Hatch Layout Editor Tools!
Today we’re taking you through how to use Hatch Layout Editor. This software gives you a lot of great new gift and decoration ideas that anyone can achieve. We’ve given you some tips using one of our favorite examples – the tea towel embroidery*. Get this gorgeous and unique tea towel embroidery, created with the mirror merge and circle layout tools in Hatch Embroidery Layout Editor.
- “Mirror Merge” is a great tool that lets you take a design or series of designs and transform it into the pattern of your choice by duplicating the original image. It automatically sequences the color blocks to prevent unnecessary machine color changes.
- “Circle Layout” allows you to duplicate selected objects around a center point.
These techniques are very popular when embroidering towels, especially to create borders and patterns. The best part is that towels are incredibly easy to embroider, so this project is fantastic for all skillsets!
Here is a brief overview of the project. Download our PDF tutorial, located at the end of this post for a detailed step-by-step guide to achieving the perfect tea towel embroidery
Getting Started: Preparation comes first!
What you’ll need: Plain tea towel, Hatch Embroidery Basics Software, an embroidery hoop, wash-away/water-soluble topping, backing stabilizer of your choice (tear-away, cut-away, heat-away, wash-away and spray-on are all viable options).
When embroidering on a towel-like material it is important to take the additional step of using a topping as well as backing stabilizer to prevent stitching from sinking into the textured surface of your tea towel. Equally as important, if not more so, is the backing stabilizer.
Click here to read the blog on stabilizers and download the detailed stabilizer guide.
Tips for creating special designs on tea towels
When embroidering towels, or textured materials in general, steer clear of delicate stitches. These stitches tend to get lost in the textured surface of the towel, so to prevent this it is more advisable to use solid or block fills.
It is also important to ensure that your items are hooped nice and tightly to prevent unnecessary movement. However your towel can still run the risk of being too thick to hoop, in these scenarios you can ‘float’ the towel above your hoop. Floating occurs when you hoop the stabilizer but not the actual embroidery material. Many embroiderers choose to avoid this method as the results are less likely to turn out the way you wanted. There is some temporary spray adhesive on the market that you can also use to stick your towel to your stabilizer. But be sure to test first, especially if using a terry towel to make sure it removes easily. Whenever possible, it is highly recommended that you hoop your projects to ensure that they provide high quality results.
Duplicating Your Patterns
Duplicating patterns is the substantial part of the process and will give you that great patterned design you see on many clothing and homeware pieces! The first thing you’ll need is the initial shape or design you’ll be duplicating. You can either create it from scratch or use an existing design. There are many designs included in your software that make great duplicated designs.
Using a number of tools in Hatch Embroidery Basics and Hatch Layout Editor, you can then manipulate you original design into other patterns. Here’s a quick overview…
Circle Layout Feature:
Once you have your design, simply insert the number of duplications you want (we chose five) and use your mouse to adjust them to your liking.
It is also very simple to create two wreaths, one inside another, simply by aligning centers.
Mirror-Copy Horizontal Feature:
You can also create additional features, for example we’ve added leaves and a stem onto the flower below. Then we used the Mirror-Copy Horizontal feature to duplicate, mirror, and place the design exactly how we want it!
Auto Center to Work Area Feature:
Once you’ve got your pattern, you can easily choose the placement and alignment just the way you want it! Use the “Auto-Center to Work Area” tool to automatically place your pattern in the center of your selected work area and you can hold down “CTRL” and drag your design up or down.
The ideal placement is about 95mm (3 ¾ inches) from the edge of the towel. If you’re not sure about the exact measurements, you can activate the measure tool (M) for more precision in your placement.
Preparing your Design for Stitching
Once you’ve created your pattern and aligned it to your liking, you can go back and make a couple of final adjustments. First, you can select the hoop your machine uses (this is important to ensure your designs stitch out smoothly).
Once you’ve chosen your hoops, optimize color changes. Your software will show the order the design will be stitched in so you can make the appropriate color changes where necessary.
The last step would be to preview your stitch-out by running “Stitch Player”. This simulates your embroidery design stitch-out on the screen so you can ensure everything stitches out as you want it to.
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