As I write this, I am stealing precious moments from the final development of MonogramWorks. You’ll see it soon. It has been a large project for me and everyone here at Designer’s Gallery, and I thought the process might be of interest to you.

The idea started to came to me a couple years ago when I noticed that the lettering programs on the market were getting priced a bit high for my comfort zone. It’s not that they aren’t worth it – they are – it’s just that it seems like so many projects need some simple lettering without as many features as the top programs provide.

Then I did an event at B-Sew Inn in Oklahoma and Eileen Roche was there too. This was a couple years ago. At my events I usually have on a shirt that’s been monogrammed at the cuff. And I have a particular monogram that I digitized. Now, being a typical man I don’t want to call great attention to my person with excessive embellishment (unless it’s a trademark infringement on a certain motorcycle company), however being in the embroidery trade I had to compromise and make my design somewhat more interesting than the 4mm block that would typically be used.

Now, Eileen is a master of monogramming and her books and products prove that out. So she’s up there on stage talking about it and I realize that there’s actually no DG program dedicated to such a simple task. Sure there’s lettering, but most lettering fonts aren’t monogram fonts. You need the diamond and the round monogram fonts, which can be found easily enough, but you also want some colorful and decorated fonts too. And the placement of the letters needs to be adjustable.

More importantly, the order of the sewing of the letters needs to be adjustable. Often you want the middle letter to sew last so that it could have emphasis over the letters on either side.

So I put the idea of MonogramWorks into the Idea Jar and sometime in early 2008 the marketing folks at Designer’s Gallery pulled it out.

The only problem was that so much had to be done, and from scratch because of the unique features we wanted.

As the design of the program progressed, and test samples started coming out, everyone got excited. And it became obvious that a lot of cool features could be added and that this program would be great. Well, features take time, and fonts take a lot of effort to digitize and edit. Think about it, every letter is its own design, and it has to sew out nicely at a wide range of sizes.

So here I am; a little late with the product but with more features than we started out to put in it. And the price has stayed low. Really low.

 
What does it do?

• You can merge multiple embroidery designs together.
• You can resize them +/- 25 % with recalculation. If you have SizeWorks, that limit is removed and you can go down to half, and up to twice and a half as big.
• You can recolor designs, thread by thread, or convert the entire design to a particular thread brand.
• You can print out a template of the design.
• You can save the design (convert it) into many formats.
• You can save the design in a working file so you don’t lose the ability to edit it later.
• You can add monograms OR lettering to the designs. We did limit it to one line at a time, but there is no limit to the number of lines you can add.
• You can easily select monogram layouts, called ‘Quick Styles’ for your monogram.
• You can adjust the lettering layout with simple handles that do things like stagger the letters, rotate them or even size them.
• You can mirror and even colorize individual letters within a monogram for fun.
• You can ‘envelope’ or shape the text with a great deal of control.
• There are scalable frames built in to make a nice composition.
• The monograms have some neat automatic stitching features such as Automatic Compensation and Removing of Hidden Stitches where designs overlap. But there is also manual control of compensation, underlay and density.
• For really large letters, the designs automatically switch to a fill-like satin stitch so that there’s no looping on top of the fabric.
• You can have multiple designs open at the same time and tab between them.
• You can import designs using your Studio Catalog.
• You can drag and drop designs onto the program to open it. Or use Copy and Paste from Windows Explorer.
• You can run it by itself as a stand-alone program or from Studio (1, 2, Plus or 3) or even CustomWorks.

I hope you enjoy using MonogramWorks as much as the rest us of do!
Happy Monogramming!
-Brian

It’s January and “Thank heavens all those holiday projects are mostly memories.” Yes, only mostly. Have you ever given something to someone before it was fully completed? I’ve heard this more than a few times over the years, but this year I heard it a lot. It’s the New Year, after all, so you might as well get them back and finish them up!

