Method and System for Stacked Stitch Patterns

Abstract

A system and method for receiving a selection of a first stitch pattern, operating a sewing machine to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material, receiving a selection of a second stitch pattern and operating the sewing machine to sew the second stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

Description

BACKGROUND

In embroidering a fabric using the technology currently available, it is possible to use ready designed embroidery elements that are stored in a sewing machine. Specifically, embroidery designs can be executed with a sewing machine in which the embroidery is stored in a memory that contains stitch data for the embroidery. Such computerized embroidery typically requires a “hooping” or framing system that holds a framed area of sewing material taut under the machine's sewing needle. Accordingly, once an operator selects the embroidery design from the memory of the machine, the sewing material is stretched on an embroidery hoop or frame. The embroidery hoop is positioned relative to the sewing machine in such a way that a control program for the machine moves the hoop mechanically according to the control program and the programmed design during the execution of the embroidery on the sewing material.

The use of the embroidery hoop requires a great deal of time and preparation on the part of the user. The time and preparation include at least hooping the sewing material and positioning the design. Furthermore, the hooping process may be difficult or inaccessible for certain materials depending on the size of the design and/or the type of material to be embroidered. Thus, a simpler and more efficient method is desired for decorating garments and fabrics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method for receiving a selection of a first stitch pattern and operating a sewing means to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material. The method also receives a selection of a second stitch pattern and operates the sewing means to sew the second stitch pattern onto the material. The combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

A stacked stitching system having a user input element configured to receive a first selection of a first stitch pattern and a second selection of a second stitch pattern, a processor executing a set of instructions corresponding to each of the first and second selections received by the user input element and a sewing element being controlled by the processor based on the set of instructions to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material and sew the second stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including a set of instructions that are executable by a processor. The set of instructions being operable at least to receive a selection of a first stitch pattern, operate a sewing means to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material, receive a selection of a second stitch pattern and operate the sewing means to sew the second stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a stacked stitching system for stacked stitching according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a method for stacked stitching using a computerized sewing machine according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3A-3C shows an example of stacked stitching to form a unique stacked stitch pattern according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4A-4C shows another example of stacked stitching to form a unique stacked stitch pattern according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5A-5C shows a further example of stacked stitching to form a unique stacked stitch pattern according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description of exemplary embodiments and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments are related to systems and methods for decorating material such as garments and fabrics. Specifically, the exemplary embodiments described herein relate to combining two or more individual stitch patterns on the material to make a new decorative pattern design. Throughout this description, the new pattern design created by the combination of the two or more individual stitch patterns will be referred to as “stacked stitches” or a “stacked stitch pattern,” while the method or process for creating the new pattern design is referred to as “stacked stitching.” It is noted that in the examples provided below in FIGS. 3-5, the combination of the two or more individual stitch patterns result in the stacking, overlapping, or layering of the individual stitch patterns. However, a stacked stitch pattern does not require that the individual stitch patterns overlap in any manner to create the new pattern design.

As will be described in greater detail below, the exemplary systems and methods of stacked stitching provide a quick and efficient process of decorating materials such as garments, fabrics, etc. using a sewing machine. In addition, this decorative process may be performed while the sewing machine is operating in sewing mode. Sewing mode operations may include selecting of a stitch pattern and sequence, adjusting dimensions (e.g., width, length, stitch density, etc.) of the selected pattern, and sewing the stitch pattern onto the material according to the sequence. The selection of the stitch pattern may be from a plurality of stitch patterns stored in a memory of the sewing machine. Alternatively, a stitch pattern may be designed by a user using a stitch creator program to create unique stitches and sequences.

There are several benefits to the use of stacked stitching over conventional embroidery stitching. As opposed to the complex process of conventional embroidery, the systems and methods described herein eliminate a large portion of the preparatory work required for embroidery mode operations (e.g., framing or “hooping” materials, aligning the hooped materials with a sewing machine, etc.). A user may simply draw a line on the material and then sew the stitch patterns along the line while the sewing machine is in sewing mode.

