What Are Building Blocks?

Building Blocks are to embroiderers as dingbat fonts are to desktop publishers; they are small elements that can be combined to create other more complex designs, or combined with each other, or just used stand-alone to fill in or embellish a small area.

What is Customizing?

Customizing is a term used for embroidery utility programs that provide a canvas for combining multiple designs and/or performing basic functions such as mirror (flip), rotate, distort, and resize. Additionally, these programs may provide a lettering component for adding text or monograms to your designs and features like eliminating bulk  of overlapping stitches and color-sorting.

Think of it this way: If you use a desktop publishing program to produce newsletter or article, the elements—text, graphics, charts—are usually created in other programs and simply combined in the publishing program. Elements may be resized, rotated, fonts changed, etc. Customizing programs work similarly; they are not meant to create new elements from scratch or edit individual stitches.

Although I usually only work with my own designs (ones I digitized), my digitizing software is not designed for customizing and it is quite difficult to manipulate complete designs because they cannot be grouped into one object. Because of this, I prefer to use a program designed for customizing for this purpose and my choice is Embrilliance Essentials.

Why Embrilliance Essentials

One very big reason is that it works on Mac (without Parallels!), which is my platform of choice. And, for you Windows people, it works there as well.

Of course there are other key reasons:

• Ease of use
• Features
• Price

Size Matters

Sometimes when I’m creating a design layout, it is way too large to be sewn on any machine. These bonnet designs are too long for my home machines. For the pink and white bonnet, I split the designs into two segments to sew on my Baby Lock in two hoping. The green and white bonnet was embroidered on my commercial machine as one piece. Each method has it’s pros and cons.

Some programs will only let you save designs that will fit the machine’s sewing field or the selected hoop, which can be a real hindrance to creativity. I would really like to create the entire design in one file and then when I’m satisfied, split it into multiple hoopings. I think you can easily see why it would be easier to work that way.

Play Time

Customizing time is play time to me. Sometimes when I just want to have some fun, I just sit and play with various design combinations. Other times I may see a design on a garment in a photo and see how I can build something similar from designs in my stash.

Often though, I don’t have the entire finished design visualized. I usually know the area I want to fill and I know the type of look I’m going for. Therefore, I usually trial many elements, adding and deleting and saving multiple versions. I’m not worried about sewing order at this time. Once I get a composition I like, then I manually resequence it by moving the elements, which is in the Objects Pane, in Embrilliance.

If your software won’t let you do that or it isn’t easy to do, you can cut and repaste each element in the order you want. This works especially well in a program that will paste into the same spot  you just cut from. (Placement is the same position on the screen but the object order has just changed.) I use this technique more in Generations.

Tips for Single Color Designs

The green and white bonnet uses several designs that are different colors. Since I knew I wanted to sew this in one color, I worked with the DST versions of the files. Each element was a single color design but the design colors varied. DST won’t hold color information so each element came in as the same color, in this case, black. Remember, you can sew the design in any color you like!

Color Sorting

I personally have major issues with color sorting, especially when combining multiple multi-colored designs that share a color palette AND any of those designs have outlines.

If you don’t know what color sorting is, it reduces the number of colors in a design by intelligently (according to software, not to digitizer!) combining color repeats. In other words, it will keep any colors properly layered but it doesn’t consider pathing or registration issues. While this sounds like a good thing, it can totally destroy the integrity of your design. I cover the issues with color sorting in my ebook, The Anatomy of a Design: How to Think Like a Digitizer & Become a Better Embroiderer.

The good news with Essentials is that color sorting is saved to another file, not your working file. Always test your color sorted (or any design for that matter!). If it doesn’t sew optimally, go back to your original.

Do You Have Generations?

The entire Building Block series was digitized in Generations auto-digitizing software and are available in the MNG format. This means you have full control over each design to change stitch types and pathing. Because you have control over stitch types, you have more resizing ability and more design opportunities.

How to Make the Bonnets

You can download the free pattern for the bonnets from the shopping cart here. If you have never downloaded from the cart before, you will need to set up an account first. You will still go through the check out process but the pattern is free.

You won’t find a lot of instructions for the bonnet and that’s because it is so simple! There are no step-by-step instructions (hey, it’s free!) but if you’ve done even basic sewing and garment construction, you’ll be fine. I did not interface the bonnet. Just two small pieces of fabric (fat quarters are sufficient), a yard or two of ribbon, and a short bit of elastic. The pink and white bonnet has elastic stitched into the casing, the green bonnet used ribbon laced through the casing. The bonnet ties are just hand stitched in place.

