Digitizing – Eileen's Machine Embroidery Blog

Lofty Monograms!

December 7, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Inspiration Software, Lettering, Monograms, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Gift #2 on my top 10 gifts to make for the 2019 Holiday season was a personalized throw. There’s such a wide selection of throws available at every price point and in many different fabrics. In Thursday’s Facebook Live session, Deborah Jones and I reviewed four different throws: a fleece buffalo plaid, a nubby and stretchy chenille, a poly/wool blend tweed and a faux suede with a Sherpa back. The trickiest one to embroider was definitely the stretchy chenille because of its thick yarns and open weave. But I am thrilled with the finished results. Let me walk you through the process so you can duplicate this at home.

Open a new file in Inspiration’s Perfect Embroidery Pro. Select the Text tool and type in your monogram. Select the Fan_Scr font and click Apply in the Properties Box.

With the Text tool selected, click on the monogram and the kerning tools will appear. Drag the blue diamond between the letters to change the spacing.

Click on the Select tool, right click and select Utility, Nap Blocker from the dropdown menu.

Leave the default setting at 4.0 mm and click OK.

The Nap Blocker, or low density fill, will now be the first color of the embroidery design.

Its function is to hold down the fabric’s nap and create a delicate, yet solid base for the beautiful monogram. Without it, the monogram would slip between the chenille’s yarns. The end result would be less than professional!

Change the color of the Nap Blocker to match the fabric and select the color of your choice for the monogram.

Click on the Auto Baste tool to add a basting outline around the design. It will stitch in the first color. Send the design to the machine.

Hoop the throw with Piece & Stitch Tear Away Wash Away stabilizer. Place water soluble topper over the design area to allow the embroidery foot to glide over the surface. Without it, the foot would caught in the loops. (Hmm…wonder how i figured that out!) Stitch color 1, the basting outline. Stitch color 2, the Nap Blocker.

Finally, stitch the monogram.

Remove the throw from the hoop. Snip the basting stitches and remove. Tear the excess Piece & Stitch stabilizer from the wrong side of the throw. Tear the water soluble topper away from the monogram.

If you hate those pesky bits of water soluble stabilizer that are trapped in the small openings, then you’ll love Deborah Jones’ tip for getting rid of every last speck. Watch the Facebook Live session from Thursday, Dec. 5. You can watch here on YouTube or over on our Facebook page.

I love this throw and think it will definitely put a smile on someone’s face at Christmas!

Instant New Baby Gift

November 9, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery for Children, Inspiration Software, Lettering, Uncategorized, Word Art in Stitches / 4 Comments

As embroiderers, we are always driven to create a custom gift for new parents but it can be difficult to find time to create something special. For the new parents, there’s nothing quite like seeing the statistics of your new baby etched in thread on pretty fabric. Inspiration’s Word Art In Stitches has just what you need to put a smile on the parents’ faces.

Subway blocks were added as a free update to the software several months ago and I think many of us forget they are in the software. Let’s take a look. Open a new file in Word Art in Stitches and click on the Library icon under the Properties Box (lower right corner). Scroll to the bottom of the list.

Here you’ll find nine different blocks for baby, new home, wedding and more. Select the first one, Baby 4×4. Once the design appears on the screen, select it, right click and Ungroup.

It’s so easy to change the name, date and weight to customize the block for the new baby. Just click on the name and type the new name in the Properties Box.

Select the name, drag one of the side handles to stretch the text to fit the space. It’s that easy!

Do the same for the date and weight.

The block is 4×4 but you can resize it to fit your needs. Wasn’t that simple! You can use as framed artwork, a custom block in a quilt or as a quilt label. I’m sure you’ll find many ways to use the Subway blocks.

Remember to join me on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 1:00 CST on Facebook Live and YouTube Live to see gift #4 in our holiday gift making countdown!. I hope you had a chance to see gift #5 on Nov. 7 – it was one of my all time favorites! If you missed it, you can watch it anytime, check it out!