Furthermore, stacked stitching also allows for greater accessibly to areas on the material that may be difficult or impossible to frame with an embroidery hoop. Accordingly, decorating in small or confined spaces (e.g., sleeves, collars, etc.) is simplified since there is no need to untack the material to make room for the hoop. In addition, stitching out the selected stitch patterns may be much easier, as the patterns may be designed in a very forgiving manner. In other words, any possible deviations from the stitch pattern (e.g., side motion, length feeding, etc.) may not protrude or have a negative effect on the aesthetic appearance of the overall design. Thus, the exemplary systems and methods described herein for stacked stitching allows the user to create unique decorative sewing designs on any type of material.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a stacked stitching system 100 for stacked stitching according to an exemplary embodiment. The stacked stitching system 100 may comprise a computerized sewing machine 110 that includes a memory 120, a processor 130, a user interface 140, a sewing surface 150 (e.g., a work plate), a needle 160, thread 170 that is fed from a spool (not shown). It is noted that the memory 120 and the processor 130 are typically internal components, but are merely shown in this manner for illustration purposes. Also shown in FIG. 1 is the work-piece or material 190 of the fabric or garment onto which the user desires to place the decorative pattern. Those skilled in the art will understand that a computerized sewing machine may include many more components than those described above and may include many other functionalities in addition to the exemplary stacked stitching functionality described in detail below. The above components are described for the purposes of providing the exemplary embodiments.

The processor 130 may be any type of electronic circuit or component capable of performing the functions described herein for the processor 130. Examples include processors, microprocessors, controllers, application specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), integrated circuits, etc. Similarly, the memory 120 may be any type of electronic circuit that is capable of storing the data described herein. Examples include hard drives, flash memory, arrays, dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”), etc. Moreover, the user interface 140 may be any component that allows the user to receive feedback from the sewing machine 110 and/or input commands to the sewing machine 110. Examples include depressible buttons or levers, a selection grid, a touch-screen, etc. In this example, the user interface is shown as two separate components, a touch screen and a series of buttons.

The memory 120 may store any number of pre-programmed stitch patterns that may be performed by the sewing machine 110. Each of the pre-programmed stitch patterns may include a set of instructions executable by the processor 130. In addition, the memory 120 may also store user-generated stitch patterns based on input received from a user using a stitch-creating program. Such stitch-creating programs are known in the art and will not be described further herein. The stored or created stitch patterns may be displayed to the user via the user interface 140

The user may place the material 190 onto which the decorative pattern is to be sewn onto the sewing surface 150 and then select, via the user interface 140, one or more of multiple stitch patterns to be combined into the stacked stitch pattern. The processor 130 will receive the selection. After receiving a first selection, the processor 130 may provide a suggested stitch pattern to the user. For example, the memory 120 may store corresponding stitch patterns that may be used to create a final decorative pattern. Thus, if a user selects a first stitch pattern, the user interface 140 may display all the corresponding stitch patterns that may be used in combination with the selected first stitch pattern to create a decorative pattern. In a specific example, if the user selects a repetitive floral stitch pattern (e.g., a sequence of small flowers), the processor 130 may suggest to the user, via the user interface 140, a corresponding repetitive leaf stitch pattern (e.g., a sequence of small leaves). Once two or more individual stitch patterns are selected, the exemplary system 100 may combine the patterns using different thread colors to create new pattern. The dimensions (e.g., width, length, etc.) for each of the patterns may be adjusted, either automatically by the processor 130 or by the user, to create an aesthetic ornamental design as the individual stitch patterns are combined.

It is noted that as the user selects the individual stitch patterns, the user interface 140 may display the individual stitch patterns and/or the resulting stacked stitch pattern prior to the user beginning to sew the individual stitch patterns so that the user may verify that the resulting stacked stitch pattern is the desired unique pattern. In addition, as the individual stitch patterns and/or the stacked stitch patterns are displayed, the user may have the ability via the user interface 140 to make adjustments to the stitch patterns (e.g., length, width, color, etc.) which will then be displayed on the user interface 140 to verify that adjustments are correct. Specific examples of adjustments are provided in more detail below. The display of the adjustments on the user interface 140 may be the actual adjustments (e.g., the length of the stitch patterns in inches, centimeters, etc.) or the adjustment of the display of the individual stitch patterns and/or stacked stitch pattern to show these stitch patterns with the selected adjustments.

