1Picture
Advanced stitch settings (optional)
Before you make it
What will not sew well at this size:
Ready-made designs. Pick one, set its size, then build the stitches.
Pick a design above.
Type the text, pick a font installed on this computer and set the size. Each letter is sewn in satin that follows its strokes.
A new line starts a second line of text.
after installing one. Check the font's license allows embroidery for customers.
Space between two letters
Move one pair closer or further apart, in mm, on top of the space above (kerning). Minus is closer. Stitch the text again to see it.
Not sew-tested yet. Sew a test before a customer piece.
Use this on files that come back from a digitizer before they go to the machine.
Thread colors from the artwork
A DST has no colors. Choose the picture this file was made from (PNG or JPG) and each thread takes the color it sews over in the picture. Check them against your thread chart before sewing.
Clean up this file
Keeps every stitch and color as it was made, and fixes what slows a machine down: trims are sewn across where later stitching hides the move, a lock stitch goes where a restart has none, and stacked stitches that sew as knots are dropped. The cleaned file opens as a new design next to this one. Not sew-tested: sew a test first.
1Break down one design
See how a finished file was built: what each color stop does, region by region, and how close it comes to the original art. It only reads the files.
- The finished DSTNot chosen
- Its worksheet PDF (optional: thread names and stops)Not chosen
- The original art (optional: measures accuracy)Not chosen
- Our DST of the same art (optional: compared on the same picture)Not chosen
2Go through the whole library
Every DST in the folder gets its numbers; complex designs (8 in and up, 50,000 stitches or more, or 15 stops or more) also get the full report. Files done before are skipped, so you can stop and carry on later. Copies of the same file count once.
3Scorecard: Saigon and ours
For every order in the Scorecard folder (the Saigon scorecard script fills it from your email), Saigon's file and ours made from the same art at the same width are laid over the original art: how much of the art is under its own color, and how much bleeds outside it or under the wrong color.
Reports and numbers are saved in . Claude reads them from there; only the numbers, without file or folder names, go into the repo.
1The digitizer's files
Turns a digitizer's finished order into a Sleek Attire order: the same stitches, every machine format, a TBF with the thread colors, a proof picture and a Sleek Attire worksheet PDF. Nothing in the stitches changes.
- Their DSTNot chosen
- Their worksheet PDF (for the thread list and colors)Not chosen
2The order
1The order
Files are named "invoice number, then what the piece says" in .
2The pieces
Type each piece, add designs saved from the builder (Review, Save JSON), or add art. Put " / " between stacked lines: FA / 26. The cover, contour and density follow the house rules for the height; change them under Advanced.
3Make the files
Not sew-tested. Check every piece against the check sheet before cutting the twill.
No spot reaches 3 layers of thread.
Preview colors only: a DST does not say which threads to use. Set the real ones in Sewing order.
Drop artwork anywhere in this window
It becomes a Tajima DST with a preview, a check report and a worksheet for the machine.
Pick up where you left off?
Your last picture is saved in this browser: . The server was restarted, so the design will be made again with your settings and changes.
Your first test
- Start with your picture. Drop in clear artwork and set the finished width or height.
- Tell us what you're sewing on. Pick the fabric and check the thread colors. The recommended settings are already chosen.
- Make, check and save. Press Make the stitches, look over the preview and the checks, then save a test file. Use Feedback to show Michael anything that needs work.
Start with the automatic settings. Sew a sample before a customer piece.
Sewing order list
Every piece in the order the machine sews it, thread by thread. Pieces sewn later lie on top. Drag a row by its handle, or pick it and use Move up and Move down, to sew it sooner or later in its thread. Each move makes the stitches again; Undo takes it back. Make the stitches starts again from the automatic order. Not sew-tested.
Whole threads move with the arrows in the report.
The numbers for the design show up here: size, stitches, thread order, run time and the checks.
Only a few files made with this program have been sewn so far (flags and twill lettering), and nothing has been measured yet. Sew a test on scrap before a customer piece.
Sewn last, as dense satin over 3 mm craft foam, after a machine stop to lay the foam. Best on caps, for letters and shapes about 2 to 8 mm wide. Usually more stitches than flat: about 1.5 to 2 times, about twice on thin cap lettering, less where the color sews flat as a fill. The thread list shows the real count. Not sew-tested yet: sew a test on the same fabric first.