Digitizing for Metallic Threads

November 2, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Tips, Holiday Stitching, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized / 7 Comments

Last week, I provided some tips on digitizing for metallic thread. Reader Janis O’Connor asked for some clarification on how to stitch the underlay of a complex fill in polyester thread and finish the decorative layer of the fill with metallic. There may be a better way to do this but this is how I do it. Let’s walk through the process. Draw a hexagon with the artwork tool. Select the design, right click and convert to Complex Fill.

Click on the Redraw tool, and notice the underlay that’s automatically added to the complex fill. Below is a screen capture of the underlay only.

Of course, in Inspiration’s Perfect Embroidery Pro, you have control over the type and density of the underlay. Click on the Underlay tab in the Properties Box and note the underlay is Perpendicular with a density of 3.0. Remove the underlay by clicking on the check mark next to Perpendicular. Click Apply.

Now, select the hexagon, copy and paste it. Change the color of the first hexagon to pink, this will serve as the underlay. Select the pink hexagon. The Fill tab will be open in the Properties Box. Change the density to 3. Click Apply.

The pink hexagon is the same density as the original underlay but the stitches are traveling in the same direction of the blue hexagon.

Change that by selecting the Shape tool and moving the black circles to the opposite sides of the hexagon.

Now the underlay will be perpendicular to the complex fill providing a stronger foundation.

Small changes to run stitches and satin columns help light reflect off the metallic thread resulting in eye-catching sparkle. Lengthen short running stitches to provide more metallic surface. Just change the stitch length in the Properties Box to 2.8 or even longer.

Add curvy edges to satin columns. Use the shape tool to move the nodes on each side of the column. If your column doesn’t have a node, place the cursor where you want to add one, right click and Add Point.

The image below shows an exaggerated example as just a little movement can make big changes in a metallic design.

So go ahead, add a little sparkle to your stitches!

30-Second Satin Frame

September 28, 2019 by Kayla Gilchrist / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques / 2 Comments

In Inspiration’s software (Perfect Embroidery Pro, My Quilt Embellisher and more) there’s a speedy method to transform a shape into a satin frame. Follow along in your software.

Select the Star from the Artwork tool menu.

Drag the cursor across the screen to draw the star. It’s a natural step to select the star, right click and select Convert to Satin. But here’s what happens when you do that:

The satin stitches fill the star instead of outlining the star. Definitely not the result we wanted. It’s easy to start over. Just click on the Undo key. Select the star, right click and select Create Outline. The default setting .08”, that’s fine for this exercise. Click OK.

The points of the outline are squared off so let’s remove a stitch point from each leg of the star to create sharp points. Select the Shape tool, click on a point, right click and Delete Point.

Select both stars, click on the Combine tool (the paper clip).

Select the star (it’s one unit now), right mouse click and select Convert to Satin.

There’s your frame! It’s so easy, give it a try.

Worth the Wait!

May 4, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Updates, Uncategorized / 3 Comments

The May, 2019 FREE update for Perfect Embroidery Pro will be available on Monday, May 6. When you open the software on May 6, you’ll receive a notice to update. I strongly encourage you to do it because the updates are fantastic! Here’s what’s in store for you on Monday!

PEP Ver. 12.92

New Features:

Hi-Resolution Displays: New hi-resolution toolbar icons for 4K displays.

General Options: New look to Tools/General Options:

Realistic view option: (Optional) Increase double and bean run thickness in Realistic view; Tools/General Options/View.

Default Colors: Set default colors on a new design page:

File/New
Set Colors
Click on “Make Current Default”
Click “Yes”
Go to File/New, notice that the new default colors appear.
May also click on an empty box on the color bar for the option.

Print Preview: Print Preview screen is set to “Size to Fit” as a default with a new look.

Eye is sequence view: The eye icon is darker.

Drag and Drop: You can Drag and Drop image file into the center of the work field.

Note: If you have an image on the screen like above, it will transfer to “Auto Digitizer Wizard” If selected.

Hoops: Added filtering to the Hoop feature; remove or add a check mark for the desired hoops. Jumbo Hoop is now fully supported and new hoops have been added:

BabyLock-Brother 240×240
BabyLock-Brother 270×400
BabyLock-Brother 240×360

Trim: A fast way to add a basic trim to the end of an object.

Click on object
Click on the “trim Icon”

When using this feature, it will:

Add the trim and basic tie off to the end of the selected object.
Add basic tie in to the next object.

