Fun with Fonts on THE Dream Machine
If you remember the days when a fancy electric typewriter had, maybe two fonts to choose from, you will be as dazzled by the number of fonts now available to us for machine embroidery. Software from Brother like BES 4
and PE-DESIGN
can even convert a computer's word processing fonts to stitch data, expanding the choices to something approaching unlimited. Sometimes I'd rather work simply, right on the machine's screen, and THE Dream Machine
has plenty of fonts and accompanying tools to accomplish an array (pun intended, as you'll see) of lettering. To begin, take a look at the font screen of THE Dream Machine.
With the machine in Embroidery mode, touch the second tab along the right edge of the screen to reveal the Alphabet Characters (You may have noticed that the third tab also sports letters; those are the Floral Alphabet Characters… although not all feature flowers.). Each icon on the displayed page features a different font; there's also a second page that you can access by moving the slider on the right.

Making a Monogram
For our first foray into fonts, let's create a traditional three-letter monogram, with a larger letter (representing the surname) in the middle. My initials are RKB, so I'll use those for the example; the B will wind up in the middle. I'm going to pick an ornate, curvy font, number 06, then type in my initials in their altered sequence: RBK. 1. Type R and then touch the L-M-S icon once to change its size to medium.



Tip: In some cases, THE Dream Machine
provides more than one avenue to accomplish an editing task. Some tools are available in either the first screen, where you're choosing letters, or in the Edit menu of the screen that appears after you touch Set. Experiment to become familiar with all of the available icons and choose the method that works best for you.
provides more than one avenue to accomplish an editing task. Some tools are available in either the first screen, where you're choosing letters, or in the Edit menu of the screen that appears after you touch Set. Experiment to become familiar with all of the available icons and choose the method that works best for you.

Stitching a Label
Our second lettering project is designed as a label for a quilt or other project, as a record of its maker and the motivation for making it. We can use a couple of different fonts to emphasize certain parts of the label and the Array function for variety in arranging the words. The same techniques can be used to make badges and patches or to stitch a longer block of text, such as a poem or recipe. 1. I'm using font 09 for the larger letters on my label; it's a free-and-easy font without heavy stitching. Type in the first line of text, "for Claire & Joe." Use both upper and lower-case letters for legibility, and access numbers and symbols from the tabs on the font selection screen.
Tip: The upward-facing bracket below the letters inserts a space between characters.
2. Touch the Array icon and choose the gentler upward arc (in the middle of the top row). Use the adjacent icons, with outward or inward arrows, to adjust the amount of arc. Touch OK and then Set. Move the line of text upward just to get it out of the way for the next text entry. Touch Add.




adds this Enter function. That also allows a Justification icon, shown in the photo below, that will center the lines of text or shift them to right- or left-edge alignment.




Vertical Letters
Here's one more technique for using the letters on THE Dream Machine:vertical lettering. If you like word art arrangements of words and phrases, or if you want to stitch a label for the spine of a notebook, this is the method you're looking for…and it's super simple.



As always, I encourage play: you can arrange and save lettering designs many times before choosing the one that's just right. Combining the techniques here opens even more possibilities…just imagine using those tiny letters in an arched array to create a merit badge or patch!