Welcome stitchers.  Here are a few tips to follow when stitching our cross stitch designs on your embroidery machines:   

What thread type should I use?

Sudberry House recommends using cotton machine embroidery thread to most resemble the look of hand cross stitch. Our thread sheets list DMC Brodeur 50wt Embroidery Cotton Thread & Mettler Art.240 60wt Cotton Embroidery Thread. We have also listed Sulky 40 wt Rayon Embroidery thread colors. Rayon and heavier weight cotton do not lay as flat as the 50 & 60 wt. especially with 18 ct. designs.

Do I have to use cross stitch fabric?

NO!!!! Any fabric can be used to stitch these cross stitch designs, but if you'd like to use aida to match the count of the design, you can by lining up the cross threads with the straight line of the hoop. This is easy to do if you hold up to any light before securing hoop and fabric. It is amazing how close the machine will stitch on the squares of the Aida. It will not be perfect, but very close. Linen also stitches beautifully, and any article of clothing can be enhanced with these designs. Always use a stabilizer behind the fabric in the hoop and hoop together.

What stabilizer should I use?

There are many, many types of stabilizers on the market and your personal choice is paramount, so experiment. Cross stitch needs to register correctly and if it does not, usually it is the fault of the stabilizing method. We recommend hooping the fabric to be stitched and the stabilizer together. Tighten screws for a firm hold. A basting stitch should be run around the perimeter before stitching the design. ( Note: do not hoop only the stabilizer and attach the top fabric with spray glue or a basting stitch - this results in registration problems).

The colors on my embroidery machine's display do not match the thread sheet from Sudberry House?

THIS IS NORMAL!!!!!! The beauty of cross stitch is in the fine shading of colors, and today's machines cannot decipher these different shades. YOU MUST FOLLOW THE THREAD SHEETS FROM SUDBERRY HOUSE FOR COLOR STOPS!!!!!! Even if the colors are way off go by our thread sheets. We have stitched each of these designs out many times so we know our thread sheets with color stops are CORRECT.

What are backstitches & French Knots?

Backstitches are essentially an outline stitch which is used for special effects or to highlight an area. It is stitched at the end of the stitching and usually uses a color used for the cross stitching. Sometimes it is possible to skip ahead and do the backstitch before taking out the color, then to go back to the regular order. But check carefully to make sure the area to be backstitched is complete at that point. About jump stitches! Because of the complexity of most of these designs and the number of colors, you will find more jumpers than in traditional machine embroidery. We suggest trimming after stitching each color as it is easier to trim at that point than after they are buried with other stitches. French knots are also stitched at the end of regular stitching. These tiny knots are used to highlight some designs. It is important to use the same color bobbin as top thread when stitching these. Slow down machine when stitching both french knots and backstitches! If a design is packed with stitches, sometimes the backstitch will not line up perfectly due to shrinkage of the fabric holding an abundance of stitches. Slowing down the machine will help, or you may choose to skip the backstitches.

What does ct. or count mean?

Count is a hand cross stitch term. Fabrics in the cross stitch industry are designated - 14 -16- 18 count fabric.. Translated to the machine, this is a 1.8mm -1.6mm. 1.4mm size stitch, from large to small. Most Sudberry House designs have a 14 ct. and 18 ct. version, sometimes 16ct. If you are using Aida as described on previous page you must use the correct count for the squares to line up. Evenweave fabric can be used for any count . When choosing the ct. of the design, keep in mind your machines hoop size and limitations. Always check the size and number of the design before stitching so that you have the correct colors with the right design.

Viking Mega Hoop Files (HUS)

Sudberry House occasionally creates a file that is larger than the standard large hoop size (150mm x 240mm) of the Viking Designer 1. For example, in our Oriental Treasures CD #D2600, the largest Geisha design 2601.hus is 158mm x 257mm. This design (2601.hus) to be properly stitched out has to have a Viking Mega Hoop.

Split File Explanation

Split Files must be used when a specific sewing machine's software has memory limitations. This means that some machines have limits on how many colors a design can have as well as how many stitches. Some machines with older software have a limit of 12 to 15 colors. Occasionally files will be split if your memory card is limited to a certain amount of stitches. That might occur with very large designs over 50,000 stitches. Split files also occur due to hoop size limitations. Sudberry House designates split files with -A -B -C etc. You must load all of the files for that design into the software that transfers the files to your machine (either memory cards or floppies. You need to load files labeled "-A" "-B" and perhaps even "-C" of a design that comes with that many files. If you only load the "-A" file, your machine will stitch only to the end of that file and stop and think it is done. Load all the parts depending on your machine capacity. MOST SUDBERRY HOUSE HUS, PES, JEF, & VIP FILES ARE SINGLE FILES.

Technical Support

Technical Support questions can be emailed to: sales@sudberry.com. Please include the following when emailing our technical support department: 1. Sudberry House Design number you are having difficulty with. 2. Manufacturer and model number of your embroidery machine. 3. Describe difficulty you are having. Our web site lists any updates of CDs we have released. The web site address is: www.machinecrossstitch.com. Our telephone technical support can be reached M-F 9-4:30 at 860-739- 6951.

Legal Stuff

Sudberry House LLC owns all rights to all Sudberry cross stitch designs and artwork. No one may share, distribute, trade or sell any of Sudberry's software without written permission. Only the original, individual purchaser of Sudberry designs is licensed to sew out Sudberrys designs and to sell items with Sudberrys designs on them This license gives the purchaser the right to sell up to 25 stitched units of each design . More than 25 stitch-outs of each design is defined as a commercial production. A commercial production license may be obtained by writing to Sudberry House, 12 Colton Rd East Lyme, CT 06333 or E-Mail - sales@sudberry.com. copyright 2002 Sudberry House LLC