Copyright Karen Hinrichs, 2010, all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 1

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1 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 1 4D Design Creator Using 4D Fabric Decorator to Create a Zig Zag Motif to use for Containing Pokies -- Karen Hinrichs In January 2010, the Rose Cottage Digichallenge was cutwork. Many people asked how to make a zig zag stitch in their various software packages. As I worked through the challenge, I discovered the particular challenge that went with the software sold by the Pfaff and Husqvarna Viking, known as 4D Design Creator. Assorted answers were posted to the main Rose Cottage list. At one point, I copied a post and put the answer that follows with it. I ve added some screen captures to help make following my original post easier! Ruth answered a question about making a zig zag stitch for concealing "pokies" in our cutwork project when using 4D Design Creator: > The curved and straight column satin density is set on the stitches tab under preferences. Try setting the density to 12 and test it. And the zig zag motif mentioned here comes out like this: > Another place to get a zig zag stitch is to use the motif line - the zig zag stitch can be found under A1 - utility. > Ruth This open density satin stitch comes out of 4D Design Creator looking like this:

2 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page Diane wrote in response to Ruth's suggestion: Got that far, tried A1 utility, 4 in the Viking, and I can't get it smaller than height 2.4, width 3.2. Viv wants it 1 and 1.3. Diane in WV Gotcha covered, Diane in WV! And now I shall speak my piece! (so to speak!) I ran into that exact situation when I started this butterfly project last night. I puttered around until way too late at night, and then I did it again when I got up this morning. I described it on a 4D software specific list, where list member Natascha has been asking about it too. Here's the text I sent to that list this morning: I'm also a Rose Cottage member, and was playing with Natascha's Butterfly project last night. [Natascha s in that she was asking the questions on that other list] It's a digitizing lesson written by Vivian Gibson, and most incredibly, shared for free! The end result is cutwork, and I found a little thing I thought I'd like to share. First, I've seen many suggestions to use a satin border, and set the density very open. This gives a different stitch, more like the Lightning stitch than a zig zag, as a satin stitch goes straight across, then angles. It didn't give a real nice end result. I know it's been suggested to folks who use 4D on the Rose Cottage list who have been asking about it, and I think that we might have suggested it here too -- to get a zig zag, use the Motif Line, and choose the zig zag stitch from the HV Utility A menu.

3 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 3 In her instructions, Viv asked that the user make this zig zag line about 1mm wide, and I ran into a couple of challenges using the above motif. First, it can't be made that small! And following that, line placement was a challenge! In making cutwork, we're stitching a line of running stitches to show us where to cut fabric. Viv then has us create a line of zig zag stitches to hold down pokies (those darned threads. You know them!) Our "factory zig zag stitch" has one needle point lining up with the line we digitized, and the other is opposite. Getting it placed just where I wanted it was a challenge, because I wanted it pretty well centered over my running stitch. If it would center, I could use a running stitch line for the cutting line, then I could copy and paste another directly on top of the first one and convert it to a motif line rather than having to draw another line. (never mind that I chose a double stitch as my be-all, end-all of a cutting line and you can't convert that!) I solved this issue -- of a too big or ugly zig zag that was off center -- using Fabric Decorator. (if you decide to play with this, leave your Fabric Decorator module open until you have YOUR perfect zig zag motif!) When it opened, I cancelled the wizard. In Preferences, I clicked the SCREEN tab and set the grid size to 0.5, and turned off the 3D view. On the grid, I was able to see a black + on the center line at the far left. Using the magnifying glass tool I found on the top toolbar, I zoomed in VERY close to the black + and then chose the Single Stitch tool that I found on the right-hand toolbar.

