Converting a Complex Fill object to a chenille object

You can convert a Complex Fill object to a chenille object uing Compound Chenille. This will add offset borders and a chenille fill. Multiple offset runs are generated automatically from the same boundary as the fill.

To convert an embroidery object to a chenille object

1. Select the Complex Fill object.

2. Click the Chain or Moss icon.

3. Click a fill stitch type icon, Straight, Perpendicular Fill or Island Coil.

4. Click the Compound Chenille icon.

Offset borders and a chenille fill are added to the object. To adjust the values see Adding automatic offset borders after the fill.

Note Input B objects can be converted to Complex Fill, then apply Compound Chenille.

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To set the offset needle height

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.

2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.

The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens

3. Select the height required for offsets before and after fill.

4. Click OK.

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Setting the offset needle height

The Needle Height controls the height of the loop formed by the Chenille machine when it is sewing a Moss stitch, and the width of the Chain stitch.

Moss can be stitched using different needle heights: lower for run around and higher for fill. In conjunction with Chain stitches, the design builds up in height from the edges to the middle. You may use different needle heights for different color areas. You may also use different needle heights for filled areas and borders. Needle height has much less effect on Chain stitches.

If you intend to use loops of various height, adjust the needle height rather than the stitch length. Even though the stitch length affects the loop height, it is easier and more accurate to adjust the needle height. See Selecting explicit needle height for details.

You can change the needle height for the stitches in the offset borders individually. For each of the offsets, select a needle height from the drop down list.

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Adjusting automatic offset stitch type and values

The offset is the border around the filled shape. A border can be added before and/or after the fill. You can change the stitch type and the width of the offset.

For the Before Fill offset, you can adjust the number of overlapping stitches, run direction, offset stitch type, offset distance, needle height and stitch length for Moss and Chain stitches.

For the After Fill offset, you can adjust the fill stitch offset distance, offset stitch type, offset distance and needle height.


To adjust automatic offset stitch tpe and values

1. Select the object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens




3. Select the Compound Chenille checkbox.
4. Enter the number of overlapping stitches between the offset runs.

Overlapping Stitches allows you to shift the connectors between Offset Runs by a few stitches to prevent stitches building up at the joins. Also, the connectors are less visible if they are not in one line.

5. Select the run direction for the offset borders

CW: to stitch in a clockwise direction

CCW: to stitch in a counterclockwise direction

The correct stitching direction is important for Moss borders.

6. Select the outline stitch length.

Outline Stitch Length allows you to set the stitch length for either Moss or Chain stitch boundaries.

7. Decide how many offset boundaries to generate before the shape is filled.

Offset 1, 2 and 3 sets the number of offset boundaries of the shape are used with either Moss or Chain before the fill stitching. The stitch boundaries are generated before the fill stitching. They hold the fabric in place and provide clearer edge definition for shapes. Offset Moss or Chain stitch outside is used as highlight.

Needle Height controls the height of the loop formed by the
Chenille machine when it is sewing a Moss stitch, and the width of the Chain stitch.

8. Select the Stitch Fill checkbox to fill the shape with stitches.

If it is cleared, the shape will not be filled.

9. Enter a Fill Offset Distance.

Fill Offset Distance sets the distance between the digitized boundaries and the filled area. It is always measured from the digitized boundary, not from the last Offset Moss or Chain stitch. Enter 0.0 mm to set the edge of the filled area on the digitized boundary. Enter a positive value to set the edge of the filled area inside the shape. Enter a negative value to set the edge of the filled area outside the shape.

10. Decide how many offset boundaries to generate after the shape is filled.

Offset 4, 5 and 6 allow you to stitch multiple offset boundaries of the shape with either Moss or Chain. The stitch boundaries are generated after the fill stitching. Offset (Units) specifies the distance between the digitized boundary and the Offset. Enter a positive value to generate parallel Offsets inside the shape or a negative value to generate Offsets outside the shape.

