Pulse Microsystems Community

Version 2010 – User Experience Tips – Accessing Segment Settings Pages

Pulse_Billc — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:40:34 GMT

We recently added segment settings pages in Tajima DG/ML by Pulse 2010. In addition to the properties window, you can also double click on a segment or right click on a segment to access the segment properties. The settings are organized by category and only the settings that apply for a particular stitch type are displayed. This is a great feature if you need to change many different properties of a segment at the same time. Of course, the segment properties window is still available so you can decide which method of accessing segment properties works best for you.

Version 2010 – User Experience Tips – Shortcuts and Toolbars

Pulse_Billc — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:41:56 GMT

If you have used previous versions of Tajima DG/ML by Pulse before, the first thing you will notice when you start using version 2010 is that we have completely redesigned the user experience of the software. Version 2010’s workspace has been designed from the ground up incorporating the latest technology. These changes allow intimate control over your working environment. Over the next few weeks, I want to spend some time going over enhancements in Tajima DG/ML by Pulse 2010’s working environment. There are over 30 enhancements in work area alone. The next posts will explain these new features (in no particular order).

#1 User Definable Shortcuts

We had a number of requests to be able to reconfigure the hotkeys in the software. Ever wish you could assign a shortcut key to a feature that you use often but there was no shortcut available in the software? Now you can by selecting Tools-Configuration-Customize from the DG/ML main menu. Selecting the Keyboard tab will allow you to view, change or assign new hotkeys to DG/ML menu items and tools. Keyboard shortcuts will be shown in the “Current Keys” field. The setting “Set Accelerator For” allows you to change shortcuts for specific windows in the software. For example, you can have different shortcuts for the True Type Font Editor than the main design window. In most cases, you should select Design from the Set Accelerator list. This will allow you to view and edit hotkeys when working in the main design window. You can select from a list of tool categories and the individual commands will be listed. To assign or change a shortcut key, select the command, then select the Current Keys box and press the key combination that you wish to assign to this command. The system will indicate if the hotkey is already in use.

The software installs with a new set of default shortcuts. We decided to take the opportunity to reorganize our shortcuts to make them more intuitive. For a listing of the new shortcut keys, please select the Quick Reference Card option under the View Documentation section of the Tajima DG/ML by Pulse installation CD. A list of the new shortcuts can also be found in the New User Information section of the Pulse Microsystems Community.

But I want to use my existing shortcuts

It is recommended that you use the new shortcut keys, however if you are an existing user and would like to use the set of shortcuts that came with older versions of Tajima DG/ML by Pulse, you can do this by selecting Tools-Configuration-User Settings-Environment-Shortcuts. Here you can load the software with the “Classic Shortcuts”. Please note, when you load the Classic or Standard set of shortcuts from this menu, your existing shortcut keys will be overwritten. If you changed or created your own shortcut keys, these changes will need to be done again after loading the classic or standard shortcuts.

#2 Full Screen Mode

Full screen mode is great for digitizing when you want to get the most out of your viewing area. Pressing the F12 shortcut key or selecting Full Screen from the Window menu will toggle the full screen mode on and off. In the Full Screen mode, additional windows will be removed from your view allowing for the largest possible work area for your design. You can work on your design using the shortcut keys. To exit from the Full Screen mode, just click the “Close Full Screen” button or press the F12 key again.

#3 New Global View

The Global View has been enhanced, allowing you to see the “big picture”" when zoomed in on parts of your design. This saves you time because you do not have to keep zooming in and out to see where you are in the design. A highlighted rectangle in the Global View will indicate the area that is visible on the main screen. Click and drag to move the rectangle and your main screen is automatically updated. The Global View shows outlines only in order to generate the fastest possible image while zooming or panning.

#4 Spacebar for Panning

You can now press and hold the space bar while clicking and dragging with the mouse to pan from one part of the design to another. This works using the Standard style of shortcuts.

What happened to Stitch Edit Mode?

You can activate the stitch edit mode by pressing the M key. Pressing the M key again will switch back to Outline Editing.

#5 – Choice of Application Look

Selecting View-Application Look will allow you to change the colors and style of the windows and menu items. A number of themes are included. You should review these themes to see which style you like the best for you.

Stay tuned for more tips….

Charging for Digitizing?

Bev — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:35:00 GMT

New to the business a client asked about how to charge for digitizing.

There are a couple of ways people address it depending on they way they want to run their business. One is to build it into your cost and figure if they order over a certain amount you will eat it. The other way is to charge a set up fee. If you plan on giving the client the digitizing after the work is done, you can bill it as digitizing but if you want to remain the proprietor it needs to be on the invoice as a set up charge. That way they do not see it as a direct expense of digitizing and feel they have the right to demand a copy.

Some people charge a mark up on the digitizing figuring they spend time organizing for the digitizing or doing it, others figure it is part of the normal expenses of doing embroidery like thread and do not add extra to it. It really depends on how you view it and what your client base is like.

