Digitizing Fundamentals IX Embroidery Project

A lock stitch firmly attaches the thread at the beginning of a long stitch or a trim, therefore keeping your stitches from pulling apart. Lock stitches are placed at the beginning and end of a segment to prevent the stitches from unraveling. However, they do not have to be used with every segment. In reality a lock stitch is only needed at the beginning of the design, before and after each trim and at the end of the design. Pulse’s basic lock stitch is 4 points long and parallel to the last stitch.

One key with embroidery is to keep the sewing process flowing in an endless path of stitches whenever possible. Avoid jumps, trims, color changes, etc. While it’s tempting to add lock stitches at the beginning and end of every segment it is not necessary and may even be detrimental. Instead, use running or manual stitches to connect segments.

In addition, always begin a segment with a running stitch, as this serves as a lock stitch and also ensures that the stitches take hold, before the main segment starts sewing. This “running start” also minimizes bobbin from pulling through from below.

In the diagram here, the running start segment is shown in yellow. As you can see, it will be completely covered by the satin segment (red stitches) firmly securing it in place and therefore eliminating the need of a lock stitch. NOTE: The running start segment does NOT normally extend out from below the satin segment as illustrated above. This was added to the graphic to make the beginning of the running start easier to locate.