Needle Height controls the height of the loop formed by the Chenille machine when it is sewing a Moss stitch, and the width of the Chain stitch.

11. Click OK.

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Adjusting offset stitch length

You can adjust the length of the Chain and Moss offset stitches. Stitch length should be constant for the same thread type throughout a design. If the stitch length varies, the height of the Moss loops and the width of the Chain loops will also vary, causing uneven embroidery. The Chenille machine pulls up the same length of yarn for each loop according to the current
needle height setting.

If you intend to use loops of various height, adjust the needle height rather than the stitch length. Even though the stitch length affects the loop height, it is easier and more accurate to adjust the needle height. See Selecting explicit needle height for details.

To adjust offset stitch length

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens




3. In the Outline Stitch Length panel, enter the stitch length for Moss or Chain offsets.
4. Click OK.

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Changing run stitch direction

You can set the run stitch direction for the offset borders. The correct stitching direction is important for Moss borders.

Changing offset stitch direction

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens

3. Select the run direction for the offset borders

CW: to stitch in a clockwise direction

CCW: to stitch in a counterclockwise direction

4. Click OK.

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Changing the number of overlapping stitches

Overlapping Stitches allow you to shift the connectors between Offset Runs by a few stitches to prevent stitches building up at the joins. Also, the connectors are less visible if they are not in one line.

To change the number of overlapping stitches

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens




3 Enter the number of overlapping stitches between the offset runs.
4 Click OK.

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Adjusting the Compound Chenille values

The Compound Chenille dialog allows you to:

set the number of offset runs stitched before the fill , including a run on the actual boundary, or none at all

set the offset distance for fill, and fill is generated or not

set the offset distance for 1st offset run (offset values multiply for multiple runs) or set individual offset distances for offsets (distances may be positive or negative)

overlap stitches on the offsets

change the run stitch direction, clockwise or anti-clockwise

adjust Chain stitch and Moss stitch length for offset runs

set the offsets to be moss or chains with optional height values for machines which support needle height controls

set offset needle height.

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Adding automatic offset borders after the fill

You can add up to 3 offsets after the fill, as well as Chain, Moss and needle height.. Offset Moss or Chain stitch generated inside the shape is used to define the shape.

Enter a positive value to generate parallel offsets inside the shape or a negative value to generate offsets outside the shape.

To add automatic offset borders after the fill

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens
3. Select the Compound Chenille checkbox.



4. Decide how many offset boundaries to generate after the shape is filled.

Select a stitch type for each of the offsets, Offset 4, 5and 6 from the dropdown lists.

! Chain: offset stitched in Chain.
! Moss: offset stitched in Moss.
! None: no offset.

The first offset is usually stitched with Chain and the others with Moss.

5. For each of the offsets, select an offset distance.
6. For each of the offsets, select a needle height for each of the offsets.




7. Click OK.

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Adding automatic chenille fill

You can choose to include or exclude the fill stitch. Exclude the fill when you are digitizing multiple chenille objects using Input A, B or C and only need the automatic offsets for the border. This technique is used to generate multi-colored chenille objects. You can also set the distance of the fill from the border.

To add automatic chenille fill

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens
3. Select the Compound Chenille checkbox.




4. Select the Stitch Fill checkbox to fill the shape with stitches.

If it is cleared, the shape will not be filled.



5. Enter a Fill Offset Distance.

Fill Offset Distance sets the distance between the digitized boundaries and the filled area.

It is always measured from the digitized boundary, not from the last Offset Moss or Chain stitch. Enter 0.0 mm to set the edge of the filled area on the digitized boundary. Enter a positive value to set the edge of the filled area inside the shape. Enter a negative value to set the edge of the filled area outside the shape.



6. Click OK.

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To add automatic offset borders before the fill

1. Select the Compound Chenille object.
2. Right-click the Compound Chenille icon.
The Effects > Compound Chenille tab opens
3. Select the Compound Chenille checkbox.

