1. Open the layout to which you would like to add zigzag
stitching. File > Open. For this tutorial, I’ve used a photo of a daisy (by
Davide Guglielmo, a.k.a. brokenarts at Stock.Xchng).
2. From the Tool Bar, click on the Text Tool
and choose a
plain font such as Arial. Enter a font size. Be sure to experiment with
different fonts and sizes to achieve various stitch results. For this example,
I have chosen Arial set at a size of 26.
3. Add a new raster layer to your layout. Layers > New
Raster Layer > OK. This will be the layer that your stitching will be on. With
your Text Tool still activated, click on the area of your layout that you would
like the stitching to appear. Begin typing a series of either upper or
lowercase V’s to cover the area you wish to stitch.
Note how close or far apart each “v” is to each other. The
tops of each “v” should touch the preceding and following “v” in order to
achieve realistic stitching. If there is space between each “v”, adjust the
kerning to a negative number
until the “v’s” touch each other. With the Text
Entry box open and the string of “v’s” highlighted, go to the Kerning box and
enter a negative number . The value you enter will depend on the font and the
size.
5. Add dimension to your stitching by adding a combination
of noise (Adjust > Add/Remove Noise > Add Noise), texture (Effects > Texture
Effects > Texture), beveling (Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel) and shadowing
(Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow).
6. At this point, you could leave the stitching as is.
Or, you can add more detail to the stitching by painting some “holes” behind the
stitches. Use a small round brush setting, add a new raster layer UNDER your
stitching, zoom in so that you can see where the holes need to be placed and
begin adding dots. Add a Gaussian blur to your dots if they’re too pronounced
(Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur).