Furthermore, the processor 130 in combination with the memory 120 and user interface 140 may present to the user the option of displaying a newly created stacked stitch pattern on the user interface 140 as a selection option for the user. For example, the user interface 140 may display a series of icons (such as squares) representing a stacked stitch pattern that may be performed by the system 100. The stacked stitch patterns represented by these icons may be pre-stored in the memory 120 by the manufacturer of the system 100 and/or may be new stacked stitch patterns that are created from individual stitch patterns by the user and then stored in the memory 120 for future use. As the user designs and stores new stacked stitch patterns, the user may have the option of adding an icon representing the new stacked stitch pattern for display by the user interface 140.

FIG. 2 shows a method 200 for stacked stitching using a computerized sewing machine according to an exemplary embodiment. As described above, the exemplary method 200 may be utilized to sew decorative patterns in two or more colors using stacked stitches. Specifically, the stacked stitches may be two or more individual stitch patterns that are combined, thereby creating a unique multi-colored configuration of a stacked stitch pattern. According to one embodiment of the exemplary method 200, each of the individual stitch patterns combined to create the stacked stitch pattern may share the same starting point. The steps of the exemplary method 200 will be described in relation to system 100 of FIG. 1 and its corresponding elements.

Beginning with step 210, the material 190 to be sewn is positioned within the computerized sewing machine 110. Specifically, the user may place the material 190 onto the sewing surface 150. As noted above, the method 200 eliminates the need to frame or hoop the material 190 in an embroidery mode, as the sewing machine 110 may operate in a sewing mode to create the desired ornamental design using the stacked stitch pattern.

In step 220, the processor 130 may receive a selection of a first stitch pattern. The first stitch pattern may be stored within the memory 120 as a pre-programmed stitch pattern, or, alternatively, may be a user-generated custom design. The processor 130 may receive the selection of the stitch pattern via the user interface 140.

In step 230, the processor 130 may receive an adjustment to the first stitch pattern. The adjustments may include an adjustment to the dimensions of the stitch pattern, the entry of a starting or ending position for the first stitch pattern, a thread color selection for the first stitch pattern and/or a thread type selection for the first stitch pattern. Those skilled in the art will understand that these adjustments are only exemplary and there may be other types of adjustments that may also be made to a stitch pattern.

The following provides some specific examples of adjustments that may be made to the first stitch pattern. In a first example, the user may use the user interface 140 to adjust the length and/or the width of the selected stitch pattern. For example, depending on the location of the garment onto which the user desires to sew the design, the length of the individual stitch pattern may vary. Thus, the user may adjust the length of the individual stitch pattern. In another example, the width of an individual stitch pattern may be adjusted. For example, the user may desire to include the same stacked stitch pattern on both the collar of a shirt and on the body portion of the shirt. However, because there is more area in the body portion, the width of the stitch pattern may be wider in this area. Thus, in the same way that a user may select the length of the individual stitch patterns that are combined to create the stacked stitch pattern, the user may also define the width of the individual stitch patterns. For example, the user may select a one-inch width for the body portion and a one-quarter inch width for the collar. Various widths for individual stitch patterns may be stored in the memory 120 for the user to select once they have selected the desired stacked stitch pattern or it may be user selectable. For example, the memory 120 may store a one-quarter, one-half, three-quarter and one-inch widths for a particular individual stitch pattern. If the user does not desire any of these widths, the user may select their own width using the user input 140. Again, the processor 130 will receive these selections and adjust the stitch patterns as needed. It may also be that two or more different individual stitch patterns that are used to create a stacked stitch pattern are proportionally locked once a width is selected for one of the individual stitch pattern. For example, the user may select a particular stacked stitch pattern that is created from individual stitch patterns A and B. The user may then select the width of individual stitch pattern A. After the selection of this width for the individual stitch pattern A, the width of individual stitch pattern B may be proportionally locked to a desired width based on the combination with the individual stitch pattern A to create the desired stacked stitch pattern.

Returning to the method 200, in step 240, the processor 130 may instruct the sewing machine 110 to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material 190. This sewing is a conventional sewing stitch where the needle 160, sews the thread 170 from the spool into the desired pattern on the material 190. As stated multiple times above, the stitch pattern is sewn as a conventional sewing stitch without the need to frame or hoop the material 190 in an embroidery mode. As those of skill in the art will understand, in a conventional sewing operation, the user will feed the material 190 through sewing area, while the sewing machine 110 sews the first stitch pattern onto the material 190 based on the selected stitch pattern and the other parameters entered at step 230, e.g., length, width, starting point, end point, thread color, thread type, etc.

