Freestanding Lace - Tutorial

How to Create Freestanding Lace (FSL) Embroidery Designs in Embird Studio NEXT

This page offers a comprehensive tutorial on how to create Freestanding Lace (FSL) embroidery designs using Embird Studio NEXT software. It provides step-by-step instructions on utilizing the Mesh tool for creating the base fill (including FSL Grid) and the Outline tool for crafting satin stitch borders (using Overlock and Satin modes). The tutorial also explores techniques for creating openings within the design and generating interior satin stitch fills, guiding users through the essential digitizing processes for FSL projects.

There are two main aspects to master when creating FSL embroidery: 1. digitizing the design for FSL, and 2. the actual physical realization of the FSL embroidery. Naturally, the specific way in which FSL is physically realized affects how the FSL design is digitized.

This tutorial focuses on the first aspect, FSL design digitizing, which heavily depends on the software tools used for this process.

The FSL designs are embroidered directly onto a water-soluble stabilizer. Stitches in the background fill must be laid so that they support each other because there is no fabric backing. The fill is loose, giving the design a lace-like appearance. FSL designs should have a border made of satin stitches to hold the lace together.

The digitizing tools in Studio NEXT can be utilized for the creation of both the loose fill and the satin stitch borders. The following tutorial demonstrates, through a simple example, how to use these tools. This is not the only way to create FSL designs in Studio NEXT. Other tools and different settings can also be used and allow for the creation of different fill and border textures.

Contours Digitizing

Before experimenting with the fill and border options, we need to digitize an object that will serve as the overall shape of the FSL design and whose fill will hold the entire design together.

Mesh Tool

The fill of an FSL design can be created with the Mesh tool, which is capable of creating a wide range of loose fills. However, not all mesh fills are suitable for FSL embroidery. To hold the design together, the underlying base fill must form an intertwined net or grid. If we want to further tweak the fill and decorate its inner lines and curves, the parent mesh fill should allow single-layer stitching, which will simplify the conversion and editing of the fill.

In this example, we will use the Mesh tool to digitize the overall shape of the FSL design in vector form, and we will derive the border contours from this overall shape later. In this example, the borders can be obtained by simply converting the mesh contours into outlines. It is not necessary to digitize them from scratch.

Icon of the Mesh tool

Of course, we can digitize any shape for FSL embroidery, but for the sake of simplicity in this example, we will start with a circular Mesh object digitized using basic geometric shapes.

When you finish digitizing this object, select it in the work area and duplicate it twice. Place its copies one on top of the other, as shown in the picture.

Select all three circles and use the main menu > Build > Shaping > Union command to weld them into a single shape. This new shape appears as the last item in the Object Inspector. The original three circles remain untouched. We will create a hole from one of them later; the remaining two circles can be deleted.

Drag and drop the remaining circle in the Object Inspector list after the welded shape. Also, scale it down in the work area and place it in the center of the welded area.

Use the main menu > Convert > Fill, Mesh & Sfumato > To Opening to convert the solid mesh object into an opening belonging to the underlying mesh object. Please note that the order of objects in the Inspector list is important. The object representing the hole must follow immediately after the object representing the parent fill.

Fill Stitches

We have created the overall shape for the FSL design with the mesh tool because of its loose fill capabilities, but we have not generated stitches for this shape yet. The mesh tool has many fill categories and sub-categories. The default fill kind is Stippling, which is not useful for the background of FSL embroidery as its meanders are not intertwined. In the case of FSL design, the most useful are those that provide a net or grid of single-run lines or curves crossing each other.

Single-Layer Fill

The following fill examples were created using Net - FSL Grid and Net - Shapes mesh fills. Both of these sub-categories (Shape and FSL Grid) belong to the same mesh category: Net. Both were used with the single-layer option switched on.

If necessary, adjust mesh parameters like gap (inner lines spacing), minimum and maximum stitch length, etc.

Satin Border

The vector contour for the border of the above design can be obtained by directly converting the Mesh object and its opening into Outline Objects. Thus, we avoid digitizing the border contour anew.

Select the Mesh object and use the main menu > Convert > Fill, Mesh & Sfumato > Create Outlines command. This will preserve the mesh and create new outline objects - one for the outer contour and one for the hole.

Overlock

There are multiple ways to create satin borders in Studio NEXT. Some of them are: 1. column objects, 2. autocolumn mode of plain fill objects, and 3. satin mode of outline objects. We will use yet another method in our example: 4. overlock mode of outline objects, because it is probably the simplest. Samples are distributed evenly along the contour, and we can control their distribution to some degree. The samples are optimized for sewing seamlessly at low stitch density and without underlay.

Select the new outline objects obtained after conversion, invoke the Parameters window, and switch the outlines to Overlock mode. Select the required overlock sample and generate stitches for these outlines. Please note that many Overlock samples are not satin. In the following examples, overlock sample #26 was used.

Overlock outlines form zig-zag borders that hold the FSL design together. You may want to adjust parameters of these outlines, such as spacing of stitches (density), width, cell length, and cell path.

FSL designs are usually single-colored. In our example, separate colors were used for the fill and the border for clarity. In the case of a single-color design, you would probably want to connect the fill and the border for continuous sew-out. In such a case, strategically place the start and end points of the fill during digitizing so that you will be able to connect the border with the underlying fill using a connection hidden beneath the border.

Zig-Zag

In the illustrations above, the lines inside the fill are single-run paths. However, the interior of an FSL fill can also be made with satin stitches. To avoid manually digitizing such a fill, we will convert the single-run paths inside the previous net fill into satin paths.

Outline Objects with Satin Stitch Mode

Select the mesh object and use the main menu > Convert > Fill, Mesh & Sfumato > Create Separate Outline Elements from Mesh. In this case, the conversion is applied to the fill interior rather than the edge contours. The result is a number of outline objects and connection objects.

Select all the new objects and invoke the Parameters window. Select the Outlines tab and switch the outline mode to Satin. Adjust satin parameters like spacing (density), width, etc. Then generate stitches.

Converted mesh paths (now outline objects) can be set to any available outline mode, not just the satin mode as shown above. The following example uses outline > sample mode. Most of the mesh paths have a single stitch sample, and some hand-picked paths have the Candlewick 2 sample.