Some digitisers seem to really go over the top with the density of the stitches and as a relative beginner, I find it difficult to judge the density when I see a design. I recently bought a design and was surprised when I put it into my nachine that the stitching time was something like 80 minutes. The design looked fairly simple and included some text. When I was stitching it out, the main part of the design was complete in 40 minutes, but the text took another 40 as it was stitched over and over again. I was very relieved that I hadn't tried to put it on a sweat shirt (which was my original plan) as it would have turned it into carboard! Any tips from the more experienced?

If you have a program that has a stitch simulator in it you can see how the design will stitch out and then you will see if it will "stitch over and over again."
You will be able to see when the "main" part of the design finishes and when the text starts. You could also cut the text out and replace it with your own text.

This is something I have played with :-)
It will depend on the design and the material its to be stitched onto..
I believe each person learns there own preferance
as they go along.. I myself get very bored with designs that take over an hour to stitch out,
unless its a project, or fsl.
from my digitizing point of view, I tend to steer clear of designs/images that have a lot of detail and colours, as a realy dense design can not be applied to different types of material,
a design that has good coverage say for a towel
will tear a T-shirt apart, unless its heavily stablized and then like you say to heavy.
another idea is to stitch it onto some material then applique that onto the top, like a badge.
I am afraid there is no right answer to your question due to so many factors involved.
All of my designs I have shared with DBC are
quick stitching because thats what I Like myself
Big hugs from London
Mooie xx

1 comment

by spendlove 17 Jun 2010

We have much in common, thanks for sharing.

I almost always check the density of the design that I am interested in sewing out. Designer's Gallery is the software I use to organize and to do some very basic digitizing. Part of its program is Density and I just click on it to check and if needed to remove some of the density of the stitches.

GREAT QUESTION! Am very interested in hearing from the more experienced ones.....thanks for asking! :-)

Sue I have found when testing to do just a couple of letters from the text that will give you an idea of what the rest will b like. I like to pick like a capital & a small to test. *

Thanks for your question. I'm curious how others will answer.

If you don't know the designer's work - as far as density - what you did - as a test stitch out was great and the way that I have learned to judge what to do - test it on similar fabric and supplies (stabilizer and thread) so you know what you are in for when you stitch it on your item. Once you know that the designer has most designs in the same density - you can for go the test stitch out, if you are comfortable with their work. I hope this helped.

1 comment

by spendlove 16 Jun 2010

Good suggestion - although it is difficult to find the time to test stitch designs that take a couple of hours!