Embroidery Design

Machine embroidery has opened a new world of opportunities for me to express myself in fabric. As with any other learned skill, I continue to evolve and grow. I have practiced and grown over the last few years. The following is my attempt to share what I have learned and provide guidance in the tools I have used. I would love to provide comparisons of tools; however, that is frankly not in my budget at this time. I have probably overspent on tools to this point. With that said, it is something I hope to be able to take on as the revenue flow increases. What I desire to express is the passion the person has for Broadway and to personalize it. While I do confess to having started with a base image I purchased off of a SVG site, I then turned to the trusty digital sketch pad (Wacom Intuos with Adobe Photoshop) and added a city skyline. Then I added tracing of a photo of the person’s face with a generic sketch of a torso in a tuxedo. The end result is on the left.

As I have ventured into the world of machine embroidery, I have met similar obstacles as I did with my entry to sewing. The available patterns are generally too limiting in variety and tend toward the feminine side. I feel the need to make the designs express Me. For example, I have recently started a project for an avid Broadway fan. When I search Broadway, I come up with things line the items to the right. I do have to acknowledge that the quality of embroidery files available on internet sites have vastly improved over the recent history. There a many available I would probably be using if I were just starting out now. One of my favorites sites is Embroidery.com.

Art

My ability to draft images from scratch has improved. Freehand sketching is yet another skill. But, for the beginner, I recommend finding an image that inspires you and spend idle hours attempting to redraw them. As a side note, I prefer working in SVG format as it renders a much cleaner digitalization when the image is processed through the embroidery software. The SVG file format is a popular tool for displaying two-dimensional graphics, charts, and illustrations on websites. Plus, as a vector file, it can be scaled up or down without losing any of its resolution. However, SVG is less forgiving than just sketching in a photo application as a jpg or bmp. The two primary lessons learned for improving the digitization process later in the embroidery software are: 1) do not drop below three pixels (3 px) when drawing; and, 2) connect like colors wherever possible to limit the number of jumps in the final stitch file.

I am sure more than a few of you have recognized the resemblance of the images on my mask below to popular cartoon references. All of the below are my hand drawn interpretation of the subject. I have never sold any product with these likenesses. They were my way of dealing ith the COVID lockdown boredom. Each was given a gift to a friend in hopes of bring an smile the the wearer and whomever they encounter that appreciates the image.

My tools of choice for creating and manipulating sketches or images are:

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
Embroidery Software

Story here

My tool of choice for creating and manipulating embroidery stitch files is:

  • Drawings XI Pro – DRAWings® has been the first embroidery software to be fully integrated with a graphics designing software. Now, DRAWings® XI, goes one step beyond with its full MAC compatibility. It has the powerful combination of its new easy-to-use built-in designer and its ability to work seamlessly with a graphics software left intact! Create your own designs from scratch with far more ease, transform and edit shapes, add text, all in 3D designing mode. Produce stunning designs with crystals/rhinestones easily that you can combine with embroidery or textile printing.

Other software tools which came with my machines:

  • Janome
    • EmbLink Tool – Edit embroidery designs of to operate MC 15000 by remote control
    • PatternComboToo – Create stitch pattern combinations
    • AcuFilTool – Create or edit AcuFil design patterns (predominately quilting)
Machines