4 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 4 My first attempt was to click up four and right four, then right four and down four -- back to the starting line. (you have to start and end on the solid line) Each stitch appears as you click. Don t worry if you click in the wrong spot, just keep going until you have the basics of what you want. You need to right click when you re done making stitch points to turn off the Single Stitch tool. This is like turning things off in Design Creator! The picture above and this one at the left shows you the difference if you had not turned off 3D View in Preferences. The benefit to having turned off 3D View is that if you made extra clicks inadvertently, or if you missplaced the stitch points, it s easier to see this and fix it! So, you really do want 3D View turned off. If you ignored that instruction before, go back into Preferences and turn it off now! To fix a miss-placed stitch point, left click on it. You ll get this little box around it. (this looks like what you see in Design Creator too!) With the box around the stitch point, you can move it into position on the grid.

5 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 5 There s a 3D button on the top toolbar that lets you see what your motif will look like when it s stitched. By default, when you click this button, you see three repetitions. If you d like to see more than three, go back to Preferences and on the SCREEN tab, change the Number of Motifs to however many you would like to see. I saved this to My Motifs, and then went back to Design Creator. When you click the Export to My Motifs button, you don t see anything happen. No window for saving pops up, the saving just happens. TRUST this and don t click it again and again to be sure! You ll find it at the bottom of the list. If you clicked the Export button several times, you ll find multiple copies of it. It's now there, in the My Motifs area of the Motif Line properties, and was partially perfect: I could make this motif the small size I wanted. Unfortunately, it was still offset, like the "factory" zig zag. Back to the drawing board, as it were! My new custom zig zag motif is done with four points. My current stitch motif is up two, right one, then down four right two, then up two (back to the center line) and right one. As you can see, this one comes out where I wanted it to when I copy/paste and place the new one directly on top of the original, but it's not perfect either.

6 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 6 When I look at this line in Stitch Editor, I can see that it s more of a two-step zig zag at its default size or larger. There's a line of stitch points down the center every other stitch. At the small size we're working, they're kind of intermittent. BUT, it's centered! (for easy viewing, I ve hidden the first line of stitches in this screen shot) So, is there a solution to the stitch point down the center? I haven't found that yet. I have tried changing the Default Stitch Length in Fabric Decorator s Preferences I made it as long as possible (20mm) to see if that would make a difference, but it doesn t truly get rid of those. This makes sense, really: I ve told Fabric Decorator that I want a stitch point there, with the beginning point and the end point of the motif. We can t center it without those points, unfortunately. I have found that sometimes the stitch point doesn t happen when the motif is set to a really small size, but it s more like sometimes the stitch point is skipped, not that it s always gone. Without a better solution to this little challenge, I'll zoom WAY in on the line in Stitch Editor and carefully delete those stitches -- this version of my line is enough improved over the other that it's worth it to me! (I can use the lasso tool to select a bunch at a time, being a steadyhanded pen/tablet user! OR, with no selection tools chosen, I can click on one stitch at a time and delete. This is a bit slower, but still doable!) Personally, I don't make much in the way of "decorated fabric," but Fabric Decorator is a TERRIFIC tool for making stitch motifs to use in my Design Creator software, and that's how I use this tool in my toolbox!

7 all rights reserved Creating a Zig Zag Motif to use in 4D Design Creator page 7 A note about my copyright: This document was freely shared with members of the Rose Cottage Digichallenge list. Instructors who would like to use this as a class lesson, I would appreciate if you would first contact me at kanmarie@gmail.com (I won t say no, I d just like to hear from you first!) Thanks to Ruth (Kershaw, I believe) and Diane in WV, who are quoted in the beginning of this document, and to Natascha in Australia, who is also mentioned. The Fine Print: Products mentioned in this document are 4D Design Creator, 4D Fabric Decorator, and 4D Stitch Editor A 2010 KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. All rights reserved. 4D and 5D are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. HUSQVARNA is the trademark of Husqvarna AB. All trademarks are used under license by VSM Group AB. All other product and company names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners All screen captures are from one or more of the above products and are used with permission. This software product can only be purchased through an authorized Husqvarna Viking or Pfaff dealer. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc. Products of this company which may be referred to include Windows 7 operating system. Other product names that may be mentioned in this text may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged. Information provided here is presented in good faith, but no warranty is given, nor results guaranteed.