Carolyn Keber has a new Embird mini-lesson called Creating Single Line Text.  This 10 page mini-lesson shows you how to take Embird plug-in lettering and create your own outline lettering in Studio. From there you are able to create different looks to your lettering by applying any number of different outline styles. This mini-tutorial is available for immediate download in pdf format.  If you are a member of Carolyn’s Embird Club you qualify for this tutorial free and would have already been contacted with your download information.

Hi Carolyn,

I would like to know how to edit punch text less than 10mm. You had mentioned this in your CD tutorial “ Fix text to Path” part 1.

I am making a logo for my support group and find that a 10mm is too big and size 8 seems to look and fit the best… but it clumps up underneath where the stitches tie-on at the beginning of a letter and tying off at the end of a letter. The thread also breaks quite a bit at these points and it looks messy on the back side of the towel! (This is for a 11″x18″ Golf Towel)

I am currently using 5.6 version of the PE Design and in your tutorial you only mentioned that the edit punch is the way to go for the smaller fonts but there are no directions on how to edit punch letters? Could you possibly give me a hand at this…(I am using font #8 from the list).

Thanks so much for any help you can give me.
Anna

PS Are you going to make a tutorial for Version 7 any time soon…I’m thinking about upgrading.

Hi Anna

It is very difficult to get a nice stitch out on text that is less than 10mm especially when stitching that text on something like a Golf towel - as you have already found out. I have several suggestions for you though.

When embroidering make sure that you have an embroidery film on top of the towel to prevent the stitches sinking into the toweling so much. If your film is fine you may even need several layers.

If possible slow your machine down when stitching text - especially small text - as some machines stitch really fast and by going slower it’s easier on the machine. I almost always stitch my text at 350. Slow, I know - but at least I always get a good result.

When creating the text in Layout and Editing you could increase the Pull Compensation by one point to help spread the lettering out a little.

Lower the density a little - although for stitching on towels you may not be able to do this and still get a good result.

To prevent the bunching and breaking of thread at then end of each letter when a tie-off stitch at the end of each letter is created try and edit the design - if possible - to create a running stitch connection between each letter so that tie-offs between letters are not required. You will have to use the Convert to stitches command for this and I cannot remember if this command is available in PEDS V5.

Alternatively if the text style isn’t important - which in your case it most likely is - you could create your own lettering using the original lettering as a template and then draw over it and create the lettering using a Redwork or triple stitch instead.

That’s about all I can think to do at the moment. I hope it helps a little. Email me back if you have any further questions.

I am currently writing PE Design/Palette tutorials for Version 7 and the first one should be out next month. It is all about text so you may be interested in it. It will be called “Text Made Easy” and is specially written for both V6 and V7 PE Design/Palette. I am using both versions of PEDS and where there are differences I will clearly write about both versions so anyone with either V6 or V7 will be at ease with these tutorials. The tutorial is in the same style as my Made Easy Embird lessons where I take you through and explain a subject step by step so that when finished you’ll be very comfortable carrying on by yourself.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
www.carolynkeber.com

Hi Carolyn

I have a question regarding merging of multiple items. When you do a name in Embird is there a way to bring in all the letters (ex SANDI) at the same time rather than having to merge one letter at a time? I read on one of the billboard posting about holding down the shift key. But as far as I can tell you have to be selecting consecutive letters and not letters all over the alphabet. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks, Sandi

Hi Sandi

Yes you can merge multiple designs that are not in order in the same folder into Embird Editor. Rather than holding down the SHIFT key you instead hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and then select each file that you wish to use. Click OK.

The designs will then appear on top of each other in the hoop and you will need to select each thumbnail from the right side of the screen and move the files into the correct position. If you then want to align them all nicely you need to select them and use the Edit/Align command.

I hope that helps.
Best of luck.

Kind regards,
Carolyn Keber
www.carolynkeber.com

Hi Carolyn

I use PEDesign Ver 6 and find it fantastic, but every so often I come across a design that will not let me resize it. I have tried all sorts of different tricks but no luck. I believe it is the design, not the program. Is there a solution?

Sandy

Hi Sandy

The method to use for re-sizing designs and recalculating the stitches accordingly is to “Ungroup” the designs and then re-size using Stitch to Block. However you may have already tried this without success.

Therefore this could also be the answer: One of the versions of PE Design - and I do think it was V6 - would not allow re-sizing. This was due to a “bug” in the program and was not intentional. Brother released an update to fix this. It may be advisable to check the Brother web-site and check whether your version of PE Design has any updates available. Brother release updates for “fixes” as soon as they realize that there are errors in their program. If you have the latest update and are still not able to re-size your design then perhaps you could send me the design and I’ll check it out for you.

Kind regards,
Carolyn Keber
www.carolynkeber.com

Hi, I use Embird Sfumato plug-in for embroidered portraits. I’ve been trying to make portraits in 2 colors (black & gray) with little success. Please could you help me with the right properties that will help me in this regard. Thanks for your assistance.

Ernest O.

Hi Ernest

The quality of the original photo plays a big part in the outcome of your design. Make sure that you have a high resolution photo before you begin. Also try not to use tiny photos if possible as photos are best when more detail is able to be seen.

I hope that helps.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
www.carolynkeber.com

Hello,
Do you have any suggestions about how to fix your machine so that the bobbin color does not come through on top over the color. The design looks tye dyed because of this.  I have a singer machine.  Thankyou, Jones Family

The top thread tension on your machine is probably too tight. That usually is what causes the bobbin thread to pull to the top. However, be sure that you have properly wound and installed the bobbin and check for lint build-up in the bobbin case too, as that will also cause tension trouble. The default setting for your machine’s tension should allow ordinary embroidery without having to change the tension of your machine. If you have cleaned your bobbin case thoroughly, installed it properly and threaded the top thread correctly and are still having trouble, I would take the machine in for repair.
 
Evy
www.abitofstitch.com