The pattern will show the design area. Keep in mind that the embroidery is actually on the lining piece, which is then folded back for the “brim,” as you can see on the green bonnet.

Tip: If you know how to do it, use the design placement guides to create a work area in your software. I imported this part into my digitizing software, duplicated and mirrored it to make a whole image then used it to create a basting outline. Most machines will not have a large enough sewing field for this. Even if yours doesn’t you’ll still be able to plan your design and then split it up as required.

Designs used on Bonnets

Below you can see screen captures of the designs I composed for the two bonnets shown here using designs from Leaves 1, Delicate Roses, and Elegant Scrolls.

Tip: Build one side, then copy, paste and mirror. The center motif runs last.

Once you’ve got your design ready, embroider it. For this infant sized bonnet, you can sew an edge to edge design in 3 hoopings: two 5×7″ hoopings plus one small center medallion or two with a larger sewing field. I heavily starched and pressed the fabric (cotton in both samples) before embroidering. Embroider the bonnet before assembling.

This basic bonnet can be embellished in so many ways—truly only your imagination will limit you!

Other Uses for These Designs

I’m sure you can easily envision using these same combinations beyond baby bonnets and in colors other than the ones shown. Adding a few strategically placed hot fix crystals can really glam them up!

Where are the Designs?

You won’t find the completed designs used for these items (at least not at this writing). The reason is that because I combined several already finished designs, the pathing in these designs is not optimal for production. That’s one of the trade-offs with working with ready-made designs. It’s vastly easier to create a new composition than drawing and digitizing the finished combination from scratch but since during the digitizing process there’s no way to predict how they will be combined, they will tend to have a few more jumps and trims.

I encourage you to play around with these kinds of designs. You’ll have a lot more fun with your design stash and you’ll have projects no one else has.

Where to Get the Pattern

Download the pattern here. Please note that while this pattern is free of charge, you are not free to share the actual pattern. Please do share the link so that your friends can come get their own.

Learn more about Generations & Building blocks at LearnGenerations.

A touch of delicate romance is a delight year round, not just for Valentine’s Day! Consider other holidays—Mother’s Day, Sweetest Day, birthdays—or just a special token to say “I’m thinking of you.

You’ll notice the top has a small inner heart, perfect for customizing with another small design or a monogram. The bottom is more plain to reduce sewing time and provide a place for an additional message.

To make lining the box simple, I created 2 appliqués sized to fit into the lid and base and embroidered them as free-standing appliqué (technique is covered in the included instructions.). Lining is optional.

This small ring or trinket box is designed so that it may be sewn in a 4×4” or 100x100mm hoop. If you have a 5×7 hoop, you’ll find a longer side piece that can be used instead of piecing two smaller segments together for each side.

Make it into a Sachet…

I really prefer to make designs that offer a little more flexibility for personal creativity and this often requires extra planning before ever even drawing.

For this one, I designed it so the box lid can double as a sachet. Simply embroider two and lace them together. A pattern is included for the potpourri bag, which can be done either in the hoop or the more traditional method.

You’ll find that if you rinse all the stabilizer out of this lace, it is incredibly soft. It would also work well as an applique on other projects.

Want a more tailored looking sachet? Embroider two bottom pieces and lace up in a similar manner.

I have to say my house smells pretty good right now after making a sachet and filling it with Lily of the Valley potpourri!

Customize it!

I’ve designed a small area on the lid for your customizing. You can add a small 1 or 2 letter monogram or small design here, like the white lid on the right. I’ve included one of the rosebuds from Delicate Roses so you’ll have one to play with. I did rotate it after placing it (I used Embrilliance Essentials for this—if you’re a Mac user like me and don’t like to “do Windows,” then you’ll want to check out this program! There’s also a Windows version.)

Advanced Customizing (AKA Editing)

With editing software, you can customize the lid piece even more by adding in a few extra color changes! I strategically digitized the lid to make this an easy task. (A lot of goes in to planning versatile embroideries!) This design is digitized from the middle out so you can easily have the inner most heart as one color (the image below has it in 2), the swirls as another, and the scalloped outer edge a third. Be sure to add in tie stitches if your editing software doesn’t do it automatically for you!

I truly think that if you learn some basic editing skills, you can really maximize your embroidery creativity!

Make Your Own Lace!