On 3D puff the stitch type, direction, coverage and outline of a piece are fixed: always satin, with no outline yet, so they are greyed under Change how this piece sews. Stitch coverage under Advanced stitch settings changes the puff density. Not sew-tested yet.
Change how this piece sews
Automatic is the starting point. Change this piece only if it looks wrong.
A satin border lies 85% on the piece, the rest past its edge, and sews after it. Holes in the piece get their own ring.
Lighter spaces the rows farther apart, denser closer together. Too dense makes embroidery stiff and can pucker the fabric.
Drag a point to move it, or drag inside the piece to move all of it (letter spacing). Or pick a point with the buttons and move it with the arrows: with no point picked, the arrows move the whole piece.
Drag the end of a line to turn the stitches there. Double-clickDouble-tap inside the column to add a line. Stitches blend between your lines. Not sew-tested: sew a test first.
How to use
Bright lines are yours; thin lines show how the stitches lie now. Drag the middle of a line to slide it along the column. Keyboard: Next line (or Tab, after a click on the design) picks a line, the arrows turn it 1° (5° with Shift), [ and ] slide it, Delete removes it.Tap a line to pick it; each tap on Turn turns it 5°. A line turns at most 60° from straight across.
Drag a handle on an edge to move that edge. Shift+drag moves both edges (wider or narrower), Alt+drag moves the column sideways. ClickPick Width or Sideways below to move both edges. Tap an edge to add a handle. The dashed line is where the needle goes with pull. Not sew-tested: sew a test first.
Before you sew
- Size
- Stitches
- Trims
- Estimated run time
Quote by stitch count: stitches at $ per 1,000 =
File checks
What the embroidery words mean
- Fill
- Rows of stitches that cover an area.
- Satin
- Stitches that zigzag across a narrow shape, making a smooth, shiny band.
- Running stitch
- A single line of stitches, for thin lines and details.
- Underlay (support stitches)
- Stitches sewn first, underneath, to hold the fabric and lift the top stitches.
- Pull compensation
- Sewing a little wider than the art, because thread pulls the fabric in as it sews.
- Density (stitch coverage)
- How close the stitches are. Denser covers more but is stiffer and can pucker.
- Trim
- A place where the machine cuts the thread before moving on.
- Color change
- The machine stops so the next thread can be sewn.
- Backing (stabilizer)
- Material hooped under the fabric so it does not stretch: cutaway stays on, tearaway tears off.
- Knockdown
- A light layer that flattens fluffy fabric such as fleece or towel, so the design sits on top.
- 3D puff
- Dense satin sewn over craft foam laid on the garment, so the stitches stand up. The machine stops for the foam to be laid, and the foam outside the stitches is torn away after. Not sew-tested in this program yet.
- DST
- The stitch file Tajima and most shop machines read. It has no thread colors: use the worksheet.
Sewing order
Changing the order changes which stitches cover others, and makes the stitches again.
My thread rack
The Madeira Classic 40 numbers you have on hand, separated by spaces or commas. Suggestions then come only from these.
Madeira numbers are the closest by screen color. Check them against a real thread card before sewing.
Tip: click a spot on the stitches to pick that piece. Changing a thread's color changes the preview and the thread color file; the stitches and color changes stay the same.
Stitch order
Every piece in the order the machine sews it. Click one to see it on the design; click it again to see everything.
Tell Michael what you think
About this design or the program. It goes to Sleek Attire with the design.
About the sewn sample. A report with these details can earn the founding beta reward.
Founding beta reward: how it works
Want a change?
Tell us what to change and we say whether it can be done, why, and what it costs the design.
How did it sew? Log the result
For your own sew-outs: each result goes into the results log, so the settings can be tuned from what really sewed.
The artwork check found spots that will not sew as drawn at this size.
The design two or three times side by side, one setting stepped across them, with 1, 2 or 3 short lines sewn under each copy. Sew it once on the real fabric and backing and pick the copy that looks right.
Send a proof to your client
Your client gets a link with the design on the garment (as set in "On a garment"), the size, the threads and your price, and can approve it or ask for changes. No account needed on their side; you get an email with their answer.
Save
Show the full folder path
Also copy to Google Drive
The files come as one zip: the stitch file, a TBF with the thread colors, a picture and a worksheet. Your work here is temporary: download your files before you leave.
- Check the finished size fits your hoop.
- Sew it on scrap of the same fabric, with the backing you will use.
- Look at coverage, lettering and any pulling before you sew the real piece.