4. Decide how many offset boundaries to generate before the shape is filled. Select a stitch type for each of the offsets, Offset 1, 2 and 3 from the dropdown lists.

Chain: offset stitched in Chain.

Moss: offset stitched in Moss.

None: no offset.

The first offset is usually stitched with Chain and the others with Moss.



5. For each of the offsets, select an offset distance.
6. For each of the offsets, select a needle height for each of the offsets.
7. Click OK.

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Adding automatic offset borders before the fill

You can add up to 3 offsets before the fill. Set the distance between the digitized boundary and each offset, as well as Chain, Moss and needle height. The stitch borders hold the fabric in place and provide clear edge definition for shapes.

Offset Moss or Chain stitch generated inside the shape is used to define the shape, while outside Offset Moss or Chain stitch may used as a highlight. Enter a positive value to generate parallel offsets inside the shape or a negative value to generate offsets outside the shape.

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Digitizing chenille automatically

Compound Chenille effect generates multiple offset runs automatically from the same boundary as the fill. You can set up to 3 offsets before and after the fill, each with their own values for the offset distances, as well as Chain, Moss and needle height.

Digitizing chenille automatically with Compound Chenille

Using Compound Chenille allows you to:

generate up to 3 offsets before the fill

choose to include or exclude fill

generate up to 3 offsets after the fill

To digitize chenille automatically with Compound Chenille

1. Click the Chain or Moss icon.
2. Click the Compound Chenille icon.
3. Select a chenille fill stitch.
4. Digitize the boundary of the shape using Complex Fill, by marking reference points around the outline of the shape.

Click to enter corner points.

Right-click to enter curve points.

Tip Use the prompts in the prompt line to help you digitize. If you make a mistake, press Backspace to delete the last reference point. Press Esc to undo all new reference points. Press Esc again to exit digitizing mode.

5. Close the shape.

To close the shape with the same type of reference point as the last you digitized — i.e. corner or curve — simply press Enter.

To close the shape using a different type of reference point, mark the last on top of the first and press Enter.

6. Press Enter.
7. Mark the entry and exit position by clicking outside the object boundary.

Tip To minimize segments and gaps in your embroidery, place the entry and exit points opposite each other on the outside boundary. Then define the stitch angle so it is perpendicular to the line between the entry and exit points.

8. Define the stitch angle by digitizing two points.



9. Press Enter.

Note Complex Fill objects may be stitched out in several smaller segments, joined by travel runs. All segments and boundaries in a Complex Fill object are part of the same object.

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Digitizing Automatic Chenille

Objects stitched with a Chenille stitch need to have a border stitched around to hold the stitches inside the shape and provide clearer edge definition for shapes. Offset Moss or Chain stitch generated inside the shape is used to define the shape, while outside Offset Moss or Chain stitch may used as a highlight.

This can be done autoamtically using the Compound Chenille tool with Complex Fill, when multiple offset borders can be automatically generated from the same boundary as the fill. Compound Chenille can automatically generate up to three offset borders before and up to three border after the fill stitching. Offset runs can be set up to stitch either Moss or Chain, at specific offsets and with specific needle heights. When the compound object is scaled, these offsets maintain all their values.

You can also digitize Compound Chenille borders around existing objects created with other input tools by excluding the fill stitching. See adding compound chenille borders.

Objects stitched with a Chenille stitch need to have a border stitched around to hold the stitches inside the shape. Compound Chenille allows multiple automatic offset borders to be automatically generated before and after the fill area stitching. Offset runs can be set up to stitch with either Moss or Chain, at specific offsets and with specific needle heights.

Only objects digitized with Complex Fill can use Compound Chenille. This section explains how to create automatic chenille using the Compound Chenille feature, as well as change stitch settings to obtain the best results.

