Basting Around a Design

Individually selected designs can have a basting stitch added automatically. This is useful when you want to add a layer of stabilizer or some other material before the sewing of a design. The baste is always placed intelligently so that it runs immediately before the selected element(s), as shown in the screen shots below.

All elements were selected (Ctrl-A) before applying baste.

Various elements selected individually and together before applying baste.
Notice where the baste stitches are placed in the Objects View.

Here an initial baste is applied and then various areas.

Basting stitches can also be used to secure a layer of topping stabilizer in place before any designs are sewn. A typical use of this is to add a layer of water-soluble topping to a towel, which keeps the stitches from becoming embedded in the terry cloth loops during sewing. It can be hard to hoop a towel, and the topping stabilizer will want to slide around before the stitching happens, so basting it first can make the process easier.

The basting stitches are added to the start of the design or file, and are added as a separate color; naturally you can use any color you want to sew the basting stitches.