The only strong advice I would say is DO NOT GIVE IT AWAY. There is a value to doing a custom design just like when you go to print something that is custom the customer should expect to pay for artwork set charges. If you explain that it is something that is done specifically for them and will never be used again unless they order more, it helps them understand.

Another strong advice I would give is if it is the first time you are dealing with someone be sure and get some cash up front. It will be a hard earned lesson if you do not heed these words. Sometimes the most agreeable customer can become very fussy and changeable and if you have no money up front you can end up in the hole. The customer that volunteers a credit card number is usually the one to hang onto. They understand business and ready to deal professionally.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

Embroidery Operator for a Week, a great way to check out your business.

Bev — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:42:00 GMT

I had a call from a client who had set up a temporary embroidery shop for the Olympics. They were in a panic, unable to keep ahead of the demand for hockey jerseys and needed more man power. They do not know me personally since they deal with my office back east. They were right outside the International Pavilion and were doing the names and numbers on hockey jerseys and also names on the bus driver’s jackets. They were looking for a Barudan operator and were not aware they were in a strong Tajima territory and it would be near impossible to find one. My curiosity was piqued so I went to see what his two single heads and an I-line cutter were up to. It was very clear he needed another machine and I made the offer to bring my single head Tajima and I would also man it, and that is how I became a machine operator for a week.

It was a great time. The guys were fun to work with and I saw the importance of good digitizing and the need to avoid bad habits. They had learned and adopted certain techniques that were amazingly inefficient. Apparently it isn’t ‘cool’ on hockey jerseys for the sewing of the letters on the name bar that goes across the shoulders to show through the garment. So the name bars on the shoulders are done first on a rectangle of fabric and then appliquéd on the garment. That way there is only the rectangle shape and no letters that show on the inside. They were taking the hooped backing and by measuring and marking lines on the backing figured out the placement of the fabric bar in order to get the lettering centred on the piece. Although they are very familiar with doing appliqué it never occurred to them to do a running stitch at the beginning of the lettering program that would mark the placement of the rectangular fabric on the backing. A stop in the program after the rectangular placement line and before the appliquéd letters start would enable them to place the fabric and then go straight into doing the letters with everything lined and centred. No need to spend time doing all that measuring and marking, use the program to make life easier and more efficient.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

Do you know that in the past, art had to be hand drawn stitch by stitch before it could be "punched" ?

Pulse_Roland — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

I think there are not many digitizers left that learned to punch (yes, it really means punching... holes in a card) the hard way.

Before you could even start to punch, you needed to hand draw an amplification of your design. This was very tedious work. Not only you had to use a projector to amplify your design 6 times it's original size, you also had to draw and indicate each single stitch into your drawing. This work was extremely time consuming as you can imagine. In many cases, the artist was a different person than the puncher. The artist however had to know a thing or two about embroidery back then.

He used tools like compass, various types of rulers and hand held wheels with spiky points to *** little holes into the paper. That was needed to be able to determine densities for satin and fill stitches.

Below you can see a couple of images showing an example of a typical enlarged drawing, a portion of it for the fill area and also a picture showing some of the spiky handhel wheels.

Ah, not to forget, in those days prices per 1000 stitches were around US$ 50.- to US$ 60.-

Digitizing for beginners can be quite overwhelming, don't panic

Pulse_Roland — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:21:00 GMT

I realize that what is a routine for experienced digitizers, can be quite overwhelming for newcomers. Digitizing is an art, like painting a picture. There are flexible rules you can apply, important is that you start your work in a smart way.

One of the very basic procedures is to just plan your punching ahead by sequencing your color changes in a logical and rational way, whenever possible. Avoid repeating unnecessary color changes.

Run your design through your head first before you start to digitize.

Have a look at the image showing the full design/logo and the individual color changes with the suggested sequence from 1 to 6. Therefore, rule number one is: Plan your strategy ahead !

Opening Ceremonies

Bev — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:25:00 GMT

I was there, I was at the Opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. I was amazed, awed and proud. I was surrounded by many different nationalities all gathered under a flag of peace for the honouring of the athletes. Yes the expense is ridiculous to attend and to host but WOW! Some moments took my breath away.

We went by public transit, catching the bus to the Canada Line and heading downtown to B.C. Place. The trip went smoothly and we got there in plenty of time to pass through security and get to our seats. My only complaint was the food was marginal and fine for a hockey game but we were going to there for hours and a better selection might have been nice, it was of course very expensive.

We were prepped for the show and given instruction on what we were to do. During the count down we stood up with the back of our drum showing and yelled the number we were. We wore our goofy white ponchos so the light would be effective and learned how to hit our drum and follow our leader. They helped us assemble our flashlight so we were ready for the Northern Light display that was part of the show. We were kept entertained and amused while waiting for the big moment.

After the show we made our way out of B.C. Place to reverse our route. Although very busy this time everyone was polite and the line up although incredibly long was moving well. The Salvation Army was even on hand to pass out water to the line up. The only hitch was when arriving to our bus stop we waited in the rain and no bus appeared. We had been chatting with a volunteer to the games who had done costume fitting for the opening and when she reached her husband and had him swing by to pick her up offered us a lift home. How many places in the world would strangers offer a lift to family? All in all a great evening that will be remembered for a life time.

