Have you ever had a straight column of satin stitches on the screen that sews out crooked on the garment, as if the stitches were getting narrower the closer they got to the corner?

Here are 2 different ways to digitize what would seem to be fairly simple straight columns that go around a corner:

Of course the first shape has three times the number of nodes the second shape has, so at first it would make sense to go for the second method.  However, does the fact that you have less digitized nodes translate into the same or better quality?

Let's take a closer look.

On the second shape, the software is asked to start stitches at the same angle of the corner where the nodes are entered. Then, because the next set of nodes does not appear until the next corner, the software will gradually turn the stitches as it moves along that segment to match the angle of the next corner.

As a result, there is only a small portion of stitches in that segment that will actually sew out at a perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical angle.  All other stitches in that segment will sew out at varying angles, which in turn translates into the stitches pulling differently on the garment at the time of sewing.

The first shape however will generate stitches that are straight for a longer portion of that segment, because of the additional set of nodes entered before and after each corner.

The more angled the stitch, the more it pulls on the garment, for it's not only doing your everyday left-to-right pull, or your top-to-bottom pull, but now it's also pulling at an angle at the same time.

Normally, this would not be an issue *IF* all the stitches of that segment pulled at the same angle.  But when you have a straight column where the stitches pull at different angles every step of the way, this is when you start getting inconsistent column widths on the sewout.

In this case, the column on the sewout of the 2nd shape will get narrower and narrower as the stitches get close to the corners, because that's when they have the largest angle, therefore creating the most pull on the garment.

So, the next time you are trying to figure out why your straight columns on the screen don't turn out straight columns in your sewout, remember that adding an extra set of nodes before and after a corner will go a long way in creating not only truly straight columns but also sharper-looking corners.

Note: using Short Stitches on the example above also helps with the sharp looks in corners, while alleviating possible thread breakage issues along the inside edge of a corner due to the increased stitch presence.