Stitch styles and decorative fills
Use a stitch style when a plain run, tatami or satin is not the look you want: a hand-sewn outline, a quilted stipple behind a patch, a spiral or radial fill, or an open border for appliqué. You keep the same shape and stitch type, and change only how it is sewn.
New in v1.3.2. There are still three stitch types: Running, Tatami, and Satin. What is new is a second choice inside each one, for how that type is sewn:
| Stitch type | Its own choice | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Running | Stitch | Run, Triple run, Sculpture run, Backstitch, Stemstitch |
| Tatami | Fill | Tatami, Stipple, Spiral, Offset, Maze, Radial |
| Satin | Stitch | Satin, Zigzag, E stitch, Square, Contour |
The choice sits on the essentials bar next to the stitch type, and at the top of that type's section in the Properties panel. The bar keeps the two numbers you reach for most; the rest are in its Advanced popover.
On top of these, Hand stitch can roughen most of them so they look sewn by hand, and tatami and satin each gain a few texture effects.
You can design with every one of them on any plan. Exporting or publishing a design that uses a decorative stitch needs Pro; the prompt lists it as Decorative stitches. Which ones count is listed under What needs Pro below. On a plan that cannot export them, the pickers mark them "(Pro)", and a note under an active one says so with a See Pro button.
Running stitch styles
| Stitch | What it sews | Settings (default) |
|---|---|---|
| Run | One pass. | Stitch length, Bean passes |
| Triple run | Every stitch sewn three times, for a bolder line. The same as Bean passes 3. | Stitch length |
| Sculpture run | A thick and thin line: a long stitch and a short one, alternating. Pro. | Length A 2.5 mm, Count A 3, Length B 1.5 mm, Count B 1 (counts are odd, 1 to 9) |
| Backstitch | Looks sewn by hand: each stitch starts back along the last. | Strokes 3 or 5, Thickness 0.2 mm, Overlap 50% |
| Stemstitch | Slanted strokes across a band, like a hand-sewn rope. | Thickness 1.5 mm, Spacing 1.2 mm, Strokes Single or Triple |
Run and Triple run are the same as Bean passes 1 and 3, so a design from an earlier version reads the same.
- Select the outline (a running stitch) and set Stitch to Backstitch.
- Keep Strokes at 3 for a delicate line, or pick 5 for a bolder one.
- Leave Overlap at 50%, which starts each stitch half a stitch back, like a hand backstitch.
Backstitch is free at export.
Fills (tatami)
Pick Fill on a tatami shape. Anything other than Tatami replaces the row settings with its own, so Pattern, Gradient, Underlay, and Compensation step aside while it is on.
| Fill | What it sews | Settings (default, range) |
|---|---|---|
| Tatami | Rows, as before. | The usual tatami settings |
| Stipple | One line that meanders through the shape. Pro. | Loop spacing 2 mm (0.5 to 20), Stitch length 1.5 mm, Inset 1 mm, Randomness 30% (0 to 45), Variant |
| Spiral | One line spiralling in from the outline to a center. Pro. | Spacing 2 mm, Stitch length 2 mm, Order (Outside in / Inside out), Center |
| Offset | Rings that follow the outline inward. Free. | Spacing 2 mm, Stitch length 2 mm, Order, Inset 0 mm |
| Maze | One line in a double spiral that never crosses itself and leaves beside where it came in. Pro. | Spacing 2 mm, Stitch length 2 mm |
| Radial | Satin stitches turning around a center, like the spokes of a wheel. Pro. | Spacing 0.4 mm, Center hole 1 mm, Split length 7 mm (0 sews long satin), Center |
- Inset keeps the line off the outline and every hole. Set it to 0 when a satin border covers the edge.
- Order: Outside in starts exactly on the entry point; Inside out finishes exactly on the exit point instead.
- Center: Spiral and Radial turn around the middle of the shape until you drag the blue marker on the canvas. The panel then reads "Moved", with a Reset; double-clicking the marker also puts it back.
- Stipple, Spiral, Offset, and Maze sew a line, so they take the running stitch styles above (Stipple all but Sculpture run), and Hand stitch.
If a fill cannot sew the shape at those settings, Boldbobbin says so: "These stitch settings can't sew this shape. Try a larger spacing, or a smaller center hole." A large shape at a small loop spacing is the usual cause.
- Select the background shape (a tatami fill) and set Fill to Stipple.