Trim Branches: A new trim function giving you more control on how you want the trims to be added.

Auto: (default): Trim if the stitch is longer than 2 mm.
Always: Will always trim
Never: Will never trim
Longer than: User can set the distance

Trim, Weld, Intersect: These three functions have been moved to “Shaping” and can be used with a right click when two objects are selected.

Auto Save/Recover: Setup can be found in Tools/General Options/Environment and File/Recover.

To use this feature: go to File/Recover.

Raised Satin: adds multi-layer satins on top of each other. The default is 4.

Radial Fill can be found in Complex Fill.

Special Files: We have moved Inspirations special file formats out of the standard Open and Save. It has its own selection under File called “Special Files”.

Auto Digitizing: Improved color reduction, tracing, support for transparent PNGs, direct victor files (svg, ai, etc.) conversion without tracing. You can try the new same images in c: /dime/Images (Autodigi_*.png and Vectors_*.svg).

Effects panel: One click conversion to various stitch types:

Batch Conversion (Updated): New Batch Conversion options, several additions including conversion embroidery format to PNG. Note: it will convert in 3D realistic mode with no cross hairs. Select by File, Select by Folder.

New and improved curve editing: A new mouse icon appears when editing a curve in an object when the Shape tool (F9) is selected.

More Efficient Editing: The Shape tool (F9) now remains in active mode while selecting new objects for editing. To return to the Select tool (F7), left click on Select.

All Inspirations software programs will have the free update on Monday, May 6. If a feature is standard in that software module (My Block Piecer, My Quilt Embellisher, Word Art in Stitches, etc), then it will be updated on Monday. This software gets easier and easier to use! It’s like the developers know exactly what we want before we do! Enjoy your free updates!

What’s Your Favorite Embroidery Tool?

March 16, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Facebook Live, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Quilting, Quilting with your embroidery machine, Software Saturday, Uncategorized / 6 Comments

Perfect Embroidery Pro is definitely my favorite embroidery tool. This user-friendly software gives me everything I need to create one-of-a-kind embroidery projects. Yesterday, my latest book, The Flower Box Quilt, was released. It’s a sampler quilt with a modern layout plus a table runner bonus project. The 68-page book is loaded with tips and techniques on stabilizing quilting fabric, machine embroidered applique and quilting.

I used Perfect Embroidery Pro through the entire design process. From creating the embroidered applique elements to designing the custom quilting on the blocks to the quilting on the sashing and of course, the overall quilting in the large negative space areas.

How did I go about designing a large-scale project like this? One stitch at a time. Literally. And Perfect Embroidery Pro made that easy. I drew each flower. Then converted the artwork into applique. I used the copy, paste and rotate features to set the four elements into 12” blocks.

Of course, each flower had to be tested and tweaks were made along the way. But as long as I worked in Perfect Embroidery Pro, I could save every version until I was satisfied. Then the fun part started. I visited my local quilt shop to select bright, cheery fabrics.

Once each block was stitched, it was time to concentrate on the quilting. I just uploaded an image of each block into PEP and doodled. PEP gave me the freedom to experiment. I saved several versions of each block before getting to the stitching stage. I love how I can audition ideas without stitching!

If you’d like to purchase The Flower Box Quilt book, click here for more information. This week, on Wednesday, March 20, I’ll be doing Facebook Live at 1:00 CST to share my top tips for professional results with machine embroidered applique. Hope to see you there!

So Much Talent!

March 1, 2019 by eileenroche / Baby Lock, Blog Tour, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Digitizing, Embroidery Techniques, Hooping, Inspiration, Lettering, Marie Zinno, Nancy Zieman, National Embroidery Month, Social Media / 9 Comments

What do you get when you give 11 talented embroiderers a fairly simple fabric panel and a few embroidery designs? Eleven uniquely-embroidered works of art. It absolutely amazes me to see how people put their own stamp of creativity into an embroidery project.

The past month has been an eye-opener – we’ve seen subtle touches such as Marie Zinno’s soft blue filagree designs that are built-in the Baby Lock Valiant.

And an out of the box transformation by Cathy Sundermann of Stitch Fork Designs. That’s an impressive front door!