Thanks to all who made it great.

The Day Before the Olympics

Bev — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:53:00 GMT

This time tomorrow I will be making my way towards the opening ceremonies, how cool is that! However, I am feeling some stress since my sample machine decided to slowly wind down to zero velocity. It was like someone was playing with the speed until the needle poised mid stitch. I am half way through a Canada flag design. I was putting the flag on red hoodie to wear to the torch passing in my neighbourhood tonight. Now I am faced with deciding whether to pull the shirt off the machine or leave it and hope for a miracle when the mechanic shows up tomorrow. Maybe he can get the machine running and be able to complete the design mid stream? I think I maybe trying to come up with a creative way to cover the old design. Hmmm, perhaps appliqué, I will have to check out my stock designs.

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

11 Days before the Olympics

Bev — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:59:00 GMT

The count down is happening, 11 days to go before Opening Ceremonies. The crocuses are blooming and the daffodils are up 6” and in some areas they are blooming. It is the winter Olympics but it seems winter missed Vancouver this year. Last year there was weeks of snow on the ground making the roads impassable and more like frozen tracks on hilly roads, great fun. The city of Vancouver is not really equipped for winter. It happens so rarely that there is snow on the ground for any length of time it really isn’t worth it to invest in a lot of snow removal equipment. It is one of the things I love about the west coast. The grass is green all winter but I can drive 20 minutes and be in 5 feet of snow. Not this year though. Cypress Mountain which is one of our local mountains that is hosting some Olympic events is frantically stockpiling snow so there is enough to get them through.

I am fortunate enough to have been able to buy tickets through the online lottery so we are now planning our Olympic outfits. I think it will be lots of embroidery work and time on the machine but I figure it’s probably the only Olympics I will be attending. I had fun today making embroidered soap for the bathrooms.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

Off Shore Digitizing

Bev — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:35:00 GMT

I received a call from a company in Toronto that claimed they did quality digitizing for a lot cheaper than what I currently pay. I guess they didn't realize I am a digitizing centre but they got my interest and I started to ask questions. They claimed having 12 highly trained digitizers in Toronto (and 12 more in the US), could deliver within 8 hours. I am pretty familiar with the industry and highly doubted that a group of 12 digitizers in any one place would be something I wouldn't know about. They also said this work was being done at the low price of $3.75/1000 stitches! I have heard of many off-shore digitizers charging that but how could a group of North American digitizers make a living at that price. I have the latest greatest software, have been in the business for a long time and think I work pretty efficiently. I can’t see how they could pay the salaries, rent, heating, insurance, alarm, phone, and taxes and still have money for groceries! The first design was FREE so I decided to give them a test. I decided to get to know to my competition. I was told they could provide native POF or EMB files and most other embroidery file formats. I assumed they should have the latest software using the most advanced and efficient technology to pump out the stuff and make money at it, but high-end software is costly so how can they charge so little?

So I sent them a very straight forward design of a filled circle, with arced lettering of different size and fonts, inside and outside. I immediately received a read receipt for my email so I knew it had arrived. Well I waited the promised 8 hours and then followed up 2 days later.

I tried calling the Toronto phone number but it was temporarily out of service. No problem, I called the US number but the line was busy. When I searched the phone number I found that both the Toronto and US numbers were unlisted (the US number was a landline in Beverley Hills but was unpublished). How odd! Why would anybody not list their business number? On their web site you can send them enquiries over the internet which I did since I couldn’t get through over the phone. When I was finally able to talk with them, they claimed they never received my order and said that it probably didn’t go through because I didn’t have an account with them. They were very apologetic and said they would get it done quickly, so I resent the order. Within less than 8 hours I got the design back. Hmmm, the letters were closer on one side to the edge of the circle than the other. Oh, wait a minute, not just a spelling mistake but a complete word replaced by another. One line of text was smaller than the rest of the lettering. I found 8 mistakes in all (I thought I was playing the game of can you see the difference?). If you think about it how can they monitor their quality very closely with all those digitizers? Oh and did I mentioned that it arrived as a DST format even though I had requested PXF or POF. (They later explained that they cannot give out their native embroidery files (i.e. POF or EMB) contrary to what they told me before and what is on their web site!). So I listed the errors for them and they promised to fix everything, run another sewn sample and send it back to me quickly (with a scan of the sewn sample). I took this opportunity to ask them where their office was in Toronto since I will be there over the holidays and would like to drop by. I was told their Canadian office was in the process of moving (…probably to Beverley Hills, not that I blame them, the weather would be better in the winter). So I asked who the owner of their company was, and guess what….it’s a division of another company whose head office is in INDIA! They were advertising themselves as a Canadian based company and were promoting themselves as such but it sure didn't look like that was the case.