- Keep Loop spacing at 2 mm, or raise it for a lighter, quicker stipple.
- Set Inset to 0, because the satin border already covers the edge.
Stipple is Pro at export. For a free line fill, try Offset, which sews rings that follow the outline.
Fills also work on text set in tatami, on a pixel sprite stitched as Tatami fill, and in the tool defaults for the Pen, Freehand and shape tools.
Satin stitch styles
| Stitch | What it sews |
|---|---|
| Satin | The column filled solid, as before. |
| Zigzag, E stitch, Square | Open border stitches, for edging appliqué or a light border. They want a spacing of 1 to 2 mm. E stitch has Spine runs: 1, or 3 for a bolder line. |
| Contour | Rows that follow the column instead of crossing it. A closed ring is sewn as one spiral. |
Contour has its own settings: Row spacing 2 mm (the bar calls it Spacing), Stitch length 2.5 mm, Row offset 50%, Vary stitch length (shorter stitches on curves), and Even density (rows end where the column narrows instead of closing up; not offered on a closed ring). Under Contour the satin underlay and satin Advanced settings are hidden.
Stitch replaces the old Render as zigzag checkbox; a column that had it ticked reads as Zigzag.
For example, to edge an appliqué patch with a light border, set the border's Stitch to E stitch. On a column at satin density, picking E stitch or Square switches Spacing to Fixed at 1.5 mm for you, so it does not sew as a solid block. Set Spine runs to 3 if you want the line bolder.
Satin effects
Under Advanced:
- Satin count (1 to 10): crosses each rung this many times, for thick-thread work. Raise the spacing with it.
- Raised layers (1 to 6): sews the whole column this many times over for a raised look. 3 to 4 layers at about 0.3 mm spacing on columns under 7 mm.
- Jagged edge: Off, Side 1, Side 2, or Both sides, with Roughness, Depth, and Seed. Pulls needle holes into the column at random, for fur, grass, or a rough edge.
Hand stitch
Hand stitch is a checkbox that roughens what it is on so it looks sewn by hand. Ticked, it shows:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Length roughness | 3 (0 to 5) | How much the stitch lengths vary |
| Angle roughness | 3 (0 to 5) | How far the needle drops stray from the line |
| Count | 1× (or 3×, 5×) | How many times each stitch is sewn |
| Random count | 0 (0 to 5) | Randomly adds, and sometimes removes, a pass |
| Variant | 1 (1 to 10) | Another random pattern with the same settings |
It is offered on running stitch (not on Stemstitch), on the line of a Stipple, Spiral, Offset or Maze fill, in tatami's Advanced settings, and in satin's effects (not under Contour). On a run, the two ends stay put, so the join to the next object does not move. On a tatami, a random factor helps it.
Tatami textures
In the tatami Advanced settings:
- Random factor (0 to 100%) scatters the needle holes so they stop lining up into diagonal lines; around 50% works well. Random seed picks another scatter.
- Needle holes: Offsets (a Forward offset and Backward offset, each a fraction of a stitch) or Partition line: a Sequence of up to 8 digits from 0 to 7, one per row, saying where in the stitch that row's holes fall (default 20163), and an Angle (±80°) that slants the lines they make. While Random factor is above 0, these do nothing.
- Row ends: Standard, Borderline, or Diagonal. See Stitch parameters.
What needs Pro
Only options that change the stitches count: an option that has no effect on what is sewn never needs Pro.
| Pro at export and publish | Free |
|---|---|
| Stipple, Spiral, Maze, and Radial fills | Offset fill |
| Sculpture run, on a run or on the line of a fill | Run, Triple run, Backstitch, Stemstitch |
| Hand stitch, wherever it sews | Hand stitch on a Contour satin, or on a Stemstitch, where it does not apply |
| Needle holes: any Forward or Backward offset you type, or a Partition line | Either one while a Random factor is on, since it then does nothing |
| Satin's Zigzag, E stitch, Square, Contour, and Even density; Row ends (Diagonal included); Satin count, Raised layers, Jagged edge; Random factor |
As with every other Pro content, turning the option off ungates the design at once, and freezing it with Convert to → Stitch block does not. (A design whose only gated content is such a block is listed as "Fill patterns" in the prompt.)
None of these shipped in an earlier release, so no design you already exported is affected.
Related
- Stitch types
- Stitch parameters
- Add a pattern to a fill and Add a gradient to a fill, which need Fill: Tatami