Density or stitch spacing in machine embroidery makes a huge impact. By changing the density of the thread or the stitch spacing you can manipulate a design to look exceptionally different.
The more fabric that shows through a design, the lighter it looks. Designers often leave a great deal of fabric show-through to imitate hand embroidery. This changes the look drastically and depending on the design can transform your look from polished to whimsical. Consider these two designs from Urban Threads :
The “Baroque” style uses thicker thread to create a very dimensional look. The uniform stitch spacing throughout the rose creates a dense and polished design. Whereas the “Painterly” style rose pattern uses varying thread colors and stitch spacing as well as fabric show-through to create a more whimsical look. Both roses are lovely in their own right, but with a change to the color choice, fabric show-through and stitch spacing they are extremely different.
When changing the density of a design remember that increasing the stitch spacing will make the design appear less dense or lighter, whereas decreasing the stitch spacing will make the design denser or thicker. To familiarize yourself with the various stitch spacing settings try creating a sample stitchout. Kay Hickman describes the process of making a sample stitchout in the March/April ’12 issue of Creative Machine Embroidery. “Open a new page in your software program then draw several squares with tatami or step-fill stitches. Adjust the stitch spacing in each square and add lettering to label each square.” By understanding the difference in stitch spacing you can better master your embroidery designs and make them your own.
For additional information regarding density, refer to the Basic Training article “Design Density” by Kay Hickman in the March/April ’12 issue of Creative Machine Embroidery.