So I finally got back the corrected version of the design, and found another issue, the fill had a vertical underlay. Anyone who has taken a course with me knows that it’s a big NO NO. And by the way, the scan of the sewout they sent me as “proof”, well it was just the 3D view from their program SIMULATING a sewout!

Everyone loves a bargain but if you factor in the wasted time, frustration, and potential problems if I hadn’t intercepted the errors, it is just not worth it. As a North American Digitizing Centre I now compete with off shore digitizing that is misrepresenting itself as domestic.

The moral of the story, you get what you pay for!

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Leather

Bev — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:40:00 GMT

So here is something else from the trade show. Leather can be a challenge. This thought was put forth by someone in a seminar. The reason a surgeon has so many scalpels is because a persons skin is very tough to cut and quickly dulls the blades, therefore after doing leather the needle on your embroidery machine needs to be changed. It was the first time I had heard that one. I know we are usually really careful on how we sew a design for leather to ensure we don't cut it and make it pop out. Usually I try to use more fills than satin stitches and need to lighten up on densities in order to keep the row of stitches from cutting. I also usually add some extra underlay to ensure there is still good colour coverage. Certainly Leather is tougher than most fabrics we embroider but I hadn't heard that the needle should be changed after.

Some other things I have heard about leather are that sharp needles need to be used so they pass through the leather better. On the other hand I have also heard that ball points punch a bigger hole which is better for leather. Yet another machine mechanic said that once a sharp needle has been used for awhile it becomes a ball point anyway. So you figure it out! Let me know if you come up with a definitive answer.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

Idea from Day Two of the Trade Show

Bev — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:09:00 GMT

I would love to hear if anyone has tried or done this. I had someone in my CSI LSU Seminar( Crime Sewing Investigation, Lettering Special Unit ) tell me that they use a very light weight vinyl product under fills on towels. I was told that the vinyl tears away around the edge of the embroidery and helps good colour coverage and also holds down the pile of the fabric. The result is a really nice embroidery on towels. They tell me that even after the towel is washed it looks great and the vinyl doesn't show any negative effect.

I was at my Mothers over Christmas and walked into her two bathrooms to see beautifully displayed a set of towels, towels that I did for her. The ironic thing is I have no embroidered towels. It became a bit of a New Years resolution to make myself some nice towels and linens. When I did the towels for my Mother is was VERY early in my career and someone told me about using plastic wrap for holding down the pile on towels. You know, the kind that you wrap your leftovers in. That was probably before there were water soluble fabrics available so that is my excuse. There under the embroidery of my Mothers towels, clearly visible was plastic wrap. These towels have to be over 20 years old. Ok, guess I need to make Mom some new towels too.

From the Toronto Trade Show, Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur.

Sharing Ideas from the Toronto Trade Show

Bev — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:02:00 GMT

End of the day of teaching and it was a great group. When I get together with a new group of people, the greatest thing is when the group starts to share info. The boundaries drop, the competition is replaced by a sense of community. I am at the Toronto Imprint Sportswear show the day before it opens teaching the Embroidery Wheel that I helped Fran McAvity develop. One of the questions we had today was how to store the rolls of backing. Someone in the group told us how they use a closet rack, the kind that slips off the bracket. They can easily remove the rack to replace rolls but they can also just roll off the product as required. They can also stack the rolls by using multiple closet racks. Speaking as someone with limited space I think that is a great idea that will be coming home with me. Another idea suggested was using paper towel holders for the small rolls.

We also discussed when to change the needle. I have heard over the years many answers varying from machine mechanic to machine mechanic. One response I have heard is that you change it when it breaks. Another is change it after a week and another was after a certain number of stitches. One person said that when the black or white thread starts to look like it is breaking up or looking irregular they take that as the cue to change all the needles. He said that he finds usually everything sews well and the problem goes away.

Tomorrow I teach again and I hope the group is as sharing so I too can learn something from the people attending.

Later

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

On the Road Again...Toronto Imprint Show.

Bev — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:41:00 GMT

Final destination, the Imprint Sportswear Show in Toronto. I started my travels in Toronto before Christmas to visit family and headed east until I hit Montreal. Went North to Mont Blanc for more family visits and back to Montreal for the first day back at work for the Artistic office there. Caught up with the staff and then headed west along the 401 to my Mothers. In my one day of breather before the show I will be going over the two seminars I will be presenting. For the first one I am joining Fran from Gunold to give an all day seminar on embroidery. Fran developed years ago the Embroidery Wheel. It's a great way to present the elements that make up embroidery in a way that makes sense. The first part which I cover is about the parts of digitizing, density, underlay, stitch angels, compensation and stitch lengths. That usually takes us the morning and in the afternoon we cover backings, toppings, adhesives, machines, needles, tension and thread. In the middle of the wheel is the fabric.

