78 Designs in Machine Embroidery • Volume 75 • July/August 2012 • www.dzgns.com

Great Scott!

By Scott Goodman Scott Goodman, owner of Sewing Machine Warehouse & Kneedle.com has been servicing the sewing public since 1976.

Suddenly,

BLINGOne of the benefits of being Great Scott!, is the opportunity to preview and play with all of the new toys and gadgets that we embroiderers use to create our projects. We are embellishers; we love to adorn and reconfigure wardrobe and home with designs that reflect our lifestyle. I spent the last week playing with ARTISTIC SUITE V6.0 by Artistic Software products (artisticcreativeproducts.com). Today, BLING…everywhere! Sparkly T-Shirts, jackets, jeans, bags, you name it.

This is not your mother’s Bedazzler™, but a super precise system that allows you to accurately transform artwork, logos and custom designs into a rhinestone or crystal embellishment that can be pressed onto most any project. Best of all, we can combine embroidery designs with crystal highlights.

Here is how it works: The design that you create with Artistic Suite or Artistic Crystals is sent to your cutter (The software will output to several brands of cutting devices). The cutter punches a series of small holes in a template board that define your design. The template board is placed into a tray that contains your favorite Preciosa Rhinestones or Swarovski Elements crystals. The crystals are brushed over the template’s surface and through miracles of science and magic, they fall into the holes in proper orientation. The configured crystals are covered with a tacky, transparent transfer sheet.

The jewel-encrusted sheet is positioned on your project and permanently pressed into place.

My first attempt was to establish ownership of my wife, Victoria by labeling her jeans (Note: Great Scott is an avowed feminist who would never assert ownership of his loving and adorable wife). Quite simply, I typed “Great Scott” in a TrueType font and with a few mouse clicks and couple of crystal color & size choices, my exclusive, personalized design was ready to press onto her back pocket.

Designs in Machine Embroidery • Volume 75 • July/August 2012 • www.dzgns.com 79

Take 2: Looking for any excuse to be a romantic fool, I opened the included clip art library and found a stylish heart. Without putting much additional wear and tear on my mouse, voila! Another jewel encrusted masterpiece.

Take 3: Combine embroidery with magical crystals. Using Dakota Collectibles “T-Shirt Styles” #970480, a little sprinkling of crystals made my magical fairy quite enchanting. This effect can be accurately recreated, ad infinitum, for commercial orders.

Wifey is now sufficiently blinged, blang, blingy, Sparkly!

There is an industry trend toward mixed media; embroidery designs combined with print and now, rhinestones. The convergence of bling and embroidery is upon us.

What cool things are you creating? Do share... GreatScott@kneedle.com

“We are embellishers; we love to adorn and reconfigure wardrobe and home with designs

that reflect our lifestyle.”