Density

In a previous post I mentioned the theory of digitizing to help us understand why we do what we do.

Okay lets take a look at what density is...

(Webster 1828)

Density, n.

1.  Closeness of constituent parts; compactness. Density is opposed to rarity; and in philosophy, the         density of a body indicates the quanitity of matter contained in it, under a given bulk.  If a body of       equal bulk with another is of double the density, it contains double the quantity of matter.

2.  Thickness; as the density of fog.

Now lets look at the basics.  By the basics, I mean hand embroidery.  If you've never tried doing a satin stitch by hand I suggest you give it a try to help you get a feel for designing a satin stitch in the machine.  Mary Corbet is amazing, I love her work and she has great resources on her site Needle n Thread.

Back to digitizing, lets say you want to create an embroidery using 60wt. instead of 40wt. thread.  You have to do a third (1/3) more of the stitches.  This concept works with all specialty threads.

                            I apologize if these are hard to view.  I could only do them so large.


                                                The density reads: 8957

                                          60wt Before adjusting density.

                                         

                     The density reads: 10392 (This was adjusted from 5 to 4)

I wanted to keep this short and sweet for a beginner.  If you have any questions, just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you.


Cultivating Creativity,
Dora (aka Elaine)

As of late...

... trying to catch up on a few things I've been up to.  It's hard to capture all my moments but I will share a few that I have.

Below is an embroidery I created with the sketch option in my Premier+ Ultra software.  I found a picture of a grouse that I really liked and sketched over it.  It is challenging to use on a computer unless you have Bamboo.  I use to have one, but when it quite I didn't buy another and am looking to trying my software on the iPad Pro which is built for professionals and supports CAD programs, so I am told.  The iPad Pro has a stylus that I LOVE.  There where a lot of stops and starts with this design, however I had to trouble with it.  It is NOT for sell in the Etsy shop.  The design was not free for commercial use.

 In September (I think, lol, time flies!) the girls and I went to Pineapple Fabrics with a friend of theirs.  We had a great time and we even tale gated!  My daughter packed a chicken salad lunch (which was great with corn chips if you have to do gluten free!).

While there we ran into a friend so we all headed

to Starbucks for coffee.  I regret not getting a 

picture with her in front of the huge chest of drawers on the outside of the building that Starbucks was 

located in.

This is a picture my daughter Eva drew with her Copic markers she's been investing in.  They are a little pricey, but the results were well worth it.  For that matter so is the paper for it. 

 I created the vinyl folder for her to keep her copic paper in on one side and the other side for her finished pieces.  This was so quick and easy.  I cut 2 vinyl pieces to the size of the paper and added 1/4" for paper thickness on all sides.  I then cut a piece an inch taller than the other two pieces of vinyl.  Next bias binding was added to the top of the shorter pieces.  All three pieces where then sandwiched together and bias binding sewn around all three layers.  I used plastic clips to hold the layers while sewing on the binding and top stitched with a straight stitch although for a brief (very brief)  moment I thought about using  something decorative.














Create what you love!

Theory

The key to good digitizing.  Just as in piano, a player can only improve when they understand the theory behind the music and a composer can only be as good as his knowledge in the area of theory.  You can compose a song without knowing what the circle of 5ths are.  However, you can create an even better piece when you know and understand how you get the circle of 5ths.

So lets delve into some embroidery theory over the next few months.  I still consider myself a novice, but I love to study things out and hope that I might be able to shed some light onto a few aspects of digitizing theory.  I have some background in hand embroidery that helps with this as well.

Here are the first couple of lessons we will focus on:

1. Density - What is it, Why does it matter and How specialty threads are effected by it.
2. Underlay - What is it, Why does it matter and How does it effect my design.

I will put out lesson one this month and lesson two in October.

I hope you'll join me as we theorize on how to digitize!



There are no mistakes, we'll just turn that into a happy little tree.
~ Bob Ross
(I love Bob!)

My Challenge Projects:

No takers of the challenge at this point.  Don't be afraid to take up the challenge later in the quarter.  I signed up for Aby's about halfway through and made myself complete these looming projects inspite of a family visit and unexpected cold plaque that hit our house.  I emphasized "made", because at the end I still wasn't feeling the best and almost said forget it.