As described above, the user may define a line on the material 190 where the ornamental design is to be placed. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments do not require that the user define a line on the material. Such a line is merely used as a guide (e.g., a centerline) for the user to sew the two or more individual patterns along the same sewing path. While the sewing path is generally straight, the selected individual stitch pattern may have a curve or other non-linear feature. Examples of some individual stitch patterns that are combined to create a stacked stitch pattern are provided below with reference to FIGS. 3-5 and these exemplary individual stitch patterns show that the individual stitch patterns may be non-linear. It should also be noted that the sewing path does not necessarily need to be linear. The sewing path may have a curve or other non-linear feature.

In step 250, the processor 130 may receive a selection of a second stitch pattern. Similar to the first stitch pattern, the selection of the second stitch pattern may be received by processor 130 via the user interface 140. As noted above, the second stitch pattern may be suggested to the user by the processor 130 based on the selected first stitch pattern. For instance, some of the pre-programmed stitch patterns may be designed to be combined, or paired, with other patterns. However, any number of unique stacked stitch patterns may be created by combining two or more individual stitch patterns.

In step 260, the processor 130 may receive a adjustments for the second stitch pattern. This step corresponds to the adjustment step 230 for the first stitch pattern. These adjustments to the second stitch pattern may include, for example, length, width, starting point, end point, thread color, thread type, etc. Specifically, the user may use the user interface 140 to make the adjustments. The processor 130 may then adjust the second stitch pattern accordingly.

The following will provide some examples of automatic and/or suggested adjustments to the second stitch pattern based on the selected first stitch pattern. However, it is noted that the exemplary embodiments are designed to give the user as much freedom as the user desires to express their own creativity in designing stacked stitch patterns. Thus, while the user may use such automatic and/or suggested adjustments, the user is under no obligation to make these type of adjustments and is free to design the stacked stitch pattern as they see fit.

Turning to the examples of the automatic/suggested adjustments, the memory 120 may store all the selections made for the first stitch pattern and then suggest the same adjustments for the second stitch pattern. For example, if the user selected a particular length, width, starting point or end point for the first stitch pattern, the processor 130, via the user interface 140, may suggest the same length and/or width for the second stitch pattern. In another example, where the first and second stitch patterns are paired stitch patterns, the memory 120 may store relationships between the paired patterns and thus, once the adjustments are made to the first stitch pattern by the user, the processor 130 may make the corresponding changes to the second stitch pattern without further user input beyond the selection of the second stitch pattern, e.g., the proportional width locking described above. In a further example, if the first stitch pattern is elongated by the user, the second stitch pattern may be automatically elongated in a corresponding manner.

In step 270, the processor may instruct the sewing machine 110 to sew the second stitch pattern onto the material. Again, this step for the second stitch pattern corresponds to step 240 for the first stitch pattern. It should be noted that after the sewing of the first stitch pattern in step 240 and before the sewing of the second stitch pattern in step 270, the user may change the thread 170 on the spool in order that the second stitch pattern is sewn using a different color thread to create the decorative or ornamental design. The processor 130, via the user interface 140, may provide a prompt to the user to remind the user to change the thread between sewing the different stitch patterns. The memory 120 may also store selected colors for stitch patterns such as green for leaves. When this type of stitch pattern is selected, the processor 130, via the user interface 140, may prompt the user with a color prompt for the changing of the thread. The user then feeds the material 190 through the sewing area and the sewing machine 110 sews the second stitch pattern to create the desired stacked stitch pattern. In order to create the desired stacked stitch pattern, at least a portion of the second stitch pattern is combined with the first stitch pattern to create the stacked stitch pattern. Furthermore, while not being a requirement, it may be advantageous for each of the individual stitch patterns that combine to create the stacked stitch patterns to share a common starting point.

In step 280, the processor 130 may receive a selection of further individual stitch patterns to be sewn in the material 190 to be combined with the previous two individual stitch patterns to create the desired stacked stitch pattern. In other words, the exemplary method 200 may allow for any number of individual stitch patterns to be combined to create a desired stacked stitch pattern on the material 190.

