Thread OrderNeedle plan
Which thread goes on which needle?
Pick your machine's needle count on the workbench below and open your DST. Each stop gets a needle: the first time a thread appears it takes the next free needle, and later stops of that thread use the same needle.
The run sheet lists every stop with its needle, so you can thread the machine once and press start.
Run sheet
| Stop | Thread | Needle | Stitches | Before you start it |
|---|
Worked example
The sample flower on this page has 8 stops in three threads: green (stem and two leaves), pink (three petals) and gold (bee and center). On a 10-needle machine it needs 3 needles: green on 1, gold on 2, pink on 3, with 0 re-threads. After Join same threads it sews in 3 stops instead of 8: needle 1 for green, 2 for pink, 3 for gold.
Keeping needles threaded between designs
The plan starts from needle 1 for each file. If you keep favorite spools on fixed needles, use the run sheet's thread list to match them up before you start.
Questions
Which needle counts does it plan for?
1, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12 and 15.
What if the design has more colors than needles?
The plan counts the re-threads and picks which needle to re-thread. See the page on more colors than needles.
Does the DST file store needle numbers?
No. The file only marks where the color changes; you assign needles on the machine. The run sheet is your guide.