This year Designer’s Gallery will be 10 years old. It’s gone by in such a flash. And the worst part is that each year goes by successively faster. I’ve always held a 5 year plan for products I’d like to make, and that used to seem like a long time in advance, but now it doesn’t. Is there an appropriate response to the feeling that you’re getting older, and that time is winning out? Yes there is – salute Father Time with the middle digit! Then celebrate every opportunity to participate – make something special for every occasion.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of digitizing. So I thought maybe I could put up a few pointers on that topic. Now, I don’t claim ownership of these – I’ve learned a few things on my own over the years, but some friends of mine have said things more clearly than I managed to do, so I use their wisdom here as well, with their permission.

1.) Start with good art.

If you have to be an artist while digitizing, you’ve got too much to think about. Unless you are either a decent artist or a decent digitizer already, in which case, “Go for it.” What constitutes good art? Let’s put subject matter aside and talk about the technique used in the art. First, it has to be something that’s easily rendered as an embroidery design. A pen and ink sketch is not likely to be a great subject for a needle and thread. Outlines however can make nice quilting and redwork designs. Silhouettes make nice embroidery too, and can be accomplished easily with fills, satins and runsThere’s been a lot of hubbub about vector art. It really should be ‘graphic art’. The advantage of vectors is that the art is sizable and the image stays good-looking as it gets bigger or smaller. The advantage that graphic art has is that areas filled with color generally have solid colors or smooth gradients in them. This makes translating to embroidery a lot easier. If you have a shape filled with some color, then you can trace that shape while digitizing and fill it with color too. Then add the requisite stitch angle and density information and you’ve got a shape to be embroidered, commonly called an object. You can even create one with a gradient. But, take a photo of someone’s face and try to embroider it, and that’s an entirely different process.You can have a non-vector image that’s just fine to work with. Typically we have .jpeg or .bmp files, but there are others. This type of image is better known as a bitmap. That means that the design is made up of little dots of color known as pixels. If the image is graphic art, and you have enough pixels (think about your digital camera) then the picture is easy to digitize. If you have too few pixels you can be forced to guess where one shape ‘ends’ and another ‘begins’. Too many pixels and you’ve gotten the program slowed down while it’s drawing all those pixels every time you click something. Also the pixel count can affect the Magic Wand or other drawing tools in some programs. So how many is enough? I usually size the image to about 1000 pixels on the widest edge, unless the design I want to create is really, really large or very small.

2.) Plan your design.

You’ve watched countless designs stitch out haven’t you? It goes over there and then runs over here, which is okay because that run will be hidden later. Then it works its way up there, where it can color change and not have a jump stitch. Think about the minimal movement it is going to take for the embroidery machine to travel through the design. Less stitches equals more time for you to be doing other things than watching the machine.

3.) Decide what stitch types will be used in each region before you begin.

Sometimes a design will lend itself to a lot of satin stitches. Use fills sparingly if you can. Layer stitches to add texture. But you need to know that a fill stitch in an area that is shaped like a narrow curving column will not look as good as a satin column stitch. And a really narrow satin might be better embroidered with a run.

4.) If you have to jump, add tie-offs and tie-ins.

 It’s easier to add them as you go than to edit them in later. If you’ve planned you design well, there shouldn’t be many of these. But if you have a few and you’re not selling the design, it’s usually not worth it to re-digitize the design just because you got a few jumps. If you’re selling the designs, then you want to make it right.

5.) Compensate your objects.

 This means stretch them so that they overlap. Yes there’s a compensation control for most objects, but it’s easier to digitize them overlapping their neighboring shapes than it is to play around with compensation controls. For most of your projects, compensation controls only add in the width of stitching lost by physically creating the stitch on a machine – and it’s in addition to your overlap. So, if you have two objects with adjacent edges, there will be a gap when they actually sew. Some of that is take care of by compensation, but depending on what else is happening in the design, you need to overlap your objects onscreen to fill in the gaps. If there’s a run stitch at the edge on the early object, then just get to the other side of that – that will typically keep them from separating.

6.) Allow the software to do the underlay.

 Adding runs manually can seem like a good way to ensure the foundation for a good design; however there are other factors that later affect the generation of stitching, such as sizing. If a design size is adjusted the underlay generated gets adjusted too. Things like stitch length, etc.

7.) Ease up on the density.