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Saving designs

ES Designer lets you save designs in native EMB as well as other ‘outline’ and ‘stitch’ file formats. You can also save designs to proprietary embroidery disks, or punch them to paper tape. Saving a design records its file name, location and format, and updates it with any changes you make. When you save an existing design under a new name, to a different location or format, you create a copy of the original design.

Tip Save your design early and often. Do not wait until you finish working. You can also set ES Designer to save automatically while you work.

To save a design

1. Click the Save icon.
If this is the first time you have saved the design, the Save As dialog opens.

Tip To save changes to an existing file but preserve the original, use Save As.

2. Select the folder where you want to save the design from the Save In list.
3. Enter a name for the design in the File name field.
4. Select a file format from the Save as type list.

Warning If a design feature is not available in the file type you select, it will be converted — e.g. Flexi Split stitching may be changed to plain Tatami.

5. Click Save.

Tip Files saved in EMB format are automatically compressed when saved and decompressed when re-opened. This reduces the storage space required, and makes it possible to save large files to floppy disk, or send them as email attachments.

Once you have saved a design, every time you click Save on the toolbar the file will be updated.

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Creating new designs with the Chenille template

When you start Wilcom ES Chenille, a new file — Design1 — is automatically created, ready for you to start digitizing. By default, Design1 is based on the NORMAL template. However you need to use a Chenille template to create new Chenille designs. The Chenille template defaults the system to Chenille values. You can modify the template to suit your machine. See Modifying a template in the Wilcom ES User Manual for further details.

Use a Chenille template to create new Chenille designs. The Chenille template defaults the system to Chenille values. You can modify the template to suit your machine. See Modifying a template in the Wilcom ES User Manual for further details.


To create new designs with the Chenille template

1. Start ES Designer.
2. Select File > New. The New dialog opens.



3 Select a Chenille template.

The Chenille template defaults the system to Chenille values. You can modify the template to suit your machine. See Modifying a template in the Wilcom ES User Manual for further details.

When you read a design from an embroidery disk, they are converted from embroidery file format to EMB format. The Chenille functions appear in the converted design in the same way as they are stored in the embroidery format file, or on the paper tape.

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Opening Chenille designs

Chenille designs cannot be distinguished from normal embroidery designs automatically. The system maintains the previous setting, so it is not necessary to select the machine format in the Decoding Options dialog, if you want to read an embroidery file with the same machine format as the previous design.

To read a Chenille design

1. Open a design: Select File > Embroidery Disk > Open to open an embroidery disk. Select File > Open for a DOS formatted disk.
2. The Open dialog opens.
3. Select a file type. Use the table to select a format.

Note In Tajima TMCE-600 all Chenille functions stops are interpreted as color change.

4. Click Options. The Decoding Options dialog opens.

5. Select the appropriate chenille machine from the Machine Type list.
6. Click OK.

Read more »

Chenille Basics

To start using Wilcom ES Chenille, you need to know basic procedures, such as starting up, opening and creating designs, and saving. Refer to the Wilcom ES User Manual for more information on basic procedures.

Security access codes control your access to special options in the software. You need to be able to identify your system’s identity codes, and enter new access codes for upgrades.

This section describes how to start Wilcom ES Chenille, how to open designs, start new ones and use the basic commands. You will also find out how to select machine formats for different output as well as how to save designs. The section also explains the procedure for entering security codes.

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Starting Wilcom ES Chenille


Open Wilcom ES Chenille using the desktop icon or the Windows Start menu.

To start Wilcom ES Chenillen

1. Double-click the Wilcom ES Chenille shortcut icon on the Windows desktop.

Alternatively, select Programs > Wilcom ES > ES Designer from the Start menu.


Wilcom ES Chenille opens with a new, blank design (Design1).

2. Customize the design window by showing or hiding the grid, changing the grid dimensions, and showing and hiding toolbars.

