Preview leather stitching in your thread colours

What the preview shows

Rows of holes on a pattern tell you where the needle goes. They don't tell you how a tan thread looks on a navy pocket, whether a 0.65 mm thread looks heavy at 3.38 mm spacing, or which way the stitches slant. The preview draws all of that:

• each stitch as a shaded ribbon of thread at its real width, with the twist showing when you zoom in;
• a shadow where the thread goes into each hole;
• small arrows that show which way the thread runs.

Saddle stitching shows on both faces of the leather, and the preview draws both.

Turn it on

1. Prick a stitch line, or open the demo card holder from the welcome screen.
2. Press F6 (View ▸ Stitch preview).
3. Press + or − to draw the thread thicker or thinner, from 1 to 10. Step 3 is true size.
4. Press = to switch between both faces, the front and the back.

The Stitching tool has the same switches while you prick: Show stitches turns the preview on, and Even and Odd show the front and back stitches.

Choose the thread

The legend at the bottom left of the drawing lists the threads in use. Click it, or choose Stitch ▸ Thread catalogue, to pick another.

• The built-in brand, PatinaCAD Basic, has 30 colours, from White and Natural through Saddle and Chocolate to Navy and Black, plus a gradient thread and a banded one. It comes in gauges from 0.35 to 1.0 mm.
• Use for drawing sets the thread for the whole pattern.
• Apply to selected holes gives some stitches their own thread: a contrast colour on one pocket, say.
• Use drawing's thread on selected holes puts them back.

Add the threads you own

Click + in the catalogue to add a brand. Give it a name, a twist (S or Z) and the gauges it comes in, for example 0.45, 0.55. Then add each colour: the maker's code, a name, and the colour typed like #8b5a2b. For a multicolour thread, enter several colours and choose Gradient for a gradual change or Bands for steps.

Use Export my brands to save your brands as a file, to share them or to use them on another computer.

Multicolour threads

A variegated thread changes colour along its length, so where each colour lands depends on how much thread every stitch uses. PatinaCAD counts the thread in each stitch, plus twice the leather's thickness for every hole the thread passes through. Set the leather's thickness (2 mm to start with), the length of one colour cycle (1260 mm) and the colour at the first hole in File ▸ Options ▸ Stitch preview.

Stitching order

The preview follows the order the thread goes through the holes. Pricking sets it for you. To change it, right-click a hole and pick Choose the next hole, End the stitching here or Fix stitching order from here. Use these where a seam jumps from one piece to another, or stops at a pocket opening.

Tips

• Try two or three thread colours on the same pattern before you buy a spool.
• At true size, zoom in to compare gauges at their real width, for example a 0.45 mm thread against a 0.65 mm one in the same holes.
• Press = until only the back shows to check the back of the seam, which looks different from the front.
• For a custom order, the preview makes a quick colour proof to send to your customer.
• The preview uses the holes you've pricked, so get the stitching holes right first. On two pieces sewn together, gusset holes that line up give matching stitches on both.

Good to know

• The drawing's thread is a setting in your browser. Threads you give to selected holes are saved in the pattern file.
• Your own thread brands are kept in your browser on this computer. The built-in brand can't be deleted.
• The preview is for the screen. Printed patterns and exported files show the holes only.