Sewing with the Designer Ruby Royale by Elaine Theriault January 7, 2015 written by Elaine Theriault January 7, 2015 811 What do you think so far? I know, the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale is an exciting sewing machine! I wonder if I’ve been naughty or nice and if someone would consider bringing one to my door that I could keep. I’d love to be sewing with the Ruby Royale and to be able to explore the stitch manipulation. It has over 1,000 built-in stitches. That’s a lot of stitches! Today, I’m going to show you a few samples of how you can manipulate the stitches. My brain is swirling with ideas. Adjusting stitch width and stitch length There are so many options for adjusting the stitch width and stitch length. The possibilities are endless. But, the beauty of adjusting the stitch width and stitch length on the Designer Ruby Royale is you get to see the changes on the large interactive screen before you stitch them. You’ll get a good idea what the stitches will look like and that will save a lot of time. Check out this video and see the changes as I adjust the length and width of a triple zig zag stitch. Stitch positioning I’m able to adjust the width of all stitches, but I’m also able to change the position of the needle relative to the foot. This may be necessary if I’m using the edge of the presser foot as a guide or if the fabric I’m stitching has a seam in the way and I have to move the needle to make the stitching easier. Let’s look at an example. I’ve chosen an applique stitch. In this first picture in the highlighted area, you can see that I’m able to adjust the width of the stitch. But, wait, there’s an ALT button right beside the stitch width adjustment buttons! The +/- signs to adjust the width of the stitch Press the ALT button and the screen changes from stitch width to needle position. I can now move the needle to the left or right by using the +/- signs. The +/- signs to adjust the stitch positioning to the left or right of the center needle position This next screen shot shows how much I was able to re-position the stitch to the right of the center needle position. If you’re using a straight stitch, there are 29 needle positions. If you’re working with a stitch that has a width to it, the width of the stitch will affect how much you can re-position the stitch. The wider the stitch, the less movement allowed. The stitch has been re-positioned to the maximum amount it can go to the right of the center needle position. Here’s a video that shows you the stitch positioning in action. Mirroring stitches Another option for adjusting stitches is to mirror the stitches. Not only can the stitches be mirrored side-to-side, but they can be mirrored end-to-end. That means you can have four different stitches from one stitch and you still have the option to adjust the stitch width and stitch length, if you want. Check out this video to see this awesome feature in action. Stitch Restart The stitch restart button is so useful. Have you had to stop in the middle of a stitch sequence? Now, it’s time to restart and, well, how do you get the sewing machine back to the beginning of that stitch? With the stitch restart button, it’s a snap. Just touch the stitch restart button and a little black dot will appear at the top of the line of stitching. When you start to stitch, the sewing machine will start at the beginning of the stitch sequence. This works for all stitches, including the simple zig zag. A brilliant feature and a very welcome addition! The Stitch Restart button The black dot indicates the beginning of the stitch sequence Exclusive Sewing Advisor The Exclusive Sewing Advisor is like having a sewing wizard at your finger tips. The Exclusive Sewing Advisor is located at the bottom of the large interactive screen. You indicate which type and weight of fabric you’re using and then indicate the type of sewing you’re going to do. The Exclusive Sewing Advisor will set the best stitch, stitch length, stitch width, sewing speed, thread tension and sensor foot pressure for your project. All this information will then be displayed on the screen. I had fun playing with this feature. It’s an amazing system and I tried all kinds of fabrics and the sewing machine brought up the best for my projects. I must admit that I went a little crazy and started digging through closets for all sorts of abandoned projects to test on the Designer Ruby Royale. We’ll see the results of some of those tests tomorrow. In the picture below, you can see the options for the Exclusive Sewing Advisor. The list of choices for fabric and weight is woven light, woven medium, woven heavy, stretch light, stretch medium, stretch heavy, leather and vinyl. Next up, choose the sewing technique, which ranges from seam, overcast, seam/overcast, baste, blind hem, hem, buttonhole and button. The Exclusive Sewing Advisor I can’t say enough about the Exclusive Sewing Advisor. It’s an awesome feature. It takes the guesswork out of sewing. Just wait until you see what it helped me sew! Function Button Panel The function button panel has two roles to play. Depending on whether the sewing machine is in sewing mode or embroidery mode, the buttons have slightly different roles. The Function Button Panel These functions are the same as the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 960Q that I reviewed previously. Check out the link to get more details. When the sewing machine is in embroidery mode, the purpose of these function buttons is slightly different and I’ll review them at a later date. Sewing machine feet Before I close today, I want to give you a look at the feet that come with the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale sewing machine. There’s a huge variety for all kinds of jobs. Presser feet included with the Designer Ruby Royale This is the Sensor Q-foot. It’s used for embroidery, as well as free motion. We’ll be seeing a lot of this foot in future posts. The Sensor Q-foot Wow! I’ve just been telling you what the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale can do. But, wait until you see what it actually does! I’m having so much fun with this sewing machine. Now that we’ve learned how to do stitch manipulation with the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale, tomorrow you’re going to see a wide range of projects and all of them were stitched with ease due to the features and functions of the Designer Ruby Royale. I really love sewing with the Ruby Royale! Have a great day! Ciao! Print this page or save as a PDF FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditWhatsappTelegramEmail Elaine Theriault Elaine Theriault is a teacher, writer and pattern designer who is completely obsessed with quilting. Elaine’s Tech Tips column (originally published in A Needle Pulling Thread magazine) is now available online in e-book format at QUILTsocial.com. When not quilting, she enjoys spending time with her two dogs, Lexi and Murphy, or can be found cycling across the country. Her blog is crazyquilteronabike.blogspot.com. previous post WEEKLY GIVEAWAY 032! HUSQVARNA VIKING® With all my Heart Embroidery Album next post Sewing Techniques YOU MAY ALSO LIKE... Machine embroidery in the hoop! 7 Quilting design elements to add personality Machine quilting Binding a Quilt Two quilting techniques to improve speed and accuracy Top 10 reasons why I love the Husqvarna... Tutorial: Machine Embroidered Fabric Bracelet Is it wrong to LOVE a sewing machine? The embroidered word and quilting 2 comments Pam B January 7, 2015 - 1:15 pm Hiya Elaine!!! Think if I’m good this year, Santa might bring me one of these too??? LOL!!! Thanks for reviewing these machines for us. I know you’re having a ball with them. I would too. Can’t wait to see what all you’re making. Take care, blessed be, hugs!!! Pam Reply Elaine Theriault January 8, 2015 - 5:54 pm Pam – Thanks so much!!! I swear we have been very good this year and we both deserve the Ruby Royale! Enjoy the projects today and the mini project tomorrow. Elaine Reply Leave a Comment Cancel Reply Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.