 If you have underlay, you don’t need as much density and your designs won’t be bulletproof. And simply ignore anyone who wants ‘full coverage’. That’s needed occasionally for a corporate logo, but for almost all wearable art or logo items, the background fabric shows through and is intelligently incorporated into the design. If you must have better coverage, then two objects on top of each other, each with half density, is generally better than one overly-dense object.

8.) Consider the real-world size of the project.

 As you digitize, the level at which you zoom can get ridiculous compared to the real-world output. For instance, a curve or circle is defined by many points. So one could easily imagine drawing a circle to make, for instance, a cartoon character’s eye. To make that circle smooth you might need a bunch of points. But if the eye is only 2mm wide, then you’ve just packed in a whole bunch of trouble. Always digitize within a scale that has some semblance in reality. Another benefit to this is that you will do less editing: If you zoom in, you’ll see all the imperfections and want to edit them. (Depending of course on your level of OCD.) Whereas if you look at the design onscreen at the size it will actually sew out, you can’t see that the tiny details don’t line up perfectly. And doing this has the added benefit of speeding you up!

9.) Play with color after-the-fact or ahead of time, but not during digitizing.

It will distract you. It is far better to plan how many colors you will use before starting with the design, but once it is done, you may want to refine the actual thread selections.

10.) Stitch – Edit – Stitch until it is right.

If it looks funny onscreen, but that is what it takes to make it sew right, then you have a decision to make – either look at a pretty picture on a computer, or actually sew the design! As objects get pushed around during embroidery, the fabric in the hoop is not where it started. So you have to plan or at least edit for that distortion which happens while sewing. This means it won’t look perfect onscreen. So be it. Let it go. It is what it needs to be. And you will have to repeat the stitch-edit-stithch cycle until it looks good enough when sewn.

Well, that’s it. It may be a bit of a primer for some, but generally accepted advice.

Happy Stitching!
-Brian

Whether or not you have Adorable You!, or even an embroidery machine, the project ideas with these techniques are easy to accomplish and people love the result!

Enjoy!

-Brian

AnnTheGran.com

So give them a visit if you haven’t been there in a while!

Regards,

-b

www.BriTonLeapStore.com

Some of our products can be purchased directly through us, such as our Convert It, Mac and Adorable You! products.

We offer the best prices, the best support and the best return policy anywhere on these products!

Thank you for your support!

Problem #1: Pull or Pucker
‘Pull’ occurs when a stitch is pulled tight by the machine. Most hand sewers have seen this effect when running multiple stitches on the needle: After pulling the needle through, you often have to stretch the fabric back out so that the full amount of thread is used for each stitch, which allows the fabric to relax.
 Naturally the machine cannot relax the fabric between stitches, so there is a problem with ‘pull’ on the fabric from the stitches. The result of ‘pull’ often results in a gap between embroidered areas. Also the final product can appear to have the fabric ‘sucked in’ toward the design, an effect that is very visible on knits.
Here are some ways to solve this problem:
1.) The person who digitized the design adds ‘compensation’ which means that the stitches are made with a planned shrinkage.
2.) Stiffness is added to the fabric by using a stabilizer. While there are many stabilizers available, and we’ll talk about several in this article, the ones that help prevent pull are Cut-Away and, to a lesser extent, Tear-Away.  Depending on the softness of the fabric, you’ll likely want to add some stability during embroidery. Another option is starch, which will also help with the issue of pull. However if you use starch or a stabilizer that washes out, you’ll likely see the ‘pull’ issues develop or worsen over time because the tension applied while the stitch is made remains in the embroidery.
3.) Flatten or relax the embroidery. Now this is controversial, but I include it here for completeness. Some people will use an iron to ‘set’ the embroidery, which basically creases the stitches as they come out of the fabric. Once the stitches are set, they are less likely to pull on the fabric over time. Additionally some threads are man-made such as the polyester threads, and they have stretch. If you stretch out something that is elastic, you can actually weaken that elasticity. So if your design and fabric can be tugged or stretched out after sewing, you can lessen the residual pull. If you do it with a combination of ‘tugging’ and heat, you can definitely flatten a design that got pulled in.

