First Attempt at Cutwork
12.02.09
Earlier this summer I heard about the new Bernina Cutwork Tool, and this weekend I used one for the first time! I created what I thought would be a relatively simple design to see what would happen. More work is needed on perfecting the settings in the software, but here are the results of this first attempt.
This is the design that I started out with (created in CorelDRAW). For version 1 of the design, I imported the diagram into the Bernina Cutwork Software and used the tools available to transform the design into stitches with some parts cut out (the squares and the central star – all shaded grey). The stitchout for this was fit for nothing other than the garbage! The problem – I knew that it was a good idea to do some “running before” stitches to stabilize the space to be cut out, but did not know what a good offset would be, so I used an offset of 0.6mm. When the cutwork tool did it’s thing, it cut up all the “running before” stitches, so I ended up with some holes with very frayed edges! Further investigation (in the online manual) recommends an offset of 0.8mm.
For version 2 of the design I decided to go back to the Bernina Embroidery Software to create all the non-cutwork stitches, and only use the Bernina Cutwork Software to create the actual cutwork stitches. Here are the results!
This is all the “non-cutwork” stitching. I figured it was probably a good idea to do as much of this as possible before doing any cutting to maintain as much stability as possible in the fabric. I am using DellaQ’s silk taffeta (maybe not such a good idea for a first attempt!) backed with OESD Fusible Polymesh, and OESD Heavyweight Tear-Away in the hoop. I pinned the silk in place and then stitched out a tackdown line to ensure the fabric would not move.
The first part of the cutting process is the “running before” stitches. As mentioned above, I set the offset to 0.8mm – any smaller and these stitches get cut out!
Now the machine is telling me it is ready to start cutting with the tool set to Cut 1.
Here is the actual Bernina Cutwork Tool! You have hopefully already figured out that it works with the embroidery module. I am using the #26 foot. The tool fits into the needle casing, and the blade itself is about 2mm wide and 3/8″ long. The white dial rotates and has four settings, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Here it is in position 1.
The first round of cutting has been done. The left and right sides of the square have been cut – it’s a pretty clean line, more visible on the left than on the right. And just inside the “running before” stitches!
Now the machine is telling me it is ready for Cut 2.
It’s actually very easy to move from cutting position 1 to 2. Sitting down is probably a good thing – just so that you can see what you are doing!
After cut 2, four points on the star have been cut. The blade on the Bernina Cutwork Tool can essentially set to 4 different angles. Vertical and horizontal are always going to be very clean cuts, as are cuts at 45 degrees in both directions. Everything else is going to be cut using the optimum combination of vertical, horizontal and 45 degree cuts. The white showing in the center star is where the silk has begun to lift up, revealing the stabilizer underneath.
Now the machine is telling me it is ready for cut 3.
And finally it is ready for cut 4!
All the cutting has been done! A lot of the pieces are beginning to lift out of their own accord. At this point I removed the hoop from the machine so that I could gently remove all of the pieces which had been cut out. If I had thought about it in advance, I would have done this over the garbage can. As it is, I ended up with a lot of tiny pieces of fabric and stabilizer all over the floor! Some pieces needed a little help to come out, but only a few threads here and there needed clipping.
Here all the pieces have been removed. Some of the edges are cleaner than others. The fact that silk frays a lot anyway probably didn’t help me. A nice crisp fabric would give the best results – I have read that using spray starch on the fabric gives it a great hand for the cutting. However, I was not about to start spraying starch onto the silk!
Here are the results after the satin finishing stitch around the edges of the cutwork. You may notice that the larger star in the center has changed color, and is now turquoise. This is now showing version 3! I neglected to use some water soluble stabilizer underneath the satin stitches on version 2 – and the result was not a pretty sight! The extra stabilizer is necessary to give the satin stitch a solid foundation for stitching on. Without it, one side of the satin stitch is tring to stitch into nothing and the results are definitely not pretty. The settings for the satin stitch need some work. In places the “running before” stitches are showing through. I’ll let you know what I come up with to solve this problem!
I’m not sure if curiosity or the need for some sanity lead me to stitch the design out again, this time without doing the actual cutting. I wanted to have something to compare against, to see how clean the cutwork is when it is finished. When I have found the correct settings for the final satin finishing stitch, I think the finished cutwork will be very clean indeed!
Outline Design is found as the 3rd button up from the bottom on the Digitize toolbar. It’s only active if you have an existing object selected!
Create a new design, or insert an existing design into a new embroidery file. I have chosen to use “Motif 1 Small” from my Heather Feather CD, rotated by 45 degrees clockwise, with the positioning square removed. I placed the design in a jumbo hoop so that there is plenty of space to play with around the design!
A satin stitch border has been added, and then everything was selected before applying Outline Design with:
Look what happens when you check Outline Holes!
In this example, I applied Outline Design twice to the original design. Make sure to group the whole design, including the border, to make it easy to select everything for the second application of Outline Design.
This summer has been my time to fall in love with silk! It has also been my time to fall in love with using cotton thread for embroidered applique, specifically Aurifil Cotton Mako. This is not a “normal” choice for embroidery, so up until now, there has not been a thread chart available for it in the Bernina Embroidery Software. Now there is!
My plane landed at Cleveland Hopkins airport on time at about 20 minutes past 2pm. Down to the baggage claim to see my suitcase full of quilts sitting waiting for me. What a relief!
Close to the end of the day, everyone there had already done their thing, so the atmosphere was cheerful and relaxed. Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero was a familiar face, and also rushing out the door so not much time to do anything other than say “Hi! Bye!”. It did mean that she freed up a table, so I got to empty all my stuff out and start to get organized. That’s my green suitcase in the center of the pic, with my table in the back right hand corner.
I had decided to use the designs from my newest embroidered applique collection, the Hearts CD, stitched out on Silk Dupioni with Aurifil Cotton Mako 50 weight thread.
Pokey Bolton, the host of Quilting Arts TV was finally done with her part of filming for the day, and was also busy in the Green Room, working on a project. And borrowing my rotary cutter!
Jeanne set up the 830 while Katherine helped me to bring all of my “stuff” onto the set. Where to put everything was the big question of the moment! I’m very glad that I had way too much stuff to show off. A lot of it didn’t appear – but Kathie Stull, the producer, helped us to choose the things that would show off best.
I was surprised how dark the rest of the studio is, and also how quiet! I think there were two camera guys, Ray off to the right of the set, and another guy straight in front doing all the closeups – from above! Billy, the floor director, was off to the left with a monitor to show what was being filmed. I think there was someone lurking at the back of the room, but have no idea what they were doing. A sound guy appeared a couple of times – first to get me hooked up with a mic, and then after we started filming to adjust the sound so that I could be heard!
what can we do with the Morphing Effect tool?
Creating a star is easy! Click on the Star tool. Click and drag to create a star. Holding down the Ctrl key while clicking and dragging will create a symmetrical star. Holding down the Shift key while clicking and dragging will create a star that expands from the center. Holding down both Ctrl + Shift while clicking and dragging will create a symmetrical star that expands from the center.
Select the star and you can change the number of points. You can also change the sharpness of the points – to make them short and fat or long and slim.
Having created some shapes, you can now select one or all of them and “Convert to Embroidery” at the touch of a button! A simple outlined shape will create the same shape as an embroidery object, with a single running stitch outline.