There’s even more blank area on the bottom piece of the box. If you’ve ever wanted to make your own lace designs, here’s the perfect little blank palette! The bottom piece is also designed to lace together so it too can be used as a less fussy sachet. Both the top and the bottom can be left flat and used as ornaments or embellishments for scrapbooking.

Free-Standing Applique

In the photo here, the white heart on the left is laced with red ribbon and lined top and bottom with red satin free-standing appliqués. Here’s yet another place for customizing. Sew up a batch of these customized with a name (guests, or maybe the names of the bride and groom and their special day) and sprinkle on a table for a bridal shower. The sachets would make wonderful special mementos as well.

Instructions on how to do free-standing appliqué are included in the PDF and I’ll bet you’ll find a lot of ways to use this technique and not just with these designs. For example, this is the perfect technique for the Badges collection. If you have software that creates appliques from basic shapes, you can make your own with this same process.

An extra tip: If you know your way around editing software, extract that first color (the placement guide) and copy and paste into a new file. Use it as a guide to embellish with other designs or add lettering. Sew it out, cut it out, and use it as an appliqué. Do be sure to check that the design has not “shrunken up” due to any sewing distortions. You may want to remove the outline guide before sewing so that you can cut a more accurate applique pattern.

This free-standing lace heart box project collection includes 8 design files plus a fully illustrated 16-page instructional booklet (included with lgp002-colors.zip) and full-size printable templates. The 16-page, full-color, fully illustrated PDF instructions cover basic lace embroidery tips, how to assemble the heart box, how to make and assemble the sachet, and how to make double-sided free-standing finished applique designs.

I normally include all the pertinent documentation for a collection in the “colors.zip” file to keep the downloads as efficient at possible. If you download 2 formats, you won’t be duplicating a potentially large set of documentation files.

While we typically think of hearts at Valentine’s Day, consider all the other “love” occasions: Mother’s Day, weddings, engagements, Sweetest Day, birthdays, and “I love you just because” days. This versatile little collection can provide a variety of special presents by feeding your “gift stash” and justifying that amazing machine you have!

Get Started Making Your Own!

This project collection includes:

• 8 hand-drawn and manually digitized machine embroidery designs (4 as free-standing lace) One fancy scalloped bordered free-standing lace heart for the lid or sachet
• One slightly smaller more basic free-standing lace heart intended for the bottom
• One pair of sides for 5×7 inch sewing field
• One pair of split sides for 4×4 inch sewing fields
• One applique heart sized for the lid insert/lining
• One applique heart sized for the box insert/lining
• One in-the-hoop sachet bag lining design
• One small rosebud for optional embellishing on the lid

• One 16-page fully illustrated step-by-step color instruction book (PDF)

I’m sure once you download and start making these little hearts, you’ll start thinking of all kinds of clever ways to use them! And as you do, please share them on my Facebook page! If you post pictures of your projects, feel free to tag Lindee G Embroidery so they show up on my page and others can see them as well.

Or, you can get just the lace heart used in the lid or the sachet.

Thanks to all of you who have taken advantage of the very special Heirloom Lace Angel, shared the word about her on your Facebook profiles or chat lists and have sent me thank you notes. Also special thanks to those who shared your photos of your finished versions on your Facebook pages. It’s very heartwarming to see her pop up in my news feed and see that others are getting her made with perfect results.

Since I’m still getting a few questions about her, I thought I’d answer them here as well as to remind you that if you haven’t taken advantage of this amazing design, please do so before the end of the year!

The most common questions/comments about the Heirloom Lace Angel are:

Where are in the instructions?

The instructions are included in the download file called lgp001-colors.zip. I usually include any information that is the same no matter what format you choose in this zip file so that it speeds the download if you choose more than one format. The colors file is set up as a default (already enabled) option so all you need to do is download it.

What do you mean by wash-away fiber stabilizer?

Several of you have asked about the stabilizer. The ones to avoid are wash-away tearaway (leaves little hairy fibers behind) and films, even the heavy ones like Ultra Solvy, Badgemaster, Romeo, and the like. These products puncture with a needle, which compromises stability.

I have several water soluble stabilizers that completely wash out in my stash. One is a woven, called Aqua cloth. It looks like a light-weight piece of “normal” woven fabric and is shiny and slippery. I found I don’t get the best results with this type of product for lace.

