FREE Quilting Patterns, Tutorials, Magazine

Home » Brother » Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 » Use My Custom Stitch to make your own custom stitch | Tutorial

Use My Custom Stitch to make your own custom stitch | Tutorial

by Jean Boyd

Yesterday, I showed you how to make a cushion using four different pieces of pleated and tucked fabric created on the new Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine.

Finished cushion with pleats and tucks on green and blue woven fabrics. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

Finished cushion with pleats and tucks

I used a few decorative stitches on my cushion, and although there are hundreds of decorative stitches on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100, sometimes you just need something different.

Now, using the exclusive My Custom Stitch feature on this machine, you can do just that! The video, How to Design Your Own Custom Stitch with My Custom Stitch by Angela Wolf for Brother, shows one way to do this. Angela uses the Brother Dreamweaver machine, but the method is exactly the same for the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100.

My Custom Stitch is also well explained in the manual included with the machine. There are even some grid sheets supplied if you want to draw your design before entering it in the machine.

Manual for Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine, grid sheets for designing custom stitches and stylus. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

My Custom Stitch is explained in the manual

There are several ways to create your own custom stitch. I decided to draw my design free hand rather than use the grid sheets.

Here’s how to get started:

Press the Character Decorative Stitch key at the top of the LCD screen. Then press the key with the little pencil in it. That’s your drawing tool!

LCD screen on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine showing the My Custom Stitch key. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

The key with the pencil is your drawing tool

Now you can see your drawing space. You can draw with the screen in a vertical or horizontal position.

LCD screen on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine showing the drawing screen for My Custom Stitch. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

Drawing space for creating stitches

Using your finger or a stylus, move the pencil to your starting point and press Set. Move the pencil or use the arrow keys to move to another spot and press Set. Just keep drawing until you have a design that you like.

LCD screen on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine showing drawn lines that will create stitches. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

Draw lines to create stitches.

You can press the magnifying glass at the top of the screen to enlarge the stitch on the LCD screen. Now you can adjust the width and length of your stitch if you wish. You can also edit the stitch by removing some of the points, or you can keep adding to the design.

LCD screen on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine showing a finished My Custom Stitch. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

View of the finished stitch

When you press the Test key, you can see a close-up look of how your stitch will look on fabric.

LCD screen on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine showing a close–up view of the finished My Custom Stitch. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

Close-up of the finished stitch

When you’re satisfied with your design, press the Memory key to save it in the machine, on a USB stick or in your computer.

LCD screen on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 machine showing where to save stitches. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

Save the stitch in one of three locations.

And here’s how my new custom stitch looks on fabric. The design possibilities are endless. Have fun!

Four versions of the newly designed custom stitch on fabric. Brother Innov- ís BQ3100 The Achiever Sewing & Quilting Machine

Custom stitch on fabric

Tomorrow, I’ll show you even more ways to use the My Custom Stitch feature on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100. Please come back and join me!

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Making a one-of-a-kind cushion with the Brother BQ3100

Go to part 5: Doodling with My Custom Stitch on the Brother BQ3100

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.