At the NEOS show I talked with several people who wanted to know where my designs came from. I explained that they started with a drawing, and then I used digitising software to turned them into embroidery. Some people thought that it was just a matter of scanning in the drawing and simply clicking on it – it would then be magically transformed into an embroidery file.
Of course you can sometimes do this – auto-digitise software is certainly popular and it has its uses. But I find it very limited in what it can do, so I prefer to use the more “free-hand” functions of digitising software - what's usually called "manual punching".
A sketch for an embroidery design
For example, take this rough sketch of a flock of birds. If you tried to “auto-digitise” this, you would end up with a total mess. What you have to do is take it into a more advanced software function, and then just use the drawing as a guide to re-create the design from the beginning
The sketch becomes an embroidery
And this is the part that’s fun – using imagination and new ideas to transform something crude and simple into something with a bit more character
Now - here in the UK we're all becoming overcome by Christmas and Christmas preparations, and it's probably like that where-ever you are. So I will take a break from blogging until after the holidays, and will be back in the New Year with (I hope) a whole new repertoire of designs.
I wish all blog readers a happy and peaceful holiday