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Stitch Sprint best practice guide

How to get clean sew-outs and keep the machine safe. Each rule says why. Numbers come from Stitch Sprint's own limits, the professional reference files Stitch Sprint is measured against, and the trade's usual starting points. Where a number hasn't been proven on fabric yet, it says so.

Contents

1. The five rules
2. Artwork
3. Sizing
4. Lettering
5. Fabric, stabilizer and needles
6. Caps
7. Threads and colours
8. Density and stitch settings
9. Combining pieces
10. Customer files
11. Test sewing
12. On the machine
13. Files and the library
14. Proofs and pricing
15. Licences
16. Keeping the setup right

#1. The five rules

1. Never run a file that failed the check. Failed files go to rejected in the saved designs folder, so they can't be mixed in.
2. Look at the preview and Places to check before loading a file.
3. Test sew every new design on scrap of the same fabric, with the same stabilizer, at reduced speed, until you trust it.
4. Load needles from the report's needle order. DST files carry stops, not colours.
5. Never edit or overwrite the production library. Stitch Sprint only writes inside its output folder; keep it that way.

#2. Artwork

Picture logos: ask for the vector file first. If there's only a picture, 150 dpi or more (300 dpi is better) traces within a few percent of the vector art. Set Colours to the number the logo really has.

#3. Sizing

• Size the art in Stitch Sprint, not by scaling a DST. Digitizing at the final size sets density, underlay and compensation for that size. Scaling stitches changes their density: keep placed DSTs within 90-110%.
• Check the smallest parts after sizing. A logo that sews well at 11 in may lose its tagline at 3.5 in. Places to check lists what was left out.
• Pick the hoop that holds the design with the least spare room. The app does this; a much bigger hoop holds the fabric less firmly.

#4. Lettering

#Minimum sizes

Small run lettering is crispest in 60 wt thread.

#Fonts

• Prefer the Included fonts for customer work: they are open-licence, and they sew the same on every computer.
• Bold and heavy weights sew better than light ones at small sizes: thin strokes become runs or lose underlay.
• Very heavy fonts at large sizes (strokes over about 6 mm) sew as fill. That is right: satin that wide snags.
• Condensed fonts (Anton, Bebas Neue, League Gothic, Oswald) at 0.5 in show the connecting stitch between close letters most. Use Trim between letters when it matters.

#Settings

• Leave Stitch on Auto unless there's a reason. It picks run, satin or fill from the letters' strokes.
• Keep letter spacing at 0 for script so the joins stay closed.
• Outlines: 1.5 to 2 mm for athletic lettering. An outline gap under 0.8 mm closes up when sewn; the 0.8 mm minimum hasn't been sewn yet, so test it.
• Badges: use Add the other half of a badge rather than building two arcs by hand; both lines then share one circle.
• Names lists: set No smaller than to the smallest height that sews well on that fabric (see the table above), so a long name never shrinks past it.

#5. Fabric, stabilizer and needles

Always pick the fabric before judging the design. It changes pull compensation, underlay and density.

• Knits stretch: use cut-away. Tear-away lets the design distort after washing.
• Pile fabrics need topping (and a knockdown) so stitches sit on top.
• These are the trade's starting points and haven't been sewn with Stitch Sprint yet (except twill). Test sew on each fabric you run, and note what you see.

#6. Caps

• Switch on Cap (or use the Cap front preset). It sews bottom up and from the centre out, which pushes the fabric toward the edges instead of bunching it.
• Keep cap fronts about 2.25 in tall and within the cap frame's sewing area.
• Caps get extra pull compensation (1.4x). The one cap sewn so far (Weedline) opened gaps where an E's arms met its stem before that was added.
• Use cap tear-away and a 75/11 sharp needle (the worksheet says so).

#7. Threads and colours

• Check close calls against a real Isacord card. Screen colours are approximations.
• Let shared colours share a needle. Same thread, same needle, fewer changes.
• Watch the order suggestion. When the app offers Reorder to save colour changes, take it unless the pieces must lie in a set order.
• Changing the layer order of an artwork saves stops but removes overlap where colours meet. Pros sew bottom to top for a reason: test sew for gaps.
• For a placed DST, set every stop's thread before saving or making a proof; the stand-in colours are not the real ones.