Deanna Springer of Nancy Zieman Productions sashed the wood grain panel with Nancy Zieman’s red Riley Blake shiplap fabric to spice it up. Deanna ditched the wrapped canvas idea and added a pretty floral border for a traditional wall-hanging.

Milinda Stephenson opted to wrap her panel around a pillow. This was a fast and easy finish and her dog, Iris, loved it!

Michelle Umlauf used the IQ Designer in her Baby Lock Solaris machine to enhance the lettering. Talk about perfect placement! That’s a show stopper technique and wonderful way to show how to incorporate prints with embroidery. It’s all about value – making sure the embroidery is visible on a busy print.

Michele Umlauf – Sewing Machine Artistry

Carla Reale used Baby Lock’s Palette software program to add her own message in the applique heart of the Grateful panel. Join the Baby Lock Palette group on Facebook to watch her video.

Carla Reale of the Baby Lock Palette Community

Karen Parker made two samples! Her Grateful panel shows offset floral sprays at the top and bottom. I love that layout and never think of using it! Of course she pulled her thread colors from her fun, striped border.

Karen’s English Pub theme set the tone for her border fabrics and faux leather trim – complete with nail heads! Her satin circles mimic a dinner plate and the embroidered knife and fork really seal the deal. Finished with two glasses of cold beer, this panel will look great in any proper drinking establishment.

Debbie Henry extended the wood grain quilting beyond the panel edge onto a wide border. Love her delicate blue floral spray in the center of the heart!

The Embroiderist, Colleen Bell, used a dark thread to quilt her Gathering panel – love how visible the wood grain is. She paired her panel with an embroidered chalkboard fabric. As a mother of nine, she knows a thing or two about prepping meals!

Sara Gallegos of Sew Positively Sara added family names to the applique heart on the Grateful panel on her Baby Lock Solaris. Of course, she nailed the placement of the quilting designs with the help of a quick camera scan on the Solaris. Nothing like seeing before you stitch!

Check out her blog at SewPositivelySara to see how she pieced the heart blocks on her pillow.

Our last participant, Debbie Cleek, added trapunto to her floral sprays on the Gathering panel. She used Designer’s Gallery to add the traditional technique of trapunto but with today’s technology.

I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of the participants. If you followed along, I’m sure you’re were as impressed as I was with their creativity. And so many techniques were shared! Please leave a comment and tell me what’s your biggest embroidery challenge. We’ll pick a random winner to send one Farmhouse Sentiments kit.

6 Tips for Continuous Line Designs

February 23, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Quilting with your embroidery machine, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Recently, I’ve been digitizing quilting designs – continuous line designs in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. Continuous line designs present challenges to digitizers that are all their own. Since the designs are just one line of thread, there’s not a lot of room for error. But the biggest challenge may be in the pathing – where the needle will travel throughout the design. Sometimes this is intuitive and sometimes, not! I’ve learned a lot as I’ve worked on these designs. Here are six tips that have kept me on track.

Start with pencil and paper. Sketching a continuous line design is the best way to address the pathing. Even if it’s digital clip art, print it out and trace over it. If you have to lift the pencil to draw the next area, there’s going to be a break in the stitching. Find another solution like backtracking (retracing over previous stitches) or looping (adding an extra design element like a vein on a leaf) to get to the next area.

Dive in –Go to the software and get started. You’ll find the time spent sketching/tracing has already focused your brain on the task. Sketching is like stretching exercises before a run – they prep your mind and body for the task ahead. Start drawing the design and adding nodes. It will flow faster than you think. Don’t worry if it looks like a mess at first. You can tweak each node later.

The Close Line feature is a time saver. If you’re drawing a closed shape, at the last node, right mouse click and select Close Line from the drop down menu. The shape will instantly close and you won’t waste time wondering why your continuous line turned into a two-ply. In Perfect Embroidery Pro, draw the shape, (setting modes with a click of the mouse), when the shape is complete, right mouse click to end the line. Select the Shape tool, right mouse click and select Close Line.

The Slow Draw tool is your best friend. Before you begin tweaking the nodes, click on the Slow Draw tool. This tool allows you to focus on the pathing. Keep a close eye on the screen as the design stitches. Get your pathing right, and then tweak the nodes.