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Combining Chenille and lockstitch designs

Chenille designs can be converted to any machine format, including lockstitch machines. This is useful when you wish to combine regular embroidery and Chenille embroidery in a single design. You can combine regular lockstitch embroidery and Chenille embroidery in a single design.

When using a machine that supports both lockstitch and ES Chenille, it is possible to change a lockstitch object into a chenille object by selecting it and clicking on a ES Chenille stitch tool e.g. Moss.

To combine Chenille and lockstitch designs

1. Plan your Chenille and lockstitch design.
2. Mark a reference point in the design.

There should be a common start point for both Chenille and lockstitch designs.

3. Digitize the Chenille part of the design.
4. Save two copies of the design.
5. Open the second copy.
6. Select Machine > Select Machine Format.
7. Select a lockstitch machine format.

The design is converted to the selected machine format. The Chenille specific functions, such as Chain, Moss and Needle Height, are preserved but they are ignored by the lockstitch machines.

8. Digitize the lockstitch parts.

For correct registration, make sure that the start point of the lockstitch part exactly match the start point of the Chenille part.

9. Save the combined design.
10. Delete the Chenille parts, and save the lockstitch part under a new name.

Now you have two designs, a Chenille and a lockstitch design with matching start and finish points.

11. Stitch the Chenille part first on a Chenille machine — Barudan, Melco or Tajima.

Which part you stitch may vary, depending on the design.

12. Stitch the lockstitch part on the same brand of machine.

As the hoops are standard within the same brand, you can remove the hoop from the first machine and insert it in the other. As they have matching start and finish points, the two designs will be perfectly aligned.

Note Tajima TMCE-600 is a combined Chenille and lockstitch embroidery machine. Combined Chenille and lockstitch design can be output to this machine from a single file.

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Chenille toolbar

If you have a Chenille option added to your lockstitch Wilcom ES system, you have a single design window for both Chenille and normal embroidery.

There is a special Chenille toolbar which contains special Chenille stitch types and machine functions, such as Straight, Coil, Perpendicular Fill, Compound Chenille, Chain, Moss, Needle Height. Compound Chenille allows you to generate Moss or Chain stitch run-arounds automatically for complex shapes.

Checking for Chain/Moss digitizing errors

The Chain/Moss display aids in the quick location of digitizing errors.

To check for Chain/Moss digitizing errors;

Activate the Chain/Moss display by selecting View > View Machine Functions > Chain/Moss.

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Stitch length

Stitch length should be constant for the same thread type throughout a design. If the stitch length varies, the height of the Moss loops and the width of the Chain loops will also vary, causing uneven embroidery. The Chenille machine pulls up the same length of yarn for each loop according to the current needle height setting.

If you intend to use loops of various height, adjust the needle height rather than the stitch length. Even though the stitch length affects the loop height, it is easier and more accurate to adjust the needle height. See Selecting explicit needle height for details.

Select a stitch length for a design according to the thickness of the yarn, the thickness of the fabric and the required density. Using inappropriate stitch length may cause yarn breakage, needle breakage and damage to the fabric.

Note If the yarns in use are of the same type, the lengths of the Chain and Moss stitch are different. The following table gives an indication of appropriate values.

Tip These values may vary depending on the fabric used. When you use a new thread and fabric combination, sew a test design first using the above values as an initial guideline.

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Jumps

Jump(M) functions cause frame movements without needle penetrations. The use of jumps is not recommended because the pulling effect on the fabric during a jump, may distort the design, especially if the fabric is thin.

To avoid long connecting stitches, plan carefully in which order you digitize the shapes and lines. Use Chain stitch rather than jumps when traveling across a shape filled with Moss stitching as the Chain stitch will be hidden under the Moss stitching.

Use Jump only if there is a significant contrast in colors, particularly if the current stitch is of a lighter color, when the yarn may show through.