It should be noted that the method 200 merely provides an example for performing stacked stitching using a computerized sewing machine. Any number of steps in the exemplary method 200 may be duplicated, eliminated or performed in a different order to allow for alternative variations to the method 200 within the scope of the invention. For example, it may be that the user will select the first stitch pattern (step 220), select the second stitch pattern (step 250), make adjustments to the first stitch pattern (step 230), make adjustments to the second stitch pattern (step 260) and then sew the first and second stitch patterns (steps 240 and 270, respectively). Thus, the order of the steps is different than the order described above, but the desired stack stitch pattern is still achieved on the material 190.

FIG. 3A-3C shows an example of stacked stitching to create a unique stacked stitch pattern according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3A shows a repetitive leaf stitch pattern 310, while FIG. 3B shows a repetitive floral stitch pattern 320. As illustrated, the two individual stitch patterns combine to create a new decorative stacked stitch pattern 330 that is a combination of the leaf design 310 and the floral design 320. In this example, the individual repetitive stitch patterns 310 and 320 of FIGS. 3A and 3B, respectively, have the same length to form the stacked stitch pattern 330 of FIG. 3C. Furthermore, these patterns 310 and 320 share a common starting point 340 and have the capability to be finished at a common ending point 350.

Referring back to FIG. 3A, it is shown that the individual stitch pattern 310 includes a plurality of stitches 301-303. Those of skill in the art will understand that there are many more than three (3) stitches in the entire stitch pattern 310, but the stitches 301-303 are shown for illustrative purposes. Normally, when a user selects the individual stitch pattern 310, the sewing will begin with the stitch 301 followed by stitches 302 and 303. However, as part of the adjustments that are made to the stitch pattern 310 (see, for example, step 230 of method 200 described above), the user may select to start the sewing of the stitch pattern 310 at stitch 303 (or any other stitch within the stitch pattern 310). That is, instead of stitch 301 being the first stitch that is sewn at starting point 340 (FIG. 3C), stitch 303 is the first stitch that is sewn at starting point 340. As can be seen from this example, this would shift the leaves up towards starting point 340 by the length of two stitches and thereby create a slightly different looking stacked stitch pattern than is illustrated by stacked stitch pattern 330.

FIG. 4A-4C shows another example of stacked stitching to form a unique stacked stitch pattern according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 4A shows a repetitive chain stitch pattern 410, while FIG. 4B shows a repetitive heart stitch pattern 420. As illustrated, the two stitch patterns 410 and 420 stitched out build a new decorative stacked stitch pattern 430. In this example, the starting point 440 and the end point 450 are shown with the straight defined line 460 between. This illustrates the above example of the user providing a guideline for the sewing path on the material to which the stacked stitch pattern is to be sewn. As can be seen from this example, the stitch pattern 410 is slightly wider than the stitch pattern 420. Similar to FIG. 3C, these patterns share a common starting point 440 and have the capability to be finished at a common ending point 470.

FIG. 5A-5C shows a further example of stacked stitching to form a unique stacked stitch pattern according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 5A shows a repetitive column stitch pattern 510, while FIG. 5B shows a repetitive leaf stitch pattern 520. As illustrated, the two stitch patterns 510 and 520 are combined to build a new decorative stacked stitch pattern 530. Similar to FIG. 4C, the user has selected to draw a line 560 on the material between the starting point 540 and ending point 550. However, in contrast to FIGS. 3C and 4C, the stitch patterns 510 and 520 do not share a common starting point or end point. That is, the column stitch pattern 510 has starting point 544 and ending point 554. The leaf stitch pattern 520 has starting point 542 and ending point 552. However, while these individual stitch patterns 510 and 520 do not have common starting and ending points, they do have the capability to be started and finished at the same level. As shown in FIG. 5C, both stitch patterns 510 and 520 start at the same level, designated by line 570, and end at the same level, designated by line 580.

Each of the above examples includes the characteristic of combining two stitch patterns to create the decorative stacked stitch pattern and having a common starting and ending point or at starting and ending at the same level. However, as described above, it is possible to include more than two stitch patterns to create a decorative stacked stitch pattern. For example, in the exemplary stitch pattern illustrated in FIGS. 3A-C, it could be that the leaf stitch pattern 310 is a first stitch pattern, while the second stitch pattern of the flower stitch pattern 320 may be modified to only stitch every other flower. Then, a third stitch pattern of a flower design may be created to stitch the interstitial flowers. In such an example, the second stitch pattern may be sewn with one color thread and the third stitch pattern may be sewn with another color thread. Thus, the final stacked stitch pattern may be similar to the stacked stitch pattern 330, except that instead of being created with two stitch patterns, the decorative stacked stitch pattern is created with three stitch patterns and results in a repeating pattern of two different color flowers.