Problem #2: Push
‘Push’ occurs when a stitch flattens the fabric. You see this often on heavier knits. This is sometimes described as ‘making a bowl’ in the fabric. It can create a distortion which forces running stitch outlines into the embroidery which it surrounds.
Here are some ways to solve this problem:
1.) The person who digitized the design adds ‘push compensation’ which means that the stitches are made smaller, or are inset, into the design.
2.) A topping stabilizer is added to the fabric. The stabilizers will not stretch, and by making a ‘stabilizer sandwich’ the tension applied is spread out over the area of the design, which makes the problem less of an issue at critical areas in the design.

Problem #3: Loose Weave/ Knit Inaccuracy
This occurs on a loose fabric. The needle can deflect slightly as it descends, finding the path of least resistance. If the needle goes into the same hole as it did in the prior stitch, the design looks irregular, particularly with satin stitches.
Here are some ways to solve this problem:
1.) The person who digitized the design could reduce the density of the design. If the stitches are far enough apart, the needle will be less likely to travel into the same hole. Naturally this can create coverage issues, but it is generally preferred to an irregular stitch.
2.) A topping stabilizer is added to the fabric. The needle will penetrate the stabilizer before it hits the fabric. Once the needle path is established, it is less likely to deflect. The drawback is that the needle is more likely to cut the fabric being embroidered.
3.) A Cut-Away stabilizer is also used whenever possible because the needle can actually make separate holes in the stabilizer, thus retaining some separation of the threads as they come up out of the design. It has been shown that even a soft, sheer cut-away stabilizer can be helpful.
4.) Use DensityWorks on the design. ‘Remove Hidden Stitches’ and ‘Declump’ helps prevent pull at areas where the needle strikes multiple times. Just click the button labeled ‘All’ to do this. Also reducing the number of stitches in the design will help for the same reason.

Problem #4: Fabric Nap
Fabric with a nap can poke up in-between the embroidered stitches.
Here are some ways to solve this problem:
1.) The person who digitized the design could add underlay to the design. Underlay can be done in several ways, but to help with nap a light fill or zig-zag can be used to anchor down some of the nap before the top layer of covering stitches is applied.
2.) A topping stabilizer is added to the fabric. The stabilizer holds down the nap while it is being stitched over.

Problem #5: Perforated Fabric
Paper, Leather and Vinyl are typical examples of fabrics that can be cut out by multiple needle penetrations that are too close together. Although the needle makes a hole, the fabric can tear just  a little bit under tension and subsequent stress on the fabric such as wear. As these tears expand, the holes connect and tear out, like a perforated paper edge.
Here are some ways to solve this problem:
1.) The person who digitized the design could reduce the density of the stitches near the outside of the design. If the stitches are far enough apart, the fabric won’t tear as easily.
2.) An adhered (Sticky or Spray Adhered) permanent stabilizer is also used whenever possible because it helps prevent tearing of the fabric.
3.) Enlarge the design without recalculating stitches. By spreading out the design you can accomplish a density reduction which can prevent perforation.
4.) Use DensityWorks on the design. ‘Remove Hidden Stitches’,  ‘Declump’, ‘Density Limiter’ and reducing coverage will all help reduce the stitch count, which helps solve the problem. You can also adjust the preferences to remove the underlay. We recommend leaving underlay in the Satin, but removing it from Fill stitches if you are embroidering on paper.

Problem #6 and 7: Slippery Fabric and Fabrics that get Hoop Burn
Silk, satin and acetate will not be trapped in the hoop as well as fabrics with more texture or grip. Also these fabrics tend to get a ‘Hoop Burn’. The solutions to these problems are similar.
To solve this problem:
1.) Add something else on the top and bottom of the fabric where it goes into the hoop.
2.) ‘Stick’ the fabric to the stabilizer using adhesive stabilizer or with spray adhesive.

Until next time, happy stitching!
-Brian

Here’s a photo of Nancy Zieman giving one of her talks. Sorry about the photo quality.

Nancy Zieman

Typical Embroidery Application

Last month, we covered some of the basics in editing embroidery. This month, let’s get a closer look at some common program elements in a ‘Customizing’ or ‘Personalizing’ program. Now, I know many of you have different programs, and that’s okay, because most embroidery software has these basic elements, and once you know what to look for, you’ll be able to spot them and use those features in virtually any embroidery software.

