Wilcom embroidery software for cross stitch designs

Wilcom Cross Stitch Software explained

I think I know the Wilcom embroidery software for cross stitch pretty thoroughly now, not that there is too much to learn... You can choose the no. of strands you want to work with like 2, 4 or 6. (See the drop box at the top right where I have selected 2). You can also set the no. of crosses you would like in an inch which decides how close or far apart your crosses will be. I find that 6 strands works well for me if I have 10 crosses per inch.

You basically need to use the pencil tool to mark your crosses the kind which you can select from the row below the menu bar. You also have the eraser tool to wipe out any mistakes. Besides, you also have the undo and redo buttons like in most software today.

You can draw circles or ellipses with the circle tool and with the lettering tool just typing in the alphabets converts it into cross stitch for you. I have tried most of the different kinds of stitches available in the image above and some of them in all options of 2/4/6 strands.

You can mark a particular rectangular area of a design with the select tool and copy-paste it. But if you need to mark an irregular area too, it is possible using the polygon select. You just mark at points around the chosen area and enter when you finish and you have the area selected. These are probably common to most software. When you use the Auto select tool and click on a cross, it selects all the crosses contiguous to it; you can then change the color, the no. of strands or whatever you wish or even copy it for replication.

You either copy paste or use the stamping tool (the last icon on the tool bar on the left) to replicate that part of the design to any position you like. You can also rotate a selection (clock-wise through an angle of 90) or mirror image it horizontally or vertically as you choose. You can select an area and have it bordered with crosses or just a simple outline (see the outline you can use in the extreme right of the image above). You also have the cross stitch run and the cross stitch fill, once you click the mouse at the points that will border the line or area and finish with an enter the line/area gets filled with crosses. My eight year old niece loves to play with it and she has fed in a few designs though I haven't sewn them out yet. It IS child's play once you get the hang of it.

It makes work a lot easier and your design should be ready in no time at all.

Happy Cross-stitching!

Birds cross stitch embroidery design

Birds cross stitch embroidery design for a top

Many years ago, I had made this for myself in hand embroidery on a top when I was in college. Now I made this for my college going niece using Wilcom. She was absolutely thrilled and like always it is sure to draw some compliments. This is the first design in cross stitch that I tried out on my Innovis 4000 and I was absolutely pleased. Worked in 6 strands, 10 crosses to an inch.

If anybody likes some of the designs that I have made myself, I would love to sell them; just let me know, you can post a comment here : http://my-free-embroidery-designs.blogspot.in/2012/11/birds-cross-stitch-embroidery-design.html#comment-form

Cross-stitch design for my kurta

Cross Stitch embroidery design for Kurta

I decided to do a design in cross-stitch for my kurta/top for a change. The design took a lot of time to stitch out on my Brother Innovis 4000; about 3.5 hours... Whew! Probably a half hour more time because the white thread kept breaking; the green one was ok. I used No. 30 thread in 150/2 denier in viscose rayon and used the six strands so that the design was dark enough (10 stitches to an inch).

If you look closely at the cross-stitch embroidery design, you will find some flaws; I used the 7"x12" frame so the material has moved a little at the center. Perhaps someday I will opt for the 8"x10" frame which other users say does not have this "cloth shifting" problem. Meanwhile I have to remember to sew at a lower speed so that the screws don't get loose. I think this helps and I learnt it from another user.