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Corners

Avoid corners with an angle smaller than 60o it can cause a machine fault or loop stitches may be changed to chain stitches. ES Designer automatically adds an extra stitch to avoid sharp corners within objects, including manual stitch objects. If you round off sharp corners in run and complex fills, you can avoid both sharp angles and small stitches.

However sometimes an extra stitch causes chain stitches to swell, giving a poor finish.

Use Smart Corners to achieve smooth, even placement of stitches, and eliminate gaps in your design. Smart Corners can be used with Straight stitch and Coil for Input C objects. See Smart Corners in the Wilcom ES User Manual for details.

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Jumps

Jump(M) functions cause frame movements without needle penetrations. The use of jumps is not recommended because the pulling effect on the fabric during a jump, may distort the design, especially if the fabric is thin.

To avoid long connecting stitches, plan carefully in which order you digitize the shapes and lines. Use Chain stitch rather than jumps when traveling across a shape filled with Moss stitching as the Chain stitch will be hidden under the Moss stitching.

Use Jump only if there is a significant contrast in colors, particularly if the current stitch is of a lighter color, when the yarn may show through.

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Trims

Few Chenille machines have an automatic thread trim mechanism as the connecting threads are under the fabric and are not visible. In this case, digitize all the shapes and lines of the same color in one session to minimize the number of manual trims. This will reduce the time required to stitch the design.

Be careful how you connect from one spot to another. Avoid long connecting stitches which may pull the previous stitching and may need to be trimmed.

HUAAAAAA...!!! I Told You guys!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

There's Nothing there! So do not click that Yellow Link!

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Scaleability

As with lock stitch designs, any Chenille design created in ES Designer will be scaled from the outlines. But because parallel offset runs are used so frequently, Chenille users have to apply some thought and some special techniques to their digitizing.

Object-based embroidery means that when designs are scaled, the stitches are automatically recalculated from the object outlines. Densities are preserved and there are no gaps or heavy over-stitching. Even the Chain and Moss boundary runs of Complex Fill areas are recalculated with the same offsets. Object outlines can be reshaped and the stitches are again recalculated to the new shape.

As far as possible, Chenille designs and alphabets should be planned to use Complex Fill input with Compound Chenille to generate the offset runs.


The offset runs can be generated in different colors.

When an old Chenille design is read from expanded data (e.g. Melco EXP, Tajima or Barudan disk), the Stitch Processor in ES Designer converts the stitching into objects. It does not fully recognise Coil and straight stitching, so will be converted to a series of Run stitch objects. This limits the scaleability of these old designs to ± 5-10%. However, old designs can be
readily stitch edited and sections re-digitized if required.

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Scaleability

As with lock stitch designs, any Chenille design created in ES Designer will be scaled from the outlines. But because parallel offset runs are used so frequently, Chenille users have to apply some thought and some special techniques to their digitizing.

Object-based embroidery means that when designs are scaled, the stitches are automatically recalculated from the object outlines. Densities are preserved and there are no gaps or heavy over-stitching. Even the Chain and Moss boundary runs of Complex Fill areas are recalculated with the same offsets. Object outlines can be reshaped and the stitches are again recalculated to the new shape.

As far as possible, Chenille designs and alphabets should be planned to use Complex Fill input with Compound Chenille to generate the offset runs.


The offset runs can be generated in different colors.

When an old Chenille design is read from expanded data (e.g. Melco EXP, Tajima or Barudan disk), the Stitch Processor in ES Designer converts the stitching into objects. It does not fully recognise Coil and straight stitching, so will be converted to a series of Run stitch objects. This limits the scaleability of these old designs to ± 5-10%. However, old designs can be
readily stitch edited and sections re-digitized if required.

Read more »

Chain/Moss view

Chenille embroidery objects can be viewed in a special mode allowing easy identification of Chain and Moss design elements. A design displays using the first three colors in the color palette, which identify lockstitch embroidery objects in green, Chenille chain elements in blue and Chenille moss elements in red.