In the screen shot above, you can see a typical modern embroidery application. The main part of the screen is occupied by what I refer to as a ‘Design Page’. This page visually represents an embroidery file; what you see is what you’ll sew. Typically the design page has features you can turn on and off such as viewing or selecting a machine hoop. Other features typically include an alignment grid, a ruler along the edges, highlighting the points where the needle penetrates the fabric and a ‘3D’ or ‘Realistic’ view mode which lets you better visualize the thread.

A typical toolbar, above, usually has the common “windowing” features on the left. I say it that way because the visual screen with windows, toolbars, etc. was originally made at XEROX PARC and bought into by Apple and Next Computers (they did pay for it with their stock unlike others), so it’s not a Microsoft thing. But I digress.
The left side of the toolbar has ‘New’ which creates a new empty design page. Sometimes modern programs will be able to have several design pages open at the same time – and you switch using visual ‘tabs’ along the top, or using the Window menu.
Next there’s Open and Save which as their names imply get a file from your disk or put the current page you’re viewing out to a disk so you can use it later.
Copy and Paste (and sometimes Cut) often appear on the toolbar for a consistent interface, although this thinking is a little dated in 2009. Most people today know to use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-C (copy) Ctrl-X(cut) and Ctrl-V(paste). No doubt those keys were chose because of their location on a US English keyboard.
Print is also a common and useful function. Usually a page with a real-sized version of the design is what you’ll print.
As described earlier, common ‘view’ items are turned on and off with the next buttons: 3D, Stitch Points, Grid, etc.
The magnify tool, while not universal, is nearly so. Sometimes it has a few buttons to do the same thing, but you can look for these functions: Left Mouse click zooms in, Right Mouse click zooms out, Left Drag zooms to the rectangle that you dragged over, then the tool gets turned off. Another common feature to look for is the use of the scroll wheel to increase and decrease zoom.
Items like the arrow ‘Pointer’ are used to select items on the page and move them around, rotate and resize them.

The panel on the right (although it can float to different places) usually has several ‘Panes’ that provide you with information and ways to adjust the designs on the page.
In the example above, there are three panes: The Properties Pane, The Design Page Object view, and the Navigation Window.
The Properties page is tied to the design that is currently selected. What’s that? When you click on something on the page, you’ll see it change the way it looks. Sometimes it’s color changes, and usually it gets ‘handles’ around it. This means that it is selected. The properties affect whatever is selected. Not to get too technical, but an example of a property would be the font used on a text design.
The middle panel above shows what designs and/or ‘objects’ are used on the page. A design is almost always made up of different shapes – satin stitch areas, fills, etc. Each shape in a design was created by a process called ‘digitizing’, and those ‘digitized’ shapes are called ‘objects’. I know all this jargon can be overwhelming. So let’s take a closer look at the ‘T’ in the word “Text”:

object view

See where there a running stitches creating underlay, and then the second object has the vertical bar in the ‘T’? Then there is another run followed by the satin stitches across the top of the ‘T’. Each of these stitch sections is an ‘object’ and each object can have its own properties to adjust such as color, density, etc.
Some common features in a view that shows the sequence of a design like this are: Lock and Hide. Lock prevents you from selecting and accidentally moving objects. Hide, well , that hides those objects from view. They are still there, you just can’t see them.
Another thing you can do in the object sequence is to select things. For instance, if I’ve hidden a design, how do I restore it to view? That’s why you can select it in the sequence.
The bottom pane on the right is a Overview or Navigation Window. Not every program has one, but many do. The idea is that you can click or drag in the window and see the section of the design page that you want, and it’s faster than scrolling and zooming separately. Sometimes you need to navigate all the way across the design to the other side, and you’re zoomed in. So you can get there easily without adjusting your zoom.

In many programs there is an area where the program can give you hints on what to do next. If you have a program with this, it really helps you learn to use it.

