GritMercantile

When we started to hand stitch we went through this question as well. We ordered everything brand of thread we could find (all the ones mentioned in this post) and then some. We tried every combo with multiple brands of irons as well. In the beginning, we landed on Crimson 3.85mm chisels and Vinymo #8 & then #5 thread. I love the look of 3.85mm but after hand stitching a good while we changed to 5mm Crimson chisels and Vinymo #1. I know there are folks that say you must wax the thread but we never have. I find it dulls the sheen and does not server much purpose with the Vinymo thread. We do use Ritza but only for internal panels where the thread will not be seen as it will pound flat much better the the round Vinymo. Think the bottom of internal wallet pockets. Vinymo is every bit as strong as Ritza and has a true round look. It is more elegant but can also look robust. We will be getting a new machine this year and we will be using Vinymo thread in that as well. Yes, you can hand stitch with Vinymo thread and we recommend it. The attached pics is our Iris Womens wallet in W&C Chestnut. It is stitched with 5mm Crimson chisels with #1 thread.

It depends on the level of detail you are looking for. I cannot speak for an iPad app but can say that Adobe illustrator is a fantastic application for building digital designs. We have been doing this for about 2 yeas and sell a good amount of them. Our designs are as simple as the outline of an individual panel to that same panel with 1mm stitching holes. We use these the digital designs we create to make consumable templates to try out any new designs for pototyping.

We use an Adobe Illustrator subscription. We have not really used any other app but we have not found anything that that AI can't do. If we want to create an offset line that is comprised of 1mm holes for a laser cutter it will do it. We use AI for our digital downloads that we sell as well and files can easily be exported in various formats.

We have been doing this for some time. We use Adobe Illustrator to design the panel, export as SVG, import into the Cricut software cut out the template on quilters plastic. If you choose the .37" chipboard as the material and choose "More" in the cut setting it will go over the design twice. Then when it is done cut it again. It will pretty much cut thought the plastic and you have exact size panels. We have also use chipboard in our Cricut maker as well to make templates.