Impressions - February 2014 - 56

Embroidery Design & Digitizing

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

needle. Therefore, two needle penetrations
- if not spread apart - will end up on
top of each other. If you took a needle and
put penetrations on each side of the larger
letter, you would see that there was fabric between each penetration. However,
if you took that same needle penetration
and used it on either side of a smaller letter, you would notice the fabric between
them has decreased. There is less fabric
to hold that stitch in place. The loop between the holes that the needle leaves also
has decreased, giving you a thinner column. In some cases, there is no fabric at all
between the two needle penetrations, thus
no material to hold the stitch in place.
A smaller needle may solve part of the
problem, but not all of it. As you can see
in Image 3, when using a needle in the

Image 6
56

Impressions | February 2014

conventional letter size, there is room
between the two needle penetrations. In
the second part of Image 3, the same size
needle penetration is now on top of itself
for the smaller column stitch in the smaller letter.
By spreading the two needle penetrations apart, the thread naturally will pull in,
using the material between the two needle
penetrations for stability. And because the
stitches are pulling in, they will ﬁll in. Simply put, the smaller the letter, the wider
your column and the lighter the density.
Image 4 shows a conventional font that
has been scaled down to a .20-inch-high
letter and a font of the same size that was
digitized for small letters. The differences
are immediately apparent.
First, the small letter font has wider letters. If you look closely at the differences
in the letters, you will see that both "B"s
appear to be opened up; the "A" in the
small letter font has the bar dropped; the
corner of the "L" and the B is an exaggerated line; and the "O" is more rounded and
sits below the line.
In the conventional font, the bar of the
A is dropped. The "R" is more open and
the top part is exaggerated. The center bar
of the "E" extends farther out and the corners are exaggerated. The A, "D" and "W"
are more open and the stitches in the "K"
are angled. Finally, the "S" is more open.

You can extend the length of the words
in the conventional font to match the
length of the words in the small-letter font
(see Image 5). When this happens, some of
the differences are minimized, but the A is
not as opened, the corners are not as clear,
and the O sits on the line and actually will
rise when you stitch it. And look at the
differences in the K.
In Image 6, where the lettering's density has been lightened to see what is underneath, it is remarkable that the running
stitches form a center-line underlay in the
conventional font, while the small-letter
font has none. Looking at the "T" and "H,"
you will see these extra stitches in the
top group of letters, while it is wide open
in the lower group. In fact, in the lower
group, you are not walking from one area
of the letter to another.
To program the smaller letters correctly, you must rethink your sequence
and start each letter on the right-hand side
rather than the left in an effort to minimize the use of the running stitch. That
running stitch traveling through the letter will add unneeded density and distort
your tiny letters.
When you have ﬁnished, proof the lettering by running it on the embroidery
machine. Look for wobbly posts, which
is a sign of too much density. Rework any
letter that you have walked through using
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Impressions - February 2014

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