The second seminar is CSI LSU. That is Crime Sewing Investigation, Lettering Special Unit. Lots of fun for me and I hope educational for the group attending. In that one I focus on quality lettering using predominately keyboard letters in the Pulse software. Presentations are done without branding so the information I present is done as embroidery education and not software promotion. I find many people with limited experience with lettering are unaware of some of the basics. Good lettering is considered the backbone of embroidery. We use to say you can tell the quality of a digitizer by the quality of their lettering. Keyboard lettering has certainly made it easier to produce nice letters but it is a tool and a good understanding of how to use that tool certainly helps. When I was with my co-workers they expressed concern that I was giving away information that was better left a secret. They were concerned that by teaching people the things that we had learned over years of experience we would be hurting our own business of digitizing. Obviously that is not how I feel about it. I think the lack of education has hurt the industry as a whole with many people not realizing what quality digitizing and embroidery is. I think by teaching people they will learn to see and appreciate the difference and frankly realize that sometimes you get what you pay for.

Well all for now. Mum and I are cooking with Julia tonight, Julia Child that is. If you happen to be in Toronto for the show, drop by and say Hi. I'll be the redhead in the Pulse booth.

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

My Love Hate Relationship with Keyboard Letters

Bev — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:34:00 GMT

When you are in a hurry and you find the right font and it sews wonderful, I love them. If I have multiple rows of lettering and it is a nice standard font, heaven! I probably have a half a dozen fonts I use regularly but I think because I am old school and fairly efficient at digitizing I find if I have to search too long to find the right one I might as well digitize it, especially if it’s just a couple of words.

When I am in a hurry and can't find the right font or don't like the way they sew, AGHHHHH! Sometimes I spend more time looking for the font than if I had just gone ahead and digitized. When I use the help menu and check out the families of fonts that certainly saves me time. I have sometimes thought it is quicker to choose a font that is close to what I need and edit it to match the artwork but found out it took me longer than if I had digitized it. I hate when I start editing a font and then realize it’s taking too long and I have a catch 22, where to go ahead and continue editing an existing font might be faster than starting over, or not. Sigh, I guess that’s all part of business. You win some, you lose some.

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Recipes for Success

Bev — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:41:00 GMT

As a digitizer that had to learn the importance of underlay, pull compensation and density, when Pulse first came out with the idea of recipes I wasn’t sure it would be very useful. Now I am recommending that people to use them all the time. I always say a good digitizers is control freak, wanting and needing to control what happens on the machine during the embroidery process. The better you are at understanding and controlling things the better the quality of the embroidery you can produce.

A customer just sent me a design that was a very simple one letter and two numbers. They had tried to make the design themselves using the keyboard lettering and were not happy with the results. That’s why they sent it to me to do. I was curious what they had or hadn't done so I asked them to send me their file for a little look. Figured I would critique the design and give them some feedback. I opened their design and discovered it had no underlay and no pull compensation and it was going on knit. So I explained to them how to use the recipes that it makes it so much simpler for the rookie to be able to create nice designs. When learning to digitize there is so much to take in, it is nice to have some details like density, pull compensation and underlay taken care of for you. By choosing a fabric/recipe when starting a new design the rookie digitizer only needs to worry about making the translation of design into stitches, simple right? NOT! At least it makes one part of the digitizing process easier.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

beverleyfield@shaw.ca

Bev' Modern Merrow, Chapter two of Something Old, Something new.

Bev — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:11:00 GMT

The OLD

Once upon a time in the ‘good’ old days, when someone wanted embroidery, there were crests.

The process: Crests used to mean embroideries were done on a cotton drill fabric. They needed to be a rounded shape and this was marked with a running stitch which was followed for cutting. Cutting the crest was normally done with a dye cutting machine which was another reason why the shape could not be too elaborate. Each individual shaped dye was made from metal (very expensive) and required a clicker machine to press the dye down onto the fabric with force to cut - much like making cookies with a cookie cutter.

The embroidery machines: Originally, crests were made on Schiffli (loom) machines which ran at 120 stitches a minute, no thread trimmers, no auto colour change and running 24 / 7. They had 340 needles that were manually changed when a colour change in the design was required. Get out your reading glasses! Later, direct embroidery was done on 12 head flat bed machines.

The border: The general favourite was a “merrow” border. This border required a special overlock machine called a merrow machine. The border was 4-5mm wide so it required a design to be big enough to be comfortable with that size of border. The crests had to be a gentle shape with easy to follow corners. The merrow border was done independently from the embroidery machine and done as an over lock so no fabric would peek out from the border. See Figure 1.

The thread: The thread used to create the border was a high sheen floss, 600 or 1200 denier. Standard embroidery thread today is 40 wt which is a 120 denier so 5 strands of 40 wt thread would equal 600 denier. This method of “cheating” for merrow borders was often used when non traditional coloured borders were requested.

Notes:

The border could also be a single border or a lockstitch border. The single border was used for small designs where there was not much space for a merrow and was basically a satin stitch border or a steil. The lockstitch border was used for designs that had an irregular shape and required inward angles that the merrow machine was not capable of doing.

Overall:

The equipment was costly for both dye cutting and merrowing. That was why companies needed to specialize in crests and produce large quantities in order to be profitable.