#8. Density and stitch settings

• Start from the defaults. Fill rows at 0.2 mm, 4 mm stitches and the satin spacing match the professional files.
• Change one thing at a time and test sew. Most problems are fabric (pull, stabilizer), not density.
• Fabric showing through a fill: row spacing a little smaller (0.18 mm), or check the stabilizer.
• Stiff, bulletproof fills: row spacing larger (0.22-0.25 mm).
• Dense-spot warning: look for overlapping shapes in the art first.
• Fill angle: leave it automatic. Set it by hand only to match a neighbouring shape or the garment's grain; give each colour its own angle under Layers if needed.

#9. Combining pieces

• Use Line up and snapping to centre pieces; keep pieces about 1/4 in apart unless they are meant to touch.
• Put pieces in the order they should sew. Overlapping pieces: the one on top goes later in the list.
• Moving between pieces always trims. Fewer, larger pieces sew faster than many small ones.
• Keep the design inside the hoop's dashed line, with margin.
• Save the design file with every DST. It's the only way to change a design later without starting over.

#10. Customer files

• Check every file from a customer or a digitizing service in Check a DST before it goes near the machine.
• Let the doctor fix what it can, then test sew the fixed copy. The original is never changed; keep it.
• Don't let the doctor hide a real problem. A file too big for the field, with too many colours, or with a dense spot needs fixing at its source.
• To add a name to a customer's file, place it with DST and add text, rather than asking for a new file.

#11. Test sewing

Every new design is a test sew until you trust it.

1. Same fabric, same stabilizer, same needle as the real job.
2. Reduced speed for the first run.
3. Look for:
   • fabric showing through fills, or fills that are stiff;
   • gaps between colours, and between outlines and letters;
   • letter weight (satin too thin or too heavy);
   • joins where strokes meet or cross;
   • short travel stitches left visible;
   • letter openings that filled in;
   • puckering round the design;
   • on caps: distortion and gaps.
4. Compare with the preview and the realistic view; note any difference.
5. Write down what you changed (fabric, density, profile setting) so the next design starts there.
6. When a sew-out settles a question on ROADMAP.md's list, record the result there.

#12. On the machine

• Hoop with the stabilizer the worksheet lists. Hoop firm, not stretched.
• Set needles from the needle order in the report or worksheet.
• The design starts at its centre. Line the hoop up on the centre mark.
• Check the hoop on the worksheet matches the one on the machine.
• Applique: have the fabric cut (or ready to trim, with Cut in place) before the first stop.
• Watch the first colour of a new design sew before walking away.

#13. Files and the library

• Keep the saved designs folder as the place Stitch Sprint writes. Don't save over files in the production library.
• Files are never overwritten (_v2, _v3): delete old versions only once a design is final.
• Keep the .design file with the DST, so the design can be changed and digitized again after updates.
• After an update, open important saved designs again, save them, and compare with the old file before running them.
• Name designs after the customer and the job, so the library search finds them.
• Move bad files into a rejected folder; the library leaves those out.
• Run Fix flagged files on one folder at a time (search for it first), and look at each fixed copy.

#14. Proofs and pricing

• Send a proof before every new job. It shows placement, size, colours and price, with lines to approve and date.
• Tell the customer to print at 100% to see actual size.
• Pick the garment colour under the hoop before making the proof.
• Set threads for placed DSTs before the proof, or it shows stand-in colours.
• Keep the price list current in Shop name and prices…; quantity discounts like 12: 10%, 24: 15%.
• The mockups are flat drawings for approval, not measurements.

#15. Licences

• Use Included fonts, or fonts with a commercial licence, for anything sold. The app warns on personal-use, trial and non-commercial fonts.
• Get the customer's permission to embroider their logo, and keep it with the order.

#16. Keeping the setup right

• Pick the hoop you will really use from the Hoop menu, so the check measures the design against its sewing area.
• Measure magnetic hoops on your machine; the listed sewing areas depend on the brackets.
• Check the version at the top right of the window after an update.
• Keep the computer's date and time set automatically, so the subscription check never trips over the clock.