Last Updated on September 6, 2020
In this series, we look at a range of home activities where Linux can make the most of our time at home, keeping active and engaged. The change of lifestyle enforced by Covid-19 is an opportunity to expand our horizons, and spend more time on activities we have neglected in the past.
We’ve seen welcome relief in the past few weeks in European countries, with marked declines in Covid-19 associated deaths. However, with the threat of a second wave looming in many European countries, and the pandemic remaining rampant in other parts of the world, social distancing looks set to remain for the foreseeable future.
With more time at home, there’s never a better opportunity to embark on a new hobby. How about embroidery? Learning embroidery doesn’t have to be complicated, and it definitely shouldn’t feel like a huge investment of time and money. It’s actually an easy and inexpensive hobby. And there’s good free and open source software available that helps a lot with creating and modifying embroidery designs.
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins.
Ink/Stitch
Ink/Stitch is a machine embroidery design platform based on Inkscape, and other open source software.
The software should meet the needs of hobbyists as well as professional digitzers.
Ink/Stitch has tons of great features and is under active development.
You’ll need to have Inkscape on your system. Inkscape is professional quality vector graphics open source software.
Embroidermodder
Embroidermodder is a free machine embroidery software program. The newest version, Embroidermodder 2 can:
- edit and create embroidery designs;
- estimate the amount of thread and machine time needed to stitch a design;
- convert embroidery files to a variety of formats;
- upscale or downscale designs;
- and a lot more.
Other Software
Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery. I covered my recommended free and open source cross-stitch software in this article.
All articles in this series:
| Linux at Home | |
|---|---|
| Astronomy | Explore the universe from your garden |
| Brew Beer | Weave malt and hops and yeast together in unique combinations |
| Circuit Design | Learn to design electronic circuits |
| Collaborating | Edit documents collaboratively in real-time |
| Cooking | Home cooking is an activity that’s great for individuals and families |
| Creative Writing | Pen a classic novel or screenplay |
| Cross-stitching | A form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery |
| Digital Art | Paint and draw directly onto a computer |
| Digital Music Production | Digital Audio Workstations |
| DOOM Gaming | Take a break and play classic DOOM |
| Embroidery | Craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle |
| Exercising | Keeping fit can be a challenge with lockdown |
| Gardening | Plan your perfect garden with these great tools |
| Genealogy | Research your family tree |
| Home Security | CCTV solutions to protect your home |
| Musical Instrument | Learn to play an instrument |
| RSI | Reduce and prevent repetitive strain injury |