The best product is a wash-away non-woven fabric. It looks deceptively wimpy. It’s soft and resembles a tissue. I sometimes have a hard time telling the wash-away from the no-show mesh, and test it by “chewing” on a corner to see if it dissolves. Many of the stabilizer companies have such a product. The one I use is from Hemingworth. I use this one because it is readily available both here in the U.S. and in Australia, where the bulk of my consumers live.

How does she stand up?

The stabilizer is not completely rinsed out, allowing her to stiffen as she dries. If you shape her while she is still damp, she will dry quite rigid and maintain her shape.

What type of bobbin thread?

I use regular polyester machine embroidery bobbin thread. I prefer to use prewounds when possible. Prewound bobbins are convenient, economical, evenly wound, and generally hold more thread than a standard sewing machine bobbin. Check with your dealer to see what types of bobbins are recommended for your machine.

I have a large enough hoop but it is a “split” or “multi-position” hoop. How do I sew these designs?

These designs are not set up for these types of hoops because there are simply so many on the market and I have no way to test. At one point, there were only a handful of these kinds of hoops but even then it was quite an ordeal to make the designs connect properly for each one.

If you are skilled in your software, you can rebuild the design. I recommend rebuilding from the individual pieces rather than splitting either of the two complete pieces. The skirt will fit together very easily; the head and wings won’t be able to be reassembled exactly the same as the full version but it won’t be noticeable. Sew each wing then sew the head last.

For the skirt, you can take the split up pieces (5×7 panel pieces) and reconnect them in software. I usually do this by assembling the entire thing and then dividing it as needed. With the skirt, divide at a panel seam. Also build the skirt horizontally and rotate vertically when done. Another tip is to bring each piece in as a different color. This will make it easier to adjust individual panels if necessary.

Start with the left side (your left not the angel’s). Rotate the first piece about 38.2 degrees. Bring in a middle segment and rotate it about 19.1 degrees and line up the left edge along the right edge of the first piece. Bring in the another middle piece and don’t rotate it at all. The 4th piece is rotated  minus 19.1 and the last is rotated -38.2. You may have to tweak the rotations a tiny bit. Rotate the entire design 90 so it will fit your hoop. Hopefully you can position the skirt so that it will split between the 3 & 4th panel.

I realize these are skimpy instructions but if you are comfortable in your software and think it through, it can be done. There are programs that split designs for you but these work best on direct embroidery (sewn on fabric) instead of free-standing lace designs that depend on internal structure for support.

I want to purchase her but I can’t get in to the shopping cart!

No problem! A small handful of people have troubles getting logged in. While this appears to be a cookie or browser issue, I’ve found no way of correcting it from my side. However, if you ever want to purchase anything and can’t get in, just email me with your list, we will then send you an invoice through Paypal, and when that’s paid, I’ll email the designs (be sure to let me know what formats!). Or, we can take an order by credit card over the phone and email the designs.

If you can get into the cart, we do prefer you use that method. It is safe and secure, and if you happen to lose your designs for whatever reason, you can go back and get them again. Plus, it’s pretty instant – no waiting on me to manually process things.

My format is missing a design file.

I use 2 programs for coloring and converting the designs. The “master file” is the DST version, which is generally the default selection. Each dst file is converted to VP3 and then colored (using Convert It Mac). PCM and SHV are also created with this program from the VP3 versions. Next, the VP3 is transferred to Windows where the remaining formats are converted with Buzz Tools and the Artista software.

I highly recommend that you include the DST files with whatever other machine format you need because this will guarantee that you get all the files including the ones that the conversion programs deem too large for your format.

Help! I selected the wrong format!

Don’t panic, just email me and I’ll get send you the right ones.

Do note, however, which ones are available. If your optimum desired format is not included, then let me know which one in the list you can use. Currently the shopping cart does not allow you to change your selections after completing the purchase. That option will require extra programming and I’m not sure how easy it would be. In the meantime, choose carefully and also include the DST format.

Can I shrink the angel for a 4×4 hoop?

While there is nothing to prevent you from shrinking the designs, I don’t recommend it and there are no guarantees of quality on modified designs. Free-standing lace designs are particularly intricate and depend on their internal structure for stitch integrity. Depending on your resizing program, this structure can be altered enough to cause the design to fall apart in areas.

I purchased a design and I can’t download it.

The usual problem here is that no format was selected. The programmers are still working on the shopping cart for the Singles category and they still can’t understand the default format selection (Engrish is a second language or maybe third or fourth…).

