A Pretty Felt Playhouse -Part 2

Finished!  And with a little time to spare. We decided to just button down the sides instead of sewing them.  It will make removing it from the table and folding it up for storage a little easier.  Kate got to see it during the final fitting since she is doesn't talk much and is t... [More]

Thinking Out of the Block: Embroidering on Pieced Fabrics

Perhaps one of the greatest attributes of machine embroidery is its versatility. Embroidery can easily stand alone or, when combined with pieced blocks, become a personalized second-dimension embellishment.   The Blocks I fussy-cut four 6.25-inch blocks from a striped fabric (I used Jackie... [More]

A Pretty Felt Playhouse - Part One

OK.  It is the Thursday before Christmas!  A few weeks ago my daughter showed me a picture of a playhouse made from felt.  It fit over a card table.  Very cute and felt is easy to work with. So I planned one for the girls for Christmas.  When I showed my drawings with the me... [More]

A Snowman Sweatshirt Jacket

  Snowman Sweatshirt Jacket     Being a cold natured person, I love making jackets out of sweatshirts.  They are warm and comfortable. This is one that would be perfect for the child in your life. (Adults would love it also.)   To make the jacket, you will need: Sw... [More]

Metallic Thread Tips

Working with Metallic Thread At this time of year, we seem to have more need to use metallic thread than any other time. If you find that you struggle with this thread type, try some of these solutions. When shopping for metallic thread, buy the largest spool you can afford. The larger the spool di... [More]

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Embroidery Advisor Presents: Rub a Dub Dub, your Critter Kid in the Tub

You either have a kid who hates bath time or loves it.  Why not try to make your kid’s time in the bath a little more fun?  How about sewing them a personalized animal towel/bathrobe that is all their own?  Have a look at the Critter Kids Bathrobe Design Pack to make a special t... [More]

Great Gift Ideas for the Creative People in Your Life

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Stumped as to what to get your favorite quilter, embroiderer, or craftsperson? Hate the idea of Black Friday chaos? Shop from the convenience and comfort of home, 24 hours a day, any day of the week, on AnntheGran.com. Here are some suggestions. (If fri... [More]

More Than One Use for a Christmas Design

I think its time to start some of the projects I want to do for the holidays.  I usually wait too long to actually accomplish them as things get very busy as December draws near. Dakota Collectibles has a new “Merry Christmas Ornaments” collection that combines free standing lace a... [More]

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...

          Do you ever embroider small lettering that seems to disappear completely in to the fabric? Sometimes it seems that there is more thread on the underside of the material than on the top! There are some simple things you can do to make sure that your small lett... [More]

I made this from a Linen Guest Towel---really!

So here's the thing---I didn't get any sewing done in the last couple of weeks.  I was getting ready for and attending the Houston Quilt Festival for the last two weeks, and this week I was playing catch up the whole time.  So when faced with a little deadline for this blog, I... [More]

Merry and Bright: Christmas Embroidery with Lights!

The new Merry and Bright collection from Amazing Designs incorporates blinking lights with embroidery for an adorable holiday accent unlike anything I've ever seen.   Ten eyelets are embroidered within 14 different designs. Eyelets are then cut out for placement of 10 LED Fabric... [More]

Embroidery Advisor Presents: Courage. Strength. Cure.

I am sure that a lot of you have been touched in some way by *** cancer.  Whether it being Yourself, or your Sister, or your Mother, or your Friend.    While we wait and hope for a cure, there can be many ways to keep our hands busy & our hearts tender.  The Cancer Scrapb... [More]

Halloween Applique: Not Just for Clothing Anymore

Applique is usually reserved for embellishing clothing or quilted items. Unfortunately, that doesn't allow for much face time. Holiday applique is especially vulnerable to a short shelf life. But by it's very nature, applique is perfect for holiday decorating where it can be v... [More]

