In my previous blog posting, I created a design in Silhouette, imported the SVG design into TurtleStitch and appliquéd the entire design. In this blog posting, I will continue my journey but this time, only appliquéing a portion of the design and using a running stitch for the rest of the design.
My tracing program is a SNAP! program whereby simple keyboard commands are typed and the movement of the mouse is recorded in a graphic table of X and Y coordinates. These series of X and Y coordinates create the path that will be embroidered. My computer code had to be modified because only a portion of the design is going to be appliquéd. I also wanted this code to be saved for the next Turtlestitch session. I added another column in the array to indicate whether or not the X and Y Coordinate will be appliquéd.
I created my Easter bunny design using the Silhouette software and centered it on an 8 1/2 in. x 11 in. media page.
I determined that the maximum image size for the Turtlestitch stage area is approximately 3 1/2 inches in height x 4 1/2 inches in width. I resized the image in the Silhouette software to accommodate this TurtleStitch constraint. The image cannot be resized once it has been added to the stage area in Turtlestitch. (Once the design is traced, it can be resized using my TurtleStitch program.) I then saved the image as an SVG using the Silhouette software. (Please note that Designer Edition or higher is required to export SVG's in Silhouette.) The image could be exported as a PNG or a JPEG file. However, the image was too small and blurry in TurtleStitch with the default parameters from the Silhouette program.
Press the "0" (zero) key to clear the "graphic" table. Move the cursor to where you want to start. Make sure that the appliqué command is toggled to green in the program. Press the "u" key to make a jump stitch to this location (I say the word "up" in my head as I do this to remember that the turtle(pen) should be in the "up" position as to not record the movement). Press the space bar. Make sure that there is a red line from the center of the design to where you are starting. The red line is a jump stitch.
Press the letter "u" to move the mouse without drawing. To move multiple times without drawing. Press the letter "u" multiple times. Otherwise, press the space bar to continue drawing. I placed the stitch points about an 1/8 inch apart. If the points are too close together, the design might not embroider successfully. If you do not like the last point that was traced, it can be removed with the "r" key. Only the last point can be removed with the "r" key so be careful as to where you place your stitch points.
When you have finished tracing the portion of the design that will be appliquéd, toggle the appliqué variable to false. Continue tracing the design. The rest of the design will then have a running stitch when embroidered.
Press the "a' key to view the appliquéd area and the running stitched design.
The "e" key MUST be pressed when the design is completed. Make sure you do this before exporting the design to be embroidered for your machine. I did not do this and my Brother PE 800 machine would not load the exported design.
Export the design for your embroidery machine. Have fun appliquéing the design!
To retrieve the Easter bunny that was designed, press the "a" key.
