, top left, down to lower right with the Large S again centered, which would be so different and unexpected it may well change how you feel about the letter placement. I am sure that however you decide to make this pillow it will be well appreciated. You will figure out a way to make it look perfect! Pam

Toogie, I set this up to look at it. I left the middle S the same as your measurements. I changed the M to 3.50 wide x 4.75 tall, and I changed the S to 4.75 tall x 3.00 wide. The Y axis on all are 0. The small M X asis is -4.39 and the Small S Axis is 4.10. It's never going to look like the perfection you have envisioned because of the difference in the letter sizes. Hope this helps you.