Everyone has a certain viewing area to make outline stitches. The goal here is for you to discover the degree of "Zoom" you need to do to get the kind of stitches you like. Yes, you get to do it 'your' way!
| First, make a square type shape using Fill. As you can see it doesn't need to be perfect since we are just practicing. |
| Zoom in to see the entire square. Go to Function and Change Color. Select a color that will stand out from the color you used to make the square. |
| Go to Function and click on Manual. Start in the upper right corner of the square and click on the corner to anchor your first stitch. Give it your best shot to put your stitches as close to the edge as possible. Place your stitches about 2.5 apart (remember to measure length in (L:) at the bottom of the screen) Move from right to left, ending in the left corner. |
| Zoom in on the left side of the square. You'll be able to see more of the peaks ( < ) now. Place your manual stitches just inside of the pointed ends. |
| Next, zoom in on the bottom. |
| Again, place your stitches inside the peaks. |
| Last side! Zoom in on as much of the right side as you can see on the screen. |
| Start placing your manual stitches and use Display/Pan to move toward the top of the design to finish. |
| Okay, now be brave and sew this design out. |
What do you think? One view will stand out more from the rest as being the a good outline (very close to or right on the edge). Possibly for you it will be the bottom side of the design. The right side of the design may have some interesting looking stitches also (just inside the edge). Do you need to outline all designs? No. Outlining with manual stitches adds a finished touch to most designs, not all.