ImagesMagUK_April_2021

different. Without altering anything of the actual design, you can usually add or exchange threads of the same weight to alter the overall look. With very little effort you can change colour (including multi-colour threads like variegated, ombré or two-colour twisted threads) and sheen (think matte versus a high-sheen thread, or the glamour and sparkle of metallic or twisted metallic/poly threads). Moreover, if you use thick or thin threads, you may be able to resize a stock design without alteration. For instance, a standard design digitised for 40wt thread that doesn’t have excessively short stitches or overly dense detail can usually be reduced by roughly 25% in scale and then run unaltered with a complete conversion to 60wt thread along with the appropriately sized needle. ■ Combine designs There’s no reason why you can’t use two or more designs together. Although the end result is unlikely to be as efficient as a custom piece, you can combine multiple stock designs into one effective piece. A frequent example is a set of crossed flags; many Americans proud of their heritage will use a crossed set of flags from the US and their family’s country of origin to promote their allegiance. Any designs can be combined though, This simple holiday design needs very little input to become a versatile, customisable template. Selecting and removing the ‘Happy Easter’ banner text is a simple matter of clicking the colour-stop and deleting it from the design. With a few clicks and manipulating some curves, you can create and place a custom-fit text-warping envelope shape into the now empty banner. With a simple text tool, you can now place any of your embroidery fonts into the custom shape, and with a quick edit of the colourways, you can make personalised and customised versions for any customer with ease With simple editing software, a standard stock design can be mined for elements and altered for your needs. In this case, the standalone star motif was cut from the original layout, pasted, rotated and repeated to fill in below the American football motif. The arched text was added using stock keyboard fonts and a warping envelope that matches the ball’s profile in order to create a more custom finish often light enough to drop over a filled element in a design, provided it’s not already stacked with multiple layers of stitching. Moreover, combining existing stock designs that feature banners, pennants, or other open shapes with a quickly drawn text-warping envelope results in a custom-looking template treatment you can use over and over. Designs with existing text frequently need little more than the removal of a final colour stop to clear them for your custom text treatment. ■ Change the thread There are many qualities that you can change with thread to make a stock design look This sparkling pet shirt by Jane Swanzy of Swan Marketing shows a simple use of glitter-flake rip-away appliqué. With a stock design that either naturally has a clean border and large open areas or which has had filling stitches removed, it’s easy to place unbacked heat-press film materials under the design, tear away any excess, and heat press to permanently adhere the film, creating a layered look similar to traditional appliqué 1. 2. 3. KB TIPS & TECHNIQUES www.images-magazine.com 70 images APRIL 2021