Welcome
Welcome to Stitches & Strokes! So if you landed here, you've got some questions, right? We'll get them answered quickly, so you can get on to crafting. If you don't get the answer to your spacific question here, please email us at [email protected]
Who are we?

Who are we?

Stitches & Strokes is a small business. We started out digitizing and designing for clients but recently desided to sell our designs online so Stitches and Strokes was born.

What are we selling?

We sell digital designs for machine embroidery, and printable designs that you can use for anything you can imagine; stickers, chalk board labels, blog planners, journals, recipe cards, home decor and many more.

We had many requests for templates for hand embroidery designs, so can find them in our hand embroidery section.
We will be posting some fun ideas for how you can use your designs in our Blog area.

I can't view my designs on my computer.
Computers cannot read embroidery files, which is why you can't view them, but having many designs can be confusing if you can't see which is which. You can download an application like 2Stitch Organizer, which will show thumbnails of your designs. If you have embroidery software, it will show a thumbnail of your design. If the software doesn't read all file formats, it might not show all your designs.
My design is shown as a pdf file.
If you have embroidery software on your computer, right click on the file you want to open. Select Open with and select the softwsre or program you would like to open your design.
How do I buy designs?

Probably the most important question! First you need to head over to the Accounts page. Just fill out the form to register. From your account you can buy designs and it is where your download history is saved and you can view your dowloaded items.

If you are asked to Sign In, enter your Username and Password.  Select the design you want to buy, then click on Add to cart. You can add more items to your cart or continue by clicking the Check Out button. You will be navigated to the Checkout page.

I don't see an option to choose my machine file format
When you buy a design from Stitches & Strokes, you receive a zip folder with all the machine formats that we offer. The machine formats will be stated in the design description tab, along with the available hoop sizes. You also don't have to choose a hoop size. The zip folder will contain all the hoop sizes mentioned in the description tab. You can view the precise measurements in inches and millimeters as well as the design stitch count.
I've bought a design. Where do I find it?
After buying your design, click on My Orders. You will find a list of your designs.
Choose the design you would like to download and click on the Download option. Your design will download to the file on your computer, that you set for your downloads to go. If you did not select a specific file, it will probably go straight to your Downloads file by default.
How do I open my downloaded designs?

Modern computers make it easier these days. Right click on the zip file, where you will see the option Extract Files.
If your computer doesn't offer this option you can download free unzipping programs like WinZip and WinRAR

Extracting with WinZip:

If WinZip is your default application, right click on the folder you want to unzip. Click on Extract files.
Otherwise launch WinZip from your Start Menu or Desktop. Double click on the zip folder to open it. Click on files you would like to extract. Click on the downward arrow  on the Action pane and choose the destination folder to place the uncompressed files.

Your files will appear in the destination folder that you have chosen.

Extracting with WinRAR:

If WinRAR is your default application, right click on the folder you want to unzip. Click on Extract files. In the open menu 'Extract Path and Options, choose the destination where you want your files to go. After choosing your options, click ok. The extracted files will appear in the destination that you have chosen.

After extracting your designs from the zip folder you can double click on the folder(s) to view the design files inside. There will be a folder for each embroidery hoop size.
Each folder will consist of the embroidery file formats, a design chart and a color chart as well as a preview of the design.

I want a refund, return or exchange the design I bought.

All designs on Sitches & Strokes are downloadable product. If you purchased a design, it is a file you own on your computer, so there is no way to return it. In addition, you receive all the available formats so please make sure that the hoop sizes match your embroidery hoops.

All designs are tested for quality before they are put up for sale. If there is a problem with a design you purchased, please refer to the FAQ on problems with opening or sewing out a design. If you cannot find the answer to your specific problem, please contact us on [email protected]

When you email us, make sure to include your order number, your type of machine, file format used, the fabric and stabiliser used as well as a description of the problem you are having, so that we can help find a sollution. As we have high volumes of emails of all sorts to reply to, kindly give 48 hours for a reply. If you did not hear from us in this time frame, check your email Spam folder, some emails might end up there.

If there is a problem with the design itself, we will be happy to adjust the design and resend it to you.

Refunds will be given if you accidentally ordered the same design twice. Email us at [email protected]

My design isn't displaying om my embroidery machine.

First, make sure that you have chosen the correct file format for your machine.
If you are not sure, refer to your machine's instruction manuals.

Make sure that you have chosen the correct hoop size for your machine. Most machines cannot display designs in hoop sizes they do not support. If your machine has hoop settings, select the hoop size that matches the hoop size of the design.

Format your USB. Use a new or empty USB and insert it into the machine. Some machines format USB's and create their own files for designs to be stored in. Do not remove the USB until the process is complete and you are prompted that it is safe to remove the USB. Again, refer to your specific machine's instruction manual.

If your machine can only read one design at a time, remove previous designs before adding a new design.

If you tried the options above and you are still having trouble, please email us at [email protected] so we can try to help.

Tip: Always copy designs onto your USB instead of moving them, so that you always have an original file on your computer.

Remember: If you lose a design, you can go to your download history on our website and download it again.

My embroidery design doesn't sew out correctly, or doesn't look like the preview.

ALWAYS TEST A NEW DESIGN BEFORE USING IT ON YOUR GARMENT OR PROJECT

Did you open the embroidery file from embroidery software on your computer? If the software that you are using made default changes to the design file, it might sew out incorrectly.

If a design that has sewn out correctly by other embroiderers, doesn't sew correctly on your machine, the problem is most likely in the transfer of the file to the computer or the computer to the USB, to the machine.
Try downloading the design file again from your download history and start from scratch.

If the design doesn't sew out properly because of a mistake on the design. We will happily edit the design and resend it to you.

Can I resize my design?
For the best results, we recommend that you do not resize our designs.
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