Bringing Home Ec into High Tech!

Ha! Twice in one week! How about that! For me, I think it is a blogging record!

My latest post is courtesy of Mark J., who let me know this past weekend about the inroads that have been made for the mac enthusiasts with embroidery. The .exp files for a long while have been associated with another file in the world of Apple... Now you can view .exp and all other files by BriTon Leap Inc, in their Embrilliance program! With Embrilliance you can edit motifs, do lettering and much more in BOTH PC and MAC platforms!

Check it out:

• Merge embroidery designs in almost any format, even while they are in .ZIPs.
• Resize, with stitch recalculation.
• Colorize.
• Convert Thread Brands on your designs.
• Add lettering in Multi-Line, Monogram and Circle modes. You can even spiral text or make really LARGE letters.
• Save in your machine’s format.
• Save working files so that you can edit text later.
• Overlap designs and have significant understitching removed.
• Run a simulator to show how your designs will sew out.
• Group/ Ungroup
• Change or remove individual colors in a design.
• Have many chances to Undo your work.

They also have a program that is similar to Embird's Iconizer that is called Thumbnailer. This program allows you to see a mini image of your motif as you browse your files in your computer!

The price point of this software is generously under the $500 line, which for me makes it a great affordable option to play with!
I have not downloaded it as of yet, but I will keep you posted as I explore this piece of software!

Check them out at http://embrilliance.com/

I have been searching for the holy grail of creative textile software: A dynamic pattern library index or database.

Like many of you, I have tons of patterns that are piled up in pattern mountains or squirreled away in boxes and bins....and because I don't know WHAT I have, I have a BAD habit of repurchasing ones I do have!

For many many months, I  have been hoping and drooling over the thought of one day not only having something native on my mac (as lots are pc centric), but also on my iphone... I have downloaded pattern packages such as Pattern Organizer 1.0, Bento (essentially Access for Mac) with a template for pattern org, and then lastly Pattern Pal. All of these seem to do a decent job of cataloging information, to a point....then my need for more speed, back ups, and flexibility exceeds their parameters and my hopes  are dashed.

Today I downloaded Pattern File from Pattern-File.com. Although I am not hot on the idea of a monthly subscription, which can get kind of pricey....it does give me the speed of typing in a pattern number and the software PRE-FILLING all of the info...PLUS the images of the pattern AND the back side pattern info! I am able to also edit some of the drop down boxes AND adding searchable tags (that make sense to ME!!)!
This is going to save me a TON of time!

Now I do need this to be mobile for me, to go on my iphone or what ever smart phone I currently own in the future. Right now, there is no corresponding mobile app... ***BUT*** they have a release date set for the summer for one that is currently in development! For this level of ease of use and speed... I can wait a little longer for the iphone app to appear!

I see the light over the piles of patterns I own folks...and I have hope!!!

Check out Pattern-File.com for screenshots and pricing info!
I will keep you posted as to my findings with this and other cataloging programs out there!