In the meantime, if you don’t get a file you ordered, just email me with your order number and your preferred format and I’ll email it back to you. Please be aware that if this happens, you might get the file in minutes or it might take a few days if I’m not sitting at my computer (I do sometimes do other things…). The shopping cart in automatic; I’m not. If you don’t get a response within 2 days, please email again. I at least will let you know if there will be delay in getting the files to you if I don’t have access to them.

I purchased a design and forgot to download.

No problem! Just log back into your account, vie your orders, and you can download your designs. Lost a design on your computer? Just come back a download. That’s the beauty of purchasing through the online shopping cart.

Will there be more designs like this one?

Do you want more? What types of designs are you looking for? As many of you recognized, this design involved a lot of technical work—not just to digitize, but also to draw, design, and  “engineer” so that she fit together properly and in a pleasing proportions. It’s way easier to just digitize and piece of ready-made art!

Personally I’m more satisfied doing one amazing design than boatloads of basic ones. (I generally pick designs based on things I like or would use.) However, I need to be able to know that the effort I put in will be suitably rewarded. (To put it bluntly, I need to sell a WHOLE LOT when they are priced this low; this is my sole income!) Thank-you to those who have purchased her, sewn her, raved about her, and shared the word about her to your friends. I truly appreciate it!

What do you want?

In order to figure out what types of projects are worth investing in, I need your feedback. You can post requests on my Facebook page or email me. If you choose the latter, the best way is to use the Contact Us form. If you simply add it to the comments section on an order, I’m less likely to see that (especially if it was on a free download order…).

In class surveys, I’m finding the majority of you have minimum 5×7 sewing fields and many have much larger. When you make your requests, please let me know about size as well. Also, the majority of you only have single needle machines, so please let me know if  you want designs with limited colors. You’d be surprised though, that single needle embroiderers are more willing to change threads on their machine than multi-needle owners when there are more colors than needles!

While I do consider all suggestions, keep in mind this is not the way to get a custom design done. In other words, if you’re heart’s desire is to have a crawdad dressed in Mardi Gras attire (an actual past request), it’s unlikely to get done due to a lack of universal appeal. Just saying…

This year marks the 15th anniversary of my first heirloom angel, created for an office Christmas party contest. At the time I still worked full time for an ad agency in Cincinnati (as well as full-time building the then fledgling Cactus Punch). There were several categories for the tree ornament contest, and knowing my co-workers, I knew I could never top them in the orneriest category so I decided to shoot for prettiest–and I won. The other party-goers were astounded when I said I made her and explained how. My boss, Mike, wasn’t surprised—he’d seen some of the things I created.

Best Original Embroidery Design Award

A few months later, I entered the angel again at METS, an embroidery trade show in Chicago and I won first place for best original digitized design. (Hey, it was 1997!) I never really intended her as a stock design, she was just something I made for the party. Here’s a picture of her–some of you may have sewn this design yourself.

The photo above shows her from the back. She’s sewn on nylon organza, cut out, and then the remaining fabric is melted with a soldering iron. Even after embroidering, she still requires  45 or more minutes of hand work to complete. Back then, she was was sewn in a multi-position hoop–what fun that was!

I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since I first digitized her and for the past few months I’ve been thinking about how I would design a new one. I’ve been making sketches and collecting images to inspire me. I knew I wanted her to be very special, something unique, something you won’t find an identical version of on someone else’s site. In fact, right now she’s exclusive to only Lindee G Embroidery.

It’s been a rough few years for many of us. Some have faced health issues,  others have lost loved ones, jobs, and businesses. It’s been rough for many of us in the embroidery business as well as we’ve seen the price of design plummet and the number of people buying them drop off as well. I wanted to create a special design that would inspire faith and hope.

Christmas 2011 Heirloom Angel

So here she is! She stands about 8.5″ tall and, if you have a large sewing field (200x300mm), you can sew her in two hoopings. I’ve also created split versions for 5×7″ (130x180mm) sewing fields. If you have a smaller machine, I suggest you upgrade!

As shown here, she is totally free standing and self supporting and requires only a few hand stitches to secure—far less hand work than my original version from 1996! She does have a few more stitches, weighing in at over 200,000 stitches to complete. Based on that,  you could expect to pay over $200 for her based on a typical $1/1000 stitches embroidery rate and that doesn’t include a set-up fee or special handling for finishing.

You’ll notice, too, that she doesn’t look like a lot of the free-standing lace proliferating the internet these days. You know the ones I mean—a mesh grid of fill stitches with some satin elements sprinkled on and a few voids here and there.This one is designed to look more like hand-punched lace and there are no “instant effects” on her.

