Lesson 12 - Manually Digitize Flower - 1

In this series of lessons, we will manually digitize the Flower bitmap that is in the Embroidery Album. We will discuss the rationale behind each of the steps involved in creating embroidery from a graphic.

Let's bring the bitmap to the design screen.

Click Image, Insert Image...

The Open dialog box will appear. Click Flower. Click Open.

The Flower bitmap will be placed centered on the design screen.

The first thing we must do is to plan the stitch types and approximate thread colors for each object we will digitize. We will generate the plan based on color. This is done because we want to group as many objects as possible by color, eliminating unneeded thread changes.

Sewing embroidery is a layering process. Objects sewn first may be under objects sewing afterward. When objects sew under objects, gaps between objects do not become a problem in the embroidery.

The leaves should be the first objects sewn because they need to be under the stem. We can sew them in satin stitch because they are never wider than 3/8". Zigzag is the appropriate underlay for these satin stitch objects.

It does not make a difference which leaf you start with. That type of decision is user preference.

The next object to be sewn should be the flower stem. Again, we can choose satin stitch because the width is appropriate. The stem is quite thin, so center run underlay is more suitable.

The flower petals are the next objects to be sewn. Again, it is user preference which color and which particular petal goes in sequence. Whatever you choose, digitize all petals of one color, then all petals of the second color. The petals should be sewn in satin stitch with zigzag underlay because that is appropriate for the petals.

Finally, the center of the flower is sewn. Here we can make an artistic choice to change the fill pattern, even though satin stitch would be appropriate also. In addition, it will provide a different look, since all other objects are sewn in satin stitch.

Now we have a plan we can follow to guide us through the digitizing.