The crests were then sewn onto the garment when they were complete. To this day crests are still being produced on Schiffli machines. Now, however, we also have direct embroidery “multi heads” that run up to 1200 stitches per minute. These versatile and fast machines can do direct embroidery onto garments as well as crests.

The NEW (Bev's Modern Merrow)

The traditional way of doing the borders remains the same, until the introduction of a heavy PVA water soluble film such as Heavy Solvy® 80 Film. Then the fun began. This gave us the ability to do stand alone embroidery or lace, but more exciting, we no longer need the expense of dyes or the merrow machine to put an overlock border on. Our embroidery machine can do it for us. We also can make any shape into a crest and in any quantity - as few as one!

The process: Challenged by Fran to come up with an idea for a trade show, Bev came up with an adaption to the way she had been doing the border on her e-dolls to make it work as a fake merrow. (See Figure 2) There are still two steps, with the embroidered crest being done first on a fabric background.

Step 1 The embroidery: The embroidered crest is completely sewn and then finishes with the indication of the border shape being defined with a running stitch. The running stitch is placed in the middle of the future border (see Figure 3) and the crest is then cut out according to the running stitch shape. (See figure 4). There is a bit of practice required to find out if you need to cut close to the line or allow some space. The idea is the sewing of the border will cover completely the edge of the fabric. After cutting out the embroidery, you will have a crest that has no border on it.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Step 2 The border: Create a program that works just like an appliqué. For those of you not familiar with appliqué that is when we use fabric to fill an area. This time we are using our crest shape as our appliqué. It’s nicer to have the bobbin thread to match so you may want to wind your own to match the top thread colour. All that will be hooped is the heavy PVA film. We are sewing directly onto the heavy PVA film and need to indicate the placement of the crest. The first part of the program is the placement running stitch just inside where the border will go. (See figure 5)

Figure 5

When the machine stops, the appliqué is placed. It’s like matching the shape just like you did a as kid. If you are worried the appliqué/crest will move, a slight spray of adhesive will help hold it into place. You will then need to re-start your machine on the same needle so it continues to sew. A good suggestion is to then do a zigzag stitch that will hold things in place and then a light density satin stitch to finish. For a greater margin of error the bigger the border the easier it is to ensure the edge of the fabric is well covered. (see Figure 6)

Figure 6

Technical note: A very important part of understanding the process is to know that when you have the same needle programmed back to back the machine will stop. That is the way we stop the machine for appliqué insertion. The program will need a total of two colour changes or stops. Initially the first stop or colour change after the running stitch is so the machine will stop and enable us to place the cut crest. Be aware that newer machines have the ability to over ride the stop and you may need to check your manual if the machine doesn’t stop. This is an easily adjusted setting on your machine. For example if you wanted a blue border and the thread spool was on your third needle you would need the sequence to be 3, 3, for it to stop when needed.

The miracle: Once the border is all sewn you can just peal the finished appliqué off the heavy PVA film and TA DA, a crest!

Beverley Field (Co written with Fran McAvity for the IMPRINT CANADA MAGAZINE)

The Embroidery Dinasaurs……

It's important your underwear fits.

Bev — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:36:00 GMT

For those of you who don't know me, I love to horse back ride. Although I live in the city there is this great place 8 minutes from my house that is home to 580 horses approximately. The area is situated between the downtown area and the airport and is very special for us equine lovers. I have a horse down there and he has been on re-hab. He had a minor injury that required light work which meant I also was not riding much. Yesterday was the first time I have really ridden in weeks and that is when I realized how important it is that your underwear fits....if you know what I mean.

As I was taking an underwear break I was listening to an instructor give a lesson to a very qualified rider. I was able to listen in and also watch the rider and the impact they were having on their horses’ movements as they followed directions. It was a great way to learn! Instead of being on the receiving end of instruction I was able to get a different perspective. It was much like when people go to watch clinics but this was my own private clinic.

It dawned on me that I was doing what I always recommend to digitizers. Watch how embroidery runs that was digitized by someone else. I have sat in on webinars and seminars and have learned different perspectives on how to do things. I may not always agree and sometimes I have tried their method to find I prefer mine but I have learned, just like I did watching another rider and instructor. You can learn the impact the sewing action has on the fabric and the efficiency of the machine. So I learned a couple of good riding tips and I also learned it's really important your underwear fits!

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Christmas is coming…

Bev — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:08:00 GMT

I can’t help it, running through my head is the song “Santa Baby.’ You know the one, “slip the sable under the tree for me…I been an awful good girl, Santa Baby and hurry down the chimney tonight.” I always end up doing a flurry of shopping at the beginning of December because my husbands’ birthday is then. I shop and get a ton of stuff and then figure out what to give for his birthday, what our daughter will give and what I hold for Christmas.

Well this year instead of starting with him I started with my wish list, but mine is for Santa Pulse. I could use some back up on this one since I am sure the squeaky wheel gets the oil and if I can rustle up some support maybe we can get moved to the front of the long line of ideas that the programmers are working on. I have been told they have many requests, and I am sure with the changing operating systems they have been kept busy since Pulse are the only embroidery software licensed by Microsoft.