TrueView™ does not display Chain and Moss stitching. However, it can still be useful to give an impression of the design when viewed at a small zoom factor (less than 1:1).

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Needle height

On some machines the needle height can be set in the design to control the height of the loop formed by the Chenille machine when it is sewing a Moss stitch, and the width of the Chain stitch.

Moss can use different needle heights. You may use different needle heights for different color areas. You may also use different needle heights for filled areas and borders. Needle height has much less effect on Chain stitches.

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Compound chenille

Compound Chenille is used with Complex Fill is used to automatically digitize objects with offset borders. Automatic offsets consist of 1-3 chain runs around the shape, 1-3 moss runs of a lower height and a fill of Island Coil, Perpendicular Fill or Straight stitch.

Note Input A, B and C do not produce automatic borders for Chenille objects so they need to be added manually but these manual objects cannot be scaled to a large extent, because the gap between the borders will change.

Use Complex Fill for large irregular shapes.

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Fill stitch types

There are four fill stitch types available — Coil, Straight, Perpendicular Fill and Island Coil. The stitch type you use depends on the input tool used as well as the object shape, size and the effect you want to achieve. See Fill stitch types for details.

Coil fill stitch

Coil fill is suited to stitching narrow shapes or ‘columns’, where each stitch traverses the width of the column. Coil fill can be used in objects created with Input A, B and C digitizing tools. The coils generate consistent stitch length even over different widths and provides a way to fill an area with Moss stitches. The stitches are generated along curved lines. Coil produces a smooth finish that does not unravel easily.




Straight fill stitch

Straight is similar to the Tatami used in regular embroidery and is suitable for narrow objects digitized with Input A, B or C and filled with Chain. You can fill areas diagonally, or on the horizontal and vertical. It is recommended for Complex Fill input method to fill areas with Moss. All the stitches generated along a row are of same length. However, some shorter stitches are generated where the shape is narrow and between rows of stitching.




Island Coil fill stitch

Island Coil is used to fill large Complex Fill objects. This technique allows complex shapes to be filled with concentric rows of coil stitching, simulating the circular motion of hand-chenille embroidery. Chain and Moss offset runs can be added automatically using Compound Chenille.






Perpendicular Fill stitch

Perpendicular Fill is the most common fill stitch used. It .is suitable for large objects digitized with Complex Fill and filled with Moss. It is made up of two layers of Straight stitch. Typically, the second layer of fill is perpendicular to the original fill, with 45° and 135° used.

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Chenille stitch types

The two basic stitches created by chenille embroidery machines are moss and chain stitch. The looped pile look on letter jackets is created with the moss stitch which can vary from low, compact stitches to high, plush stitches producing different effects. The chain stitch is a flat stitch traditionally used as a border or outline for moss stitches.

Moss and Chain are machine functions and are treated as object properties in Wilcom ES, in the same way as color. You can use both Moss and Chain stitch for outlines or fills. The Moss and Chain tools set the fill only.


Moss stitch

Moss stitch is a looped stitch which give a dense cover. This stitch produces the typical Chenille raised stitching. It works best with simple shapes. Moss stitch is used to fill in areas and create depth. Moss can be stitched using different needle heights: lower for run around and higher for fill.



Chain stitch

Chain stitch is a decorative style of stitching which looks like the links of a Chain. It is used for outlining and bordering designs as well as in monograms. It can be used to produce a more delicate look.

In conjunction with Chain stitches, the design builds up in height from the edges to the middle.

Chenille Run stitch

Chenille Run stitches are similar to Run lockstitches except that the stitch length is constant. To stitch single lines use Run with Chain or Moss. One or two offset run-arounds with Chain and Moss provide a clear edge for filled areas. You can also use Double Run and Backtrack to produce outlines.

Note Needle points do not have to be forced on sharp corners for compound chenille area fill because sharp corners are defined by the offset runs.

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