Lesson A: Create a Sewn Patch

Appearance Panel

• 1 Start with the Ellipse tool (L), and click on the artboard to open the Ellipse dialog box. Set the width and height to 50 mm and click OK.
• 2 Open the Appearance panel from the Window menu.
• 3 Set the stroke on the circle to be 10 pts and set a color.

• 4 Select the circle and click on the Stroke section in the Appearance panel. Choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Zig Zag. Apply a size of 1 mm and click the Absolute option, 
50 Ridges per segment, the Smooth points option, then click OK.
• 5 This will create a wavy zigzag look on the stroke of the circle. Select the circle.
• 6 Click on the New Stroke icon in the lower left of the Appearance panel. This will create a new stroke in the panel on top of the other stroke.

• 7 Click on the top-most stroke in the list, choose a color, and set the point size to 1. This creates a stroke on top of the existing stroke.
• 8 With the circle selected and the new 1 pt stroke selected in the Appearance panel, choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Zig Zag. Select a size of 1.5 mm, 100 Ridges per segment, and Smooth points. Click OK.
• 9 This creates a stitch effect on the stroke without creating a new shape.

Effects

• 10 With the circle selected, and the stroke selected in the Appearance panel, choose Object > Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Set the Horizontal and Vertical scale to 97% each. Click OK.
• 11 This scales the stroke and the applies the effect on a smaller level.
• 12 Next, choose Object > Effect > Stylize > Outer Glow. Set the mode to Multiply, the color square to black, the opacity to 75%, the Blur to .35 mm, and click OK.

Multiple Strokes

• 13 The Outer Glow will create a nice shadow separating the strokes.
• 14 With the circle selected and the stroke selected in the Appearance panel, press Option+click (Mac) / Alt+click (PC) and drag the stroke down below to duplicate it and all its attributes.
• 15 In the newly duplicated stroke, change the color to a darker shade. Click on the transform link under that stroke to edit the transform effect.

• 16 The third stroke is slightly larger than the top stroke to create the look of stitching beneath the other stitching.
• 17 With the circle and the stroke selected in the Appearance panel, press Option+click (Mac) / Alt+click (PC) and drag the stroke above to duplicate it and all its attributes.
• 18 In the newly duplicated stroke, change the color to white. Click on the Zig Zag effect and remove it from the list by clicking on the Trash Can icon at the lower right of the panel. Click on the stroke link to open the stroke options. Set the weight to 1.5 pts, round cap the ends, click on the dashed line checkbox. Set the dash to 5 pts and the gap to 5 pts.

• 19 With the circle and the dashed white stroke selected in the Appearance panel, click on the transform effect and set the Horizontal and Vertical scales to 82%. This will reduce the size of the dashed stroke so it appears inside the patch.
• 20 With the Rectangle tool (M), click on the artboard and create a rectangle 60 mm wide, 1 mm high. Click OK.
• 21 Fill the rectangle with a color. Select the rectangle and use Option+click (Mac) / Alt+click (PC) and drag to duplicate the rectangle directly below the first rectangle. Fill the second rectangle with a slightly lighter color than the first. Duplicate the second rectangle and fill it with an even lighter color.

Draw Inside

• 22 Select all three rectangles and duplicate them below the first set. Use Command+D (Mac) / Ctrl+D (PC) to duplicate the sets for a total of 18 sets of three. Select all the sets and choose Object > Group. Choose Edit > Cut.
• 23 Create a new circle, 50 mm x 50 mm, as in step 1. Select the circle and click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the toolbar. Dotted lines will appear around the shape.
• 24 Choose Edit > Paste to paste the grouped set of lines into the circle. Then click on the Draw Normal mode at the bottom of the tool.

Recolor Artwork

• 25 Select the circle with the lines, move it into position over the circle with the strokes, and choose Object > Arrange > Send to Back. This will move the lines to the back of the shape.
• 26 Select the filled shape behind it and choose Edit > Recolor Artwork. Click on the Edit tab near the top of the panel. Click on the link at the lower right of the color wheel to lock the colors in harmony. Move the paddles around the wheel to change the color. Use the slider at the bottom of the color wheel to change the brightness/darkness of the colors.
• 27 This is an easy way to change the color and brightness of any selected object.

• 28 Click on the artboard with the Star tool. Set Radius 1 to 15 mm, Radius 2 to 5 mm, 5pts. Click OK.
• 29 Choose Effects > Distort & Transform > Zig Zag. Set the size to 1 mm, Ridges to 35 per segment, and Points to Smooth. Click OK.
• 30 Set a stroke and fill color for the star. Notice the ends of the star create weird tangents where the Zig Zag effect goes around the points of the star.

• 31 Select the star with the Direct Selection tool and pull the corner widgets in toward the center slightly to round the tips and remove the end tangents.
• 32 Enjoy your sewn patch! It looks embroidered.