Well let’s get back to my list. I think it would be a great feature to have lasso vertex select. I call them the nodes but in the software they refer to them as vertex. The hot key is N which is maybe in some bizarre way why I call them nodes. It helps me remember the hot key. When I have those detailed designs, even when I shut off the unwanted colours I find selecting all the nodes I want to move would be so much easier if I could lasso them. Then I could weave my way a round the unwanted ones which I find awkward with a click and drag box. Any feed back people? Go to comments and let me know what you think of my idea either good or bad. I can take the criticism, I learned that a long time ago when my idea of beautiful digitizing was trashed by someone else’s, but that would be another blog.

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Digitizing!

Bev — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:28:00 GMT

I just had a group of four people in for training on digitizing. I have a different approach when teaching digitizing to software since it is more about understanding how the machine operates than knowing all the functions in the software. I try to teach people to understand how to use the tools of the software to get a quality digitized design.

I equate it to two people wanting to build a piece of furniture, one a carpenter and the other someone like me who knows nothing about building furniture. I can give the person with no knowledge the best power tools and full training on how to use the tools but they will still not be able to build furniture. On the other hand I can give a hand saw and hammer to the carpenter and he will still have the skill to create something beautiful. Software is a tool. You can buy the latest greatest and it will definitely make your life easier and provide some great creative possibilities however your understanding and knowledge of the medium and how to use the tool is what will make a great digitizer. That is why I always encourage people to get training on software and also attend classes that are on digitizing and drawing. Once you have a clear understanding on how you want the machine to sew, you then need the knowledge of the software to make it as easy as possible.

The functions and features within the software are incredibly strong but if you don’t understand how the machine must function for efficiency you have only attained half the knowledge. Some of the best training for someone learning to digitize is to watch the machine run a quality design, and I mean watch. Try to understand why the digitizer set up the design to run the way they did. Try to understand why they chose the color sequence they did and the stitch types. If the design trims and makes lots of color changes ask yourself if they were necessary. Was there a way of ‘cheating’ on the design to avoid some of the trims and color changes? The efficiency of one design will build into profits in your business when looked at all year long.

Beverley Field

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Help me Help!

Bev — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:45:00 GMT

Whew! Just finished with a fund raiser for a children's charity and am back to the embroidery part of my life. I am prepping a seminar that I will be giving at the Imprint Sportswear Show in Calgary next month. I am calling it CSI-LSU which stands for Crime Sewing Investigation, Lettering Special Unit and I could use your help. I want to be able to present a bunch of issues that people commonly encounter with lettering and figured this was a good place to throw out the question. This seminar is based on lettering and I want to resolve some of the problems that people have with the different styles of letters and I would appreciate your feedback.

What I have planned so far is to discuss fabric, pathing, left to right, right to left and centre out. Underlay in relationship to fabric, colour, 1/2 tone fills under letters on polar, types. Also stitch types for different sizes of letters from satin stitch, satin with satin border, turn fill, fill with satin border and random satin. Also I was thinking of doing sewing style vs. stitch count. Then I thought I would cover Blended letters the created fonts and the different methods of doing blending from automatic in the software to digitizer controlled.

I wanted to discuss the Stitching techniques for the different styles of fonts and True Type. Then I thought of finishing off with some samples for us to do diagnostics on. Well that's the plan but I would like to know it there is anything that you have encounter and would be good for me to include? Let me know, I would love to hear from you and you can either email me or leave a comment in the box below, thanks.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

artembbc@shaw.ca

Understanding Embroidery Sequence and Stitch Types

Bev — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:36:00 GMT

The transition from print to embroidery requires an understanding of the medium. When looking at a design and deciding on the layers and colour sequence I also figure out how I plan to fill the section. If we look at the design of the eye we need to first know if the white areas are filled.

That is something that maybe determined by the garment colour or even the look of the design. If the answer is yes, then one possible sequence could be to do the black then the red and finish with the white. The black fill inside the eye would be done as a complex fill, then the red fill of the eyeball, the white highlights and the white border and maybe even returning to the black for the outside border, done as a satin stitch to clean up the edge. If the design was small the outside black border may have to be done in a running stitch. I would prefer to do the white highlights on the eye in a satin stitch on top of the filled eyeball so they would have a raised effect. I have not only decided the colour sequence that I am doing but also the stitch type I want to use.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

Cash, Charge or Free?

Bev — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:25:00 GMT

It seems to be fairly common that people want to negotiate price. Understandable when the digitizing rates are all over the place people feel they have the power to do so. When I started in the business of digitizing the rate was $30/thousand stitch. The time and skill required was a learned art. That was when the importance was on proper use of density, underlay, colour changes, pathing and trims to make the machine as efficient as possible. As computers became better and the software evolved the speed to produce the design replaced the speed to get the design embroidered, at the cost of quality digitizing.