Zoom in. Magnifying the stitches on the screen helps you see exactly where they lie in the design. This is quite helpful when perfecting individual shapes within a design. There are several ways to zoom in on a design in Inspriations’ software programs. The most obvious is to click on the magnifying glass.

Or select a percentage from the drop down menu at the top tool bar. I

It’s important to remember when you are zoomed in, you are seeing a magnified view of the stitches – not what it will appear when sewn. So don’t stress out too much! Pull back to actual size often to keep it in perspective.

Save As often. You really can’t have too many versions of your work. Go to File/Save As and rename the design every time. Eventually, you’ll be satisfied with the final design and you delete the earlier versions. But during the design phase, it’s wise to keep each version. Just go for something basic like HeartV1, HeartV2, HeartV3, etc. Use the same method for all your digitizing and you’ll know where to find your latest and greatest.

I’ve found these tips to be real time-savers. I seem to be immersed in quilting designs right now – there’s so many beautiful designs dancing in my head! I’d love to know what you’ve been working on.

How to Use Inspiration’s Perfect Embroidery Pro’s Scatter Tool

February 16, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Inspiration, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro / 1 Comment

On January 13th, blog reader Sue L requested information on about Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro’s Scatter tool. The Scatter tool is fun to explore and very easy to master. Let’s dive in and take a look.

An 8” quilt block is the ideal canvas to experiment with the Scatter tool. Some brief text, Bee Happy, and a swarm of bumble bees will bring it to life. Draw an 8” square with the Artwork tool. Select the text tool and select the Tango font in the Properties Box. Type Bee Happy, adding an extra return to space out the two lines of text. Click Apply.

Enlarge and center the design in the square.

In the sequence view, click on the padlock to lock the text.

The Scatter tool becomes active when you have a design on the screen. It’s best to start with a small design such as a symbol because the scatter tool will repeat the design to fill a specific sewing field.

Click on Select to access the Symbol library.

Go to Symbol, scroll down to the Bee and click OK.

Click once on the screen and one bee will appear.

Select the bee and click on the dropdown arrow on the Carousel tool to access the Scatter tool.

In the preview window, you can change the size of the sewing field. The default size is 7.87”. If you’re pleased with the arrangement on the screen, click OK. If you’d like to see more possibilities, click Apply. Every time you click Apply, a new layout will be presented. Since the layout is random, you can not go back to a previously-viewed layout. If you like it, click OK!

To remove the bees that overlap the text, Ungroup the bees. Once ungrouped, all the elements of each bee are also ungrouped. When you select a bee, group it first as you work on arranging the bees. Select each bee that you want to remove. The text will still be locked so don’t worry about inadvertently grabbing the text. You can resize, rotate and reposition each of the bees. Play with the arrangement until you feel the bees are evenly spaced on the quilt block.

Once you’re satisfied, select all, go to Edit, Resequence by Color and Optimize Sequence. View the Redraw and save the design. So fun!

Custom Quilting

January 19, 2019 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, My Quilt Embellisher, Software Saturday, Software Techniques / 2 Comments

Last week, blog reader Kay asked for some help in Inspirations’ My Quilt Embellisher. It’s a popular software program and easy to use. You can design custom quilting for an 8-point star in just a couple of steps. Follow along to learn how.

Click on the Block Library icon. Go to Eight Point Star and select Arrow Star. Click OK.

Select the white diamonds in the center of the block. Right click on a color chip in the tray (bottom of the screen) to change the color of the diamonds.

Change the color of the center diamonds.

We’ll start by filling the negative space with stippling, In the sequence view, select the remaining white shapes (red box) and click on the Stippling icon (red arrow). In the Properties Box, change the Stippling style to Hilbert (green arrow).

To decorate the eight points, use the art tool to draw a diamond. Size the diamond to fill one of the star points.

The diamond pre-set shape in the Art tool drop down menu.

Select the diamond and click on the Contour tool.

The Contour tool fills a shape with rows of stitches.

Copy and paste the Contour diamond to fill the star.

Save the design. That was easy, wouldn’t you agree?

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