Whether you are making badges for a kids' group or your golf club, the Husqvarna Viking 3D^TM or 4D^TM Embroidery Software has some great tools to get you started making borders for use when creating badges.

Open 3D^TM or 4D^TM Embroidery. Choose the 100x100mm hoop.

Choose from Shapes 1, the badge in the 6^th row 2^nd column. Change the size to 95mm, then Apply or Enter. This is a very nice shape for a badge.

Tip: For a larger badge, the satin stitches may be too wide and catch when wearing. Add a pattern to the satin to break up the stitches.

On the right side of the page there are two buttons – Satin and Fill. Because this shape consists of satin stitches, choose satin. A dialog box comes up that lets you choose satin properties. Choose pattern 6 then 12 and see what the satin changes to. Try other patterns.

Use a pattern for any satin shape. It gives nice texture to the shapes and helps when there are long stitches.

Another great tool is in 3D^TM and 4D^TM Stitch Editor (for 4D^TM, this is part of the 4D^TM Design Enhancer package). You can make a border with a consistent width no matter how large you make the border.

On the Modify tab find the Border (3D^TM) or Border/Applique (4D^TM) tools. Choose a 100x100mm hoop. Go into Preferences . Click the Border tab. Here is where you choose the border width, density, color and if you want underlay for your border.

In 3D^TM Stitch Editor you can make a rectangle, ellipse or polygon border.

Choose any design and bring it into the program. Choose the Ellipse border tool . Click and drag to create an ellipse in the hoop. Don't worry if you touch the original design. Now click the Create Border tool . A border comes around the design in a new window.

Notice at the bottom there is a new tab with the design name and "b" after it. Your original design is still intact in the previous window. Click on the original design tab and then go back to your "design_b" tab. This will refresh the screen and bring up the border color in the design tab.

Go to the Design tab and right click on the border (last) color. The border should be hidden. Make Block from Visible Area then Delete. Your border is still hidden. Click Draw All Stitches . Your border is finished.

In 4D^TM Stitch Editor, you have many options for borders. Either draw your own shape with the Polygon Draw or choose one of the 50 shapes included! You can even make the border an appliqué automatically.

Choose New and on the Modify tab, choose shape number 30 and then Draw Border Shape . Click and drag the shape in your hoop. Now choose Create External Border or Create External Applique .

Tip: In Help, Contents, read the Border and Applique chapter to learn a lot more about how to create external and internal borders and appliqués with designs.

That's it. You have created a shield that you can use for your badge!

Best wishes from Husqvarna Viking