Software is a tool and only the most skilled can use it to its best. Digitizing that is charged out at low prices requires volume to make a living. I would rather be paid more for a quality digitized design than to work my butt off producing mass amounts in order to make the same living. When the cheap digitizing was first made available by email there was many of my clients who gave it a try. They soon realized that in most cases, you get what you pay for. Having to get things repeatedly re-done before the design works is not a saving. I still have some clients that send off shore for the easy stuff and use us for the tough stuff, and I am OK with that. Tough for some, is not tough for others. I have also started to see that the people who have joined the embroidery community in the last years are starting to realize the difference between a quality digitized designs and a cheap one. You just need to stand beside the machine to see the difference. Most companies make their money from doing embroidery and the better the machine runs and produces quality the better their business will grow.

What to say then when a digitizer is expected to work for free? I find most people do not value their time enough. We forget that to just show up to work, turn the key and open the door has a cost. Even if you work out of your basement there are expenses like computer, software, phone, insurance and heat to mention a few. All of those things need to be paid out of the profits of your business if you are the owner, before you even get a pay check. Certainly for a good and stable client you want to do them a favour once in awhile, especially if it gets them out of a bind, like the order that was lost on their desk for a month or your favourite charity that is raising money. If your average design is $25 or $250.00 and you make 5% profit it takes a whole lot of digitizing to pay the bills and you’ll be lucky to buy a burger let alone a steak. So back to the question of being asked to work for free? No thanks, I don’t need steak every day or even once a week but once in a while is nice.

That being said, it's Saturday and I am busy enough to be at the office so I had better get to it.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field

Teaching a rookie, the day of training.

Bev — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:15:00 GMT

So I had fun. I was training a Mother/Daughter team the Illustrator Extreme level of software. They were very nice people and eager to learn. They had been playing with the software so were aware of where some of the icons were. We spent the first part setting up the user settings like right click to complete segment, the Global in their recipes, and making sure the Absolute Density was on. They have no digitizing experience so I wanted to make things as friendly as possible.

Normally when I train a digitizer internally I have them running the sample machine almost full time for a few months. They will be running the designs of experienced digitizers so they learn how the machine moves and works before attempting to start programming. Most machine operators run the machine but do not really watch how things sew. If the machine stops they address that but don't worry too much about the "why". They do if it becomes a repeated problem because their frustration level will drive them. With my digitizer-in-training they are required to watch, really watch. I stand beside them and ask them for explanations on the sew sequence as well I ask them to explain the stitch types that were used. Often the first comments I get from a rookie is "how and where do I start a design" They need to look and plan the design. Watching the machine helps them understand the reasoning behind the plan. Rookies also need to start with baby steps. Don't take on complicated designs that will just frustrate. Hire those out to a good quality digitizer and when the design comes back watch them run on the machine to understand what they did. You are trying to learn how that digitizer planned the design. Remember that embroidery is an art form and just because they did something in a way that is different than how you would do it, does not necessarily mean it is wrong, it is just different. If there are problems with the design then you can start thinking there maybe something wrong but hopefully this isn't the one design they did on a bad day that you are trying to learn from. Every digitizer develops their own style just as any artist does with time. It's worth a call to the digitizer if you are really confused. It might just teach you something or you might get a new perspective.

Use to be lettering was considered the measure of a good digitizer, but that was before keyboard letters. Now they are a great way to teach pathing to a rookie. Give them a word and see if they can plan the sewing path and get all the pieces. It's a way of applying what was seen on the machine to the mental process of pathing. There are so many things to consider like the pull compensation, underlay, density and overlaps that they make a great learning tool. Key to it all though is taking the knowledge and applying it to the next design, even if it is a shape that is not a letter.

All for now from the embroidery dinosaur, let me know any comments or feedback on things you want to hear about.

Beverley Field

Teaching a Rookie, the plan!

Bev — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:48:00 GMT

Over the course of my years in the business I have trained many digitizers, some for my own business and many for other companies. The thing that any company need to establish is consistency, in all phases of work from the person who greets the customer to the final product that is delivered. Consistent digitizing is difficult to maintain since it is an art form and every digitizer will interpret the designs differently. I have often found it easier to start with someone with no prior training than trying to re-train someone that has been trained elsewhere. Those preconceived ideas sometimes get in the way and old habits die hard. I can't tell you how many times I have told a very experienced digitizer when doing spacey letters that are not trimmed between, to put a lock stitch on anyway in case a keen operator decides to manually trim between them. They never seem to notice and the lock is never there, it is an old habit I cannot get them to break.

Tomorrow I am teaching a rookie. I have been told they have lots of machine experience but very little digitizing experience. I will find out if they have been really watching the machine. I am hoping they understand how the machine works, runs and moves and we will be able to focus on teaching them how to use the software to get the results they want. I'll check the User Settings are arranged to their liking. Set up their "Global" setting and insure they have clicked on the "Absolute Density" and then start making our way through all the different tools available. That's the plan, I'll let you know how it goes.

The Embroidery Dinosaur

Beverley Field,