• Digitizing Software:  A recipe design for kitchen towels.  I had such a hard time with this two - two and a half (who's counting!) years ago and need to finally go back in armed with the knowledge I have gained and do it!

• Embroidery :  Doing a cutwork design off the edge of a table runner.  I'm sure it's not as scary as it seems.  My husband once told me no one (or thing) could intimidate me unless I let them (it). 

• Blog:  To create a paper piecing tips page.  

Just Do It!

Challenges

I mentioned in a previous post about Aby's Challenge to quilters to finish there UFO's.  She is doing another UFO challenge this quarter and I thought I would do one on my blog.  This challenge will be for sewing related; Software, Embroidery or Blog.

Examples would be finishing that design you've been working on *blush*, stitching out that embroidery design that you've been afraid to do (*blush again*), or put up that post on tips that you've been thinking of doing (triple *blush*).

I hope you'll join in the challenge with me!  It's nice to know your not alone :).  Just email a picture or list to  nolimitsfiberarts @ gmail.com. Aby's challenge really helped me have a goal to finish my projects.   

I think I will run along the same lines as Aby to not confuse our mutual friends.  So this coming challenge will run from April 2nd to June 30th.

A word for Resurrection Sunday for those who believe; Psalm 100:4 "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Elaine

Using Create and Modify in Primer

I wanted to change the stitch design of an embroidery I made in Create.  The design looked nice, but I wanted to change the stitch type to one I really liked.  At first I tried making all my changes in Modify thinking that this would make things easier however it didn't so I played a little and below are my results...

All changes were done in Modify
Changed stitch design from 3 to 36.
Trimmed and Stitchs Optimized

Design change of stitch design from 3 to 36 only (no trim or stitch optimization),
was done in Modify.

Stitch design was changed from 3 to 36 in Create.
Then copied and pasted to Modify for removing trim
commands and optimizing stitches.


The finished product!

Ok, ok, the "k" has a glaring problem.  Although I can assure you it does not when doing embroidery on normal fabric (check my Etsy listing to see the embroidered tea towel).  I am also not sure if the problem is partly due to using two threads to create a variegatedlook  as much as it is the design on burlap (loose, not doubled).  I had such a hard time choosing a color from my stash to use that I combined the two I was most considering.

Premier Ultra Tutorial

This was a very helpful video I came across from Jan @ CompuSew.  

Software Horror and Balsa Wood

So, yesterday I come home to find this...

I had left my laptop on the arm of the couch when I went out for the day.  My daughter accidentally knocked it off and *sniffle, sniffle* .  This is my EQ7 (which I didn't know you didn't have to have it in while using) and my Premier + Ultra USB.  So I text Tay at work to find out about getting it replaced.  It wasn't cheap, but they did send it next day!      

On to the Balsa wood.  So I really like all the embroidery info at Embroidery Library.

They have a tutorial for embroidering on Balsa Wood.  

The butterflies didn't do as well.  The thread didn't secure well in some areas.

The heart and the cupcake turned out beautifully.

I'm not sure what I will do with these at the moment, but I love having tried it and knowing that I can mix these different mediums. 

Below is how I removed the sticky from the Balsa.  The wood is very fragile so instead of pulling the wood off the stabilizer, I pulled the stabilizer off the wood.  I would hold the embroidery design at a corner or angle where the stabilizer didn't tear easily to keep it from pulling up the design.

The biggest thing to remember with sticky stabilizer is not to leave it on for longer than is necessary.

Accessing Your Premier Thread Cache via iPhone

I downloaded the Thread Cache app from VSM on my iPhone.  I made sure my thread cache was uploaded to the cloud inside the software and then tried to access it from my phone.  I kept getting a version error message.  I thought this was from were I had upgrade from 6D to Premier. So I reactivated the dongle to make sure it went through.  I still could not access the app.

I did come across software help on the Pfaff website.  It is  http://threadcache.premierplusembroidery.com/ .  This is where you can access the cache online.

I called Pfaff about the app and they are going to get back with me.  However, whether they fix this or not I have come up with a simple solution.  

Go to the threacache website on your iPhone.

Click on the actions button.

☝

 Click on the Add to Home Screen button.

 Click Add and there you have it!

HTH,

Elaine

Update:  If you have Premier you can not use the Thread Cache app.  Saving the webpage to the homepage is the best option for iPhone users.