Bobbin Tails

There are many kinds of bobbins available to us for embroidery, but and there is no single answer to the best bobbin type for every embroiderer or every machine. There are metal, plastic  disposable, plastic reusable,  cardboard and sideless. Bobbins also come in colors. Colo... [More]

Sweet Sweet Shoes

Our baby girl just loves shoes, anyone's shoes will do.  She brings them to be put on and clomps around, falling about every other step.  She carries them around hugging them like they were baby dolls, pushes them in her stroller and throws them in the trash (then wants them ... [More]

Easy Trick or Treat Bags

Hello all!  I am Virginia, an embroidery enthusiast and an educator for Dakota Collectibles.   I love creating things with embroidery and thought it would be fun to share my projects and ideas with others, so I am entering the world of blogging.  I use Dakota Collectibles' designs... [More]
Increasing Computer Speed - - - Leather and Lace and Alpha Xpress

Increasing Computer Speed - - - Leather and Lace and Alpha Xpress

I am a big fan of free computer software. Some of it is worth free and some of it is quite valuable. One that I like, and have found to be praised by many computer professionals is CCleaner by Piriform.com.  This one has a very nice Pedigree - -

If you are not using this software, you may want to consider it because of its multitude of great features.  It will clean up:

 Not too bad for a freebie!  What I like is something 'hidden' in the Tools group.  It is called Driver Wipe and if you are careful, it will clean up your drive for you. Look at the Drop Down selection and see that you can wipe just the Free Space Only  or  THE ENTIRE DRIVE (All data will be erased).  Make sure  you don't select the second option and you will have a cleaner drive.

 

You can opt for a single wipe or multiple wipes. I first did a single wipe (overnight) and worked my way up to 35 wipes. I really feel like my pc runs faster now.

 

 

 

One thing about Alpha Xpress that I find to be very sophisticated is that it understands the difference between leather and lace. Stay with me here, I will get there, I promise.

If you digitize, I don't have to explain this to you, but the rest of us are in the dark on these issues. There is an issue with machine embroidery that is called "Push/Pull Compensation."  As I noted in my blog on purchasing magazines and books on embroidery, I have another often used book by John Deer called Digitizing made easy. I don't digitize, but understanding what it takes to digitize can be very helpful.

John describes push/pull (this is only one facet of push/pull) as in the following example (disregard that the stitches are uneven):

As your machine is placing stitches, it is generating a force that can make problems like puckering and/or drawing in. That can make a letter "I" look strange or even  ruin a beautiful embroidery design.

Enter Alpha Xpress to (help to) save the day. Look at the following information and see that there is a software generated difference.

First, we are working in  the "Options" Menu and under 'formats' using the 'recipe' for Silk.

 

 

We are going to next explore what "Silk" generates in the 'Properties' area, in the 'Fill' tab:

It is 'suggesting' a .4 density. Remember that the higher the number, the less dense your area will be.  The .4 can be adjusted if you like which would be relative to your design and fill and fabric. I adjust the fill frequently when I am doing lettering for my hankies.  Furthermore, the wider the stitch, the more pull compensation is needed.

 

Next I am selecting "leather" for my fabric.

 

The fill had adjusted the density change to .5.  (Satin is the type of stitch here, not the fabric.) 

 

In his book, John does say that software is unable to adjust the 'push' so the digitizer will need to make that adjustment manually. The computer is great but limited in some areas. Understanding these details will help you when you run into problems.

As Microsoft says, "Unexpected results may result." Which is their way of saying - - - the computer cannot fix it and/or we cannot figure out how to make the computer fix it.

If you have not read my blog on needles, I suggest that you do because there is information that is, IMHO, valuable for understanding embroidery in general.

 

Comments (2) -

I totally messed up some "spirit wear" this week that I made to wear to school. . . now I GET IT and know what went wrong.  Thank you so much for this information


CCleaner is such wonderful software!  Thanks for reminding me to use it.  I hadn't used it in a while and it makes such a difference in how your computer runs!


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