Perhaps the most important thing for you to know about is the Help system. Most programs have extensive help which typically includes everything in the manual, which always seems to get misplaced or is in another room anyway. So Help can really give you an overview of your software, as well as provide a description of what exactly the program does. I know reading this stuff can be tedious, but the rewards are many.
Now that you know some basic parts of the program, what does it do???? Ah, I’m so glad you asked! Typical functions include:
• Merging embroidery designs together
• Resizing designs
• Adding lettering or monograms
• Changing colors in designs
• Creating designs from scratch. (A really big topic!)
At this point, let’s talk a minute about embroidery designs. There is a lot of confusion out there I’d like to clean up. So what’s in a design ‘file’?
An embroidery design starts life as a picture or drawing. Somebody has some picture that they want to embroider. The problem is that embroidery is not a ‘graphic’ function. People often want to ‘convert’ a picture to a design for a machine, but embroidery machines only understand simple commands like ‘Needle down’ and ‘Go here’. Since images or pictures have dots or shapes of color, and embroidery machines can’t understand those concepts, someone has to ‘Digitize’ the design. So every ‘area of color’ in the picture basically gets traced around in a digitizing program, then gets a type of stitching added to it as a property, like ‘Fill stitch’ with a certain density and angle.
Once the design is digitized, the information that contains those shapes, objects and properties should be stored so that someone can later adjust it, right? That’s what we commonly call a ‘working file’. At present, embroidery machines can’t understand much in the way of a working file. (There are exceptions.) But once the shapes are input, and stitches are created, those stitches can be saved in a file that a machine can understand. Naturally different machines understand different stitch files because they are made by different manufacturers, and the technology is always evolving. Stitch file types that are common are .DST, .EXP, .PES, .JEF, .VP3, etc.
A common problem with embroidery files for many of you is that color information is often missing. This is due to the technology of yesterday’s commercial embroidery equipment. As those machines only know which needle they are supposed to use, and couldn’t see color or display it to the user, color wasn’t included in stitch files like .DST and .EXP. So many of you buy designs that were originally made for commercial equipment, and those files have no color. But you will get a color sheet with those designs. Using your software as I’ve been describing, you can usually colorize the design and also you can save the design in a format that understands color. We usually use .PES or .VP3 but most of the home machine formats do store color.
To tie all this together for you, the programs that are commonly available will: 1.) Load a working file or stitch file. 2.) Move and sometimes resize designs. (See my last month’s article for a bit more on sizing.) 3.) Convert the design into a suitable stitch file for your machine. 4.) Colorize the design so that it is easier to pick threads for it and sew it out.
Given all that it can do, doesn’t it make sense to learn the basics of the embroidery software? Yeah it does. Is it hard? It doesn’t have to be. Do a little reading and maybe take a class. Once you have the basics down, your imagination can take over – and that’s where the fun begins!
Until Next time, Happy Embroidering!
-Brian

If you read about our founding, you’ll know that we started this ‘business’ on a Leap of Faith. And we even put it in our name.

Lately, every time I turn on the news I hear about attacks by our government on people like me. Did you hear that congress nationalized the people who provide student loans? How can they do that? How can they have a ‘Pay Czar’? I get tired of the unconstitutional attacks on my way of life. I do not want a nanny state. I want to keep my liberty, and to protect yours.

Business and politics are poor bedfellows. But I’ll tell you what; I’m not ashamed that we don’t believe in the lies we’re being told. I know too many good, hardworking, compassionate and intelligent people who agree with me. Most describe themselves as Libertarian-Minded. Let me translate that; “Freedom Loving”. We are not “Republicans” because those fools have made a mockery of themselves and shown their ability to compromise their principles. I am a ‘republican’ by which I mean I believe in a representative government. I wish we still had one.

So if you are going to buy a product from someone, why wouldn’t you want to know something about the ethics and philosophy of the people running it?

I don’t golf. I do give. I am a member of Rotary International, among others, which is an organization you should know about if you are a compassionate person who believes in solving problems globally. You should know more about Rotary than the U.N. which is a waste of real estate.

Want to sum up our professional ethics? Here is a fundamental guiding principle for Rotary and our company:

The Four-Way Test

The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

If those news people would follow similar ethics, the people would be better informed, and those who make away with our liberties would be powerless.