The version shown can be disassembled in seconds to store or ship flat—well, pretty flat except for the flared skirt. Assembled, she’ll preside elegantly on your holiday buffet or fireplace mantle or  even grace the top of your Christmas tree.

While she does take quite a while to sew, she has no jumps, no trims, and no color changes so once you press the start button on your machine, you can let it run ’til it’s done, even on a single needle model. Smaller machines will require 8 hoopings and I’ve given those of you with those machines two options for the skirt: one is easier to sew but a little more time consuming to assemble (not hand stitching) while the other one requires attaching panels as you embroider.

The download includes embroidery files, color sequence PDF, and an illustrated instructional PDF.

I Must Be Insane!

If you think this angel takes a long time to sew, imagine how long it took to draw, engineer, digitize and test. The angel you see here is the third one I made, so yes, I do know how long it takes to sew! I also have a recycle bin full of paper mock-ups and throw-away designs. What makes me insane is that from now until next year (January 1, 2012) I’m giving this collection away for only $5!

Get Her Before the Stroke of the New Year!

Obviously I can’t sell her at this price forever so I suggest you get her soon. She’d make an elegant Christmas gift for someone special on your list. All she really takes is thread and some wash-away stabilizer. Sure she takes time to sew but that’s machine time not your time. Your time is just hooping, rinsing out the stabilizer and a small amount of time to assemble.

To test our theory, I decided to try and find out why embroiderers thought designs have so little perceived value by having them guess how long it took to produce a collection. Normally I only track time on custom digitizing but for this collection I tracked every minute related to producing the collection once the artwork was chosen. Although each design in this collection have intricate scroll work and is quite large (lots of stitches), each design is only three colors, has no shading, and no outlines. The difficulty factor is mainly in getting smooth even curves,

Since, as they say, “time is money, ” I ran a contest to find out how long embroiderers thought it took (in minutes) to produce a collection. There were 114 entrants who completed the form and submitted a guess. I want to thank all of you who did enter for taking a stab at the number.

As predicted, the guesses were highly revealing, I really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

• The lowest guesses were 12, 15, and 49 minutes.
• 98 guesses were too low
• 16 guess were too high
• The highest guess was 91,800 minutes
• The closest guess was 379 minutes under.

The actual number of minutes was 5214, or 86.9 hours—a little more than two weeks if you think in terms of 40 hour work weeks (been a long time since I worked that few in one week!). If you find this number shocking, then see how the numbers shake out below.

I Have Gotten Faster…

Some of the higher numbers would have probably been accurate in the past. I have 17 years of digitizing experience and after doing a fair number of designs, you develop skill and even intuition about where to start and where to go next. So if you’re just learning to digitize, yes there is hope! You will get faster but probably never as fast as you think you should—at least I haven’t. (BTW, read this post for some tips on how to speed your work that don’t require digitizing faster, just making smarter use of other tools and options.)

The designs in this collection are similar and while the only parts I could reuse were the little flowers, you do generally get faster on later designs in a group with similar characteristics such this collection.

Also, another factor that reduces the time it takes to do all the collateral materials (color sequences, web pages, etc.) is that I’ve designed a custom database that will import color sequence files from Convert It, Mac, the catalog file from Punto (my digitizing program), and the jpg image files to really streamline the process of creating the reference document that goes with each design collection.

You’ve seen this file if you’ve ever purchased a design collection from my site—it has a thumbnail image of each design along with color sequences and other design related details.

This database also compiles the necessary HTML for the shopping cart, which reduces technical errors and increases consistency among the design product pages. I’ve also created actions (macros) in Photoshop and Illustrator as well as some keyboard shortcuts for Punto with a utility that also shave anywhere from minutes to hours off the production of a collection. As a solo-preneur, it’s in my best interest to cut time where it benefits me the most while having no negative impact on quality. Where I won’t cut time is on that needed to produce a quality design, no matter how simple or complex.

Getting Ready to Digitize

A lot of time can go into just selecting the artwork. Even more goes into the artwork process if you are creating it yourself. For this project I purchased a font set that extended the right to use for embroidery. This was an OTF font so even if I had a TrueType converter in my software, it would not be usable.

On that note, even if I did have TrueType conversion and a TrueType font, I would not use it for producing a collection. Far too much editing is generally required for the level of quality I’m willing to sign my name to. Another reason a TrueType converter would not work is that the original font, like most, was solid black and I made it 3-color.

