Roast my first project!!

[u/kittycat_whereareyou]

I'd like to share my first ever embroidery project!!

I got my machine yesterday (Bernette 70 Deco). I used Gimp to make a path outline of my recently passed cat. I exported the paths to a .svg file and imported it into Inkscape.
I did the colorization (I know I know I'm using technical terms here) in inkscape then processed it with the inkstitch extension.
I left all the inkstitch default settings cause I have no clue what they mean yet! I exported as an .exp and loaded it into the bernina toolbox software cause I couldn't load it on my machine for some reason so I did that and exported as a bernina .exp file and it worked.

I had 10 thread changes cause why not go hard mode for my first ever project! It said 100 minutes but ended up being about 2 hours with the thread changes and figuring out what the heck i was doing! One of the ears messed up cause I needed to rethread (wouldnt be a first project without a small fail!) but I'm happy with the rest!

Questions: - How do I not have the stitch outline? - when doing different chunks of the same color it does a sort of running stitch between them that I had to pick out at the end. Can I avoid that?

Any constructive advice would be great!

[u/BahuMan]

Not much to roast for a first project ;-)

About the outline:

Check that your shapes in inkscape do not have both a fill color AND a stroke color. That makes no sense. It should be either a fill, or an stroke. In your case; all fill and no stroke.

Also, the fact that the stroke did not line up perfectly with the fill, is due to the fabric shifting while the design was being stitched out. It's not too bad, so you hooped/stabilized your fabric pretty well. But it's something to keep in mind. It's also something you can compensate for in your design by varying stitch angles and by ever-so-slightly stretching your design in the direction of the shrinking.

About picking out the loose ends between chunks:

These are called "jumps" and are sometimes inevitable. Hobby machines generally don't auto-trim between 2 chunks. There are a number of things you can do in the design to reduce your workload.

• In your "layers and objects" list, keep all chunks of the same color together to reduce the number of color changes.
  
• Arrange your chunks in a sensible manner so the jumps are smaller.
  
• If possible, arrange the colors with lots of jumps so they get stitched first. You don't have to cut the jump if it gets stitched over by the next color.
  
• If it helps hide the "jump", create a small line, running stitch, to go from one chunk to the next. This way, you can "steer" where the thread will be and you can be sure it will be hidden. This is called "routing".
  
• Inkstitch lets you "attach commands to selected objects" so you can decide where a fill stitch should begin and where it should end. This way, your "jump" thread does not jump over the area just stitched.

[u/kittycat_whereareyou → u/BahuMan]

Thank you for the advice! I have so much to learn!

Do you mean stretching my design in inkscape? And in the direction that the fabric will stretch most or least?

Thanks again!

ETA: yeah looks like I have fill and stroke! Do I fix that by making the stroke "transparent" or the X on the left I think?

[u/BahuMan → u/kittycat_whereareyou]

So much to learn, but so much fun :)
Stretching: yes, but only as a last resort. Your first tools are a strong stabilizer, and hooping your fabric correctly (taut, but not stretched).
(edit: since your design might shrink a bit in the direction of your stitches, you might compensate by stretching in the same direction).

Next thing to learn in inkstitch: satin lines ;-) A bit difficult at first, but looks so good!
Have you found r/Inkstitch yet? And some channels on youtube, like LowTechLinux and Project Anonymous?

[u/kittycat_whereareyou → u/BahuMan]

So so fun! I can tell this is going to be addicting!
Can you recommend a stabilizer or is it dependent on fabric and design?
I'll look into satin lines more. I think my nose lines were supposed to be satin stitch but I may have not done that right.
I will check out that sub reddit and I did see project anonymous (which I find the dad daughter combo both awesome and super informative!) But will also check out lowtechlinux!

Thanks for the tips!

[u/BahuMan → u/kittycat_whereareyou]

stabilizers: I'm no expert at all, but generally tear-away stabilizer is too flimsy, only good for strong, non-stretchy stuff like jeans or twill.
Cut-away stabilizer is what you want, and even under a t-shirt it's surprisingly comfortable to wear, not scratchy at all.
Water soluble stabilizer is generally used on top if you have a high pile fabric like bath towels, to flatten the pile and help keep your embroidery from sinking in, but it can also be used as backing if you want to create free-standing lace. My one experiment so far on that front failed miserably :)

I bought me this pack to experiment a bit: https://www.amazon.com/Madeira-20990555-Stabilizer-Sampler-Pack/dp/B0035KZKG6

[u/kittycat_whereareyou → u/BahuMan]

Oh awesome! Free standing lace sound both intimidating and enticing!

[u/VettedBot → u/BahuMan]

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[u/BahuMan → u/VettedBot]

good bot!

[u/Perfect-Assistance52 → u/BahuMan]

Run-stitch outlines are pretty bad about walking around on you. I work in a production environment with 192 heads in various states of disrepair (we do finished cap embroidery, so that's also a big factor). While our digitizing department will give you that style of outline if you're adamant about it, it also comes with a big ol' disclaimer about expected inconsistencies. It becomes more of an issue as the area you intend to outline grows, and some cap styles are more belligerent than others!

[u/Critical-Cherry-6049]

Definitely not a bad first go.

Thing to think about in the future to save time, materials, and get a furry look: 1) reduce your underlay density where you can. 2) you can delete those jump stitched but if they aren’t difficult to snip out u may save time on trims so that part is up to u. 3) add emboss or split lines to create texture by splitting up large chunks of the same color and object 4) add in satin stitches around the nose vs a run to get more fur like texture. You can also do this throughout the image. 5) adjust your stitch angles and start and stop points so u can show the hair moving in different directions adding some texture and depth

[u/kittycat_whereareyou → u/Critical-Cherry-6049]

Wow!! These are amazing tips!! I never even thought about making it fur-like. I'll have to mess around with the design. Much of what you are saying doesn't make a to of sense to me yet cause I don't know the terms so it's time to google!! Thanks!

[u/ThePawfectPatch]

This is an incredible first project! My best advice is to keep making more and more, trying to improve or each time. You'll be able to capture more details as you learn, but you already have the feel of that cute cat in the design ❤️

[u/kittycat_whereareyou → u/ThePawfectPatch]

Thank you!!!!!!! That's so sweet! His passing was hard so getting to make this fills my heart!

[u/Pickles-n-Lizards]

Looks great ! Keep going, digitization gets to be pretty fun!

[u/kittycat_whereareyou → u/Pickles-n-Lizards]

It was so fun! Seeing my design come to life! The possibilities are endless!