Size was determined by finding the largest height and width of all the letters and scaling it to fit a large hoop. This meant some letters would fit a small hoop while the largest letters would require a 150×240 hoop. All the letters are consistently sized so that multiple letters can be combined.

The font was laid out in Adobe Illustrator, initially sized and outlined. Only the upper case letters were used.

Then each letter was copied and pasted as a vector image into a digitizing design template file (more on that in a moment). The letter was scaled the determined percentage and then cut up and colored. Because my digitizing software is a professional program and works directly with vectors, I can do basic graphics preparation in it—a primary reason why I love it. The point to understand here is that although I saved the time of creating the artwork myself, purchased artwork is rarely, if ever, “digitizer ready” without some preliminary work. This is especially true if you are manually digitizing as opposed to using any form of auto-digitizing, including magic wand tools.

Before I even began this preliminary process, I created an embroidery template file to speed the digitizing process. This file contained all the stitch types I was likely to use and the three colors I planned to use (I later sewed the flowers as blue instead of pink).

By the way, if you are wondering how I digitize with a screen this cluttered, I don’t. I’ve just scrunched everything together so you can see it. I do the majority of my digitizing on a desktop computer with two huge monitors. I only digitize on a laptop if I want to digitize and watch TV.

I also added some basic keywords for the collection. My custom database solution will read the catalog file exported from Punto, which will automate a lot of the otherwise manual data entry. Adding basic info to a template file lets me reuse this file for each design and saves entering the same information repeatedly.

At this point I have 26 files saved from my digitizing program with just the artwork colored, one file per letter. Each file has the necessary stitches I’ll be using, a hoop template selected (technically my software doesn’t have hoop templates so I use a graphic as a reference), and the thread colors pre-assigned to the elements. All this preliminary work took 5.7 hours–and I’m still not quite ready to digitize!

Digitizing

The next step is open one of these files and refine the artwork. Then I’ll get to the actual digitizing of planning and placing the stitches (I say that like it’s simple but there’s a lot involved here!) and exporting the design for the sewing machine.

Some people would say that this is a finished design at the point but I disagree. All you really have is a digital file. It doesn’t become an embroidery design until it is sewn with thread on fabric.

• FYI: Digitizing the green segments took 80-90% of the digitizing time.

Test Sewing

The design must be watched while it is test sew; you can’t just throw it on the machine and let it run. You need to verify that it sews efficiently and there are no odd stitches or unnecessary jumps and trims. When the design is completed, you need to inspect it for any issues.

You’ll see in the list below, I have .46 hrs (about 27 minutes) of total editing time. (My time tracker, also a custom database solution, counts seconds…)

Note that the times listed here—although broken out into various tasks—are all required just to produce a single sewable design format for each of the 26 letters, in my case DST. True, the time I attributed to “digitizing” is slightly more than an hour per design, however, I could not have gotten to that point without the artwork prep. Sewing is also part of the digitizing process because how many of you want a design that hasn’t been tested? As Dirty Harry quipped, “Do you feel lucky?”

The point here—and really with this entire article—is that it’s not just digitizing, there’s a whole lot more involved—both before and after “digitizing!”

Want it Pretty?

At this point all we have is a tested and approved DST file and a sewout. That’s still a long way from having it “consumer friendly.” Do you want it in your format? Do you want it colored? Do you want printed color sequences? Do you want to see a picture of it before you purchase it?

As an example, here is the uncolored “3D” version of a DST file (letter “A”). Lovely isn’t it?

What You See is What You Get? Maybe!

To get images of embroidery for the web, there are standard two ways:

• Create a rendered or “3D” version in your digitizing software or color conversion program (commonly known as the cheater method)
• Scan an actual sewout, which requires more hardware, software, time, and skill (especially if you clean up the images by cropping away the fabric)

With the possible exception of redwork designs, viewing a scanned version of the embroidery is the best way you can really see how the design will sew.

For a cleaner image, I really prefer to crop away all the fabric around the design. This in no way changes the design itself, but simply makes it look cleaner and sharper. In other words, if I see a problem in the design while doing this process—and sometimes I do when it’s zoomed up a couple of hundred percent on the monitor—I fix the actual design. I do not simply photo edit the image to make it look right.

This is time consuming and for this collection, I only cropped off the fabric around the outer edges of the designs, leaving the interior fabric intact. This task is done in Adobe Photoshop, which is not only an expensive program but offers a steep learning curve. There are other cheaper options, I’m sure, but since I use the full Adobe suite in my business (and embroidery is my business, not just a hobby), this is what I use.

Trimming the sew-outs, scanning them, cleaning them up, and creating the required sizes and formats took 8.49 hours.

Packaging for the Consumer and Shopping Cart

Once the design scans are cleaned up, they are formatted variously depending on their usage. Low resolution jpgs in two sizes are needed for the on-line shopping cart. The full size jpgs are imported into the database for the color sequence list provided with the collection as a PDF.

High resolution files are used for print materials. Creating the formats is fairly quick once the image is ready, thanks to Actions I’ve set up in  Photoshop. This makes creating the formats almost as quick as mass converting embroidery formats in programs like BuzzXplore and Convert It, Mac.

Flyers and packaging are created in Adobe InDesign. The flyer can be downloaded from the website on the design collection page and the packaging front or back is used to create the thumbnail for the collection on the web (the image shown at the beginning of this post). In other words, if you’re thinking “there is no packaging, it’s just a download” you’re just not seeing the packaging in physical form. The only part of the packaging you don’t see/get with a download is the CD label.

Conversion and coloring took a little less time with this collection since all of the designs used the same three colors in the same order. Coloring can be especially tedious when each design has many varied colors. Also, since they are larger designs, all the smaller formats were skipped even though some of the letters would fit their smaller sewing fields.

Now that all the designs are colored, converted, and zipped and the collateral materials (images and color sequences) are ready, it’s time to transfer them to the web server and link them up in the cart. Unfortunately, the latter part is a fairly manual process although I have managed to automate the content through the custom database, which pulls all the related information together and adds all the appropriate HTML tags to make at least part of the process a simple copy and paste. This upload phase could be more automated but that will require specialized programming.

A Word About Multiple Sizes

It never fails that when I produce a collection that requires a larger sewing field that I get emails requesting the designs in smaller sizes. The reason these monograms are digitized at this size is the width of the flourishes. These designs can easily be enlarged but shrinking them will cross the boundaries of recommended minimum stitch lengths. Smaller versions would require changing skinny satin columns to run stitches, which means significant redrawing and redigitizing, not simply changing the stitch type.

When collections do have multiple sizes, it’s up to the digitizer how that is handled. Some digitizers just resize and add the converted resized designs to the group, sometimes without even resewing.

Better digitizers not only resize but actually test sew those designs. Better digitizers will also adjust designs at the various sizes as I did with the redwork sewing machines. For example, if these monograms were radically increased, there would be elements that would need to change from a satin to a fill due to stitch length. I would also need to change the underlay for wider satin columns. Some of the monograms are already at 20,000 plus stitches. Increasing the size would require another sew-out—more time (plus thread, fabric, and stabilizer…)

Digitizers often provide additional sizes because we have more control over the stitches when resizing in the original software. However, it is more work and adds to the time it takes to produce a collection. Those extra designs need to be tested, colored and converted and that takes just as long as any other design.  In other words, it does add value to the collection and not simply run up the total design or stitch count.

What About the Rest of the Time?

If you’ve been doing the math and adding up the subtotals above, you’ll notice we are a little short. In addition to the above times, there are 3.99 hours that are attributed to various small tasks that I didn’t break out but are none-the-less vital to completing the collection.

Some collections have a project associated with them and that requires additional work to make the project, write up the instructions, and in some cases, make a YouTube video. I still have the fabric and project concept laying on the cutting table for this collection so there are no times added for that.

So Who Won the Contest?

Congratulations to Sara R. of Tucson, Arizona for submitting the winning guess! Since I didn’t require or request permission to print her last name, I will tell you that she has been emailed the collection and color sequences for her Bernina. Thanks to all who entered, even if you made me laugh or cry at your guesses.

Didn’t Win or Just Want One Letter?

As with other collections, you can purchase the full set and download them as soon as your transaction is processed (pretty immediately!). If you just want one or two letters, they will also be available as individual designs.

Why do Designs Cost So Much?

I think you can see what went in to creating this collection. I recently asked the question, “how do you think designs should be priced?” on my Facebook page. The most common answer was, “stitch count” and that “designs like redwork should cost less.” I recently posted an explanation in The Truth About Redwork and that generated a few emails about the cost of designs so to give a more complete answer to the question, please see Why Do Designs Cost So Much?