Also, those skilled in the art will understand that individual stitch patterns that are combined to create a stacked stitch pattern may start or end at different points and/or different levels. For example, depending on the stitch patterns, it may be defined that a first individual stitch pattern should start or end a defined distance from the defined starting or end points of a second individual stitch pattern to create the decorative stacked stitch pattern.

According to the exemplary embodiments of the stacked stitching systems and methods, two or more individual stitch patterns may be combined into a completely unique stacked stitch pattern. Each of the individual stitch patterns may be stitched out in different colors and/or thread types in order to provide a vivid effect to the sewn design, as well as the material.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any number of manners, including, as a separate software module, as a combination of hardware and software, etc. For example, stitch creation tools and the above described sewing methods may be a program containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the present invention, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a selection of a first stitch pattern;

operating a sewing means to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material;

receiving a selection of a second stitch pattern; and

operating the sewing means to sew the second stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a further stitch pattern; and

operating the sewing means to sew the further stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the further stitch pattern is combined with the first and second stitch pattern to create a further stacked stitch pattern on the material.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sewing means is a computerized sewing machine.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the second stitch pattern overlaps the first stitch pattern.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second stitch patterns are selected from a plurality of pre-programmed stitch patterns stored in a computer memory.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prompting a user to change a first thread used for sewing the first stitch pattern to a second thread used for sewing the second stitch pattern.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a parameter of the first stitch pattern, wherein the parameter includes one of a length of the first stitch pattern, a width of the first stitch pattern, a starting stitch of the first stitch pattern, a thread color of the first stitch pattern and a thread type of the first stitch pattern.

8. A stacked stitching system, comprising:

a user input element configured to receive a first selection of a first stitch pattern and a second selection of a second stitch pattern;

a processor executing a set of instructions corresponding to each of the first and second selections received by the user input element; and

a sewing element being controlled by the processor based on the set of instructions to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material and sew the second stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

9. The stacked stitching system of claim 8, further comprising:

a memory storing sets of instructions corresponding to each of a plurality of pre-programmed stitch patterns, wherein the first and second stitch patterns are included in the plurality of pre-programmed stitch patterns.

10. The stacked stitching system of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the second stitch pattern overlaps the first stitch pattern.

11. The stacked stitching system of claim 8, wherein the user input element further receives an adjustment instruction for one of the first and second stitch patterns and the processor adjusts the set of instructions corresponding to the one of the first and second stitch patterns to adjust at least one of a length of the first or second stitch pattern, a width of the first or second stitch pattern, a starting stitch of the first or second stitch pattern, a thread color of the first or second stitch pattern and a thread type of the first or second stitch pattern.

12. The stacked stitching system of claim 11, wherein the processor adjusts the other one of the first and second stitch patterns based on the adjustment instruction received for the one of the first and second stitch patterns.

13. The stacked stitching system of claim 9, further comprising:

a user output element to display a representation of each of the plurality of pre-programmed stitch patterns stored in the memory for user selection.

14. The stacked stitching system of claim 13, wherein the user input element is further configured to receive input corresponding to stitch patterns used to create a new stacked stitched pattern, the memory is configured to store new instructions corresponding to the new stacked stitch pattern and the user output element is configured to display a representation of the new stacked stitch pattern based on the user's selection of displaying the representation of the new stacked stitch pattern.

15. The stacked stitching system of claim 9, wherein the memory stores at least one corresponding stitch pattern for the first stitch pattern and a user output element further displays the at least one corresponding stitch pattern based on the user selection of the first stitch pattern.

16. The stacked stitching system of claim 13, wherein the user output element further displays the stacked stitch pattern to the user prior to the sewing element sewing the first and second stitch patterns, the display of the stacked stitch pattern being modified based on adjustments entered by the user in the user input element for at least one of the first and second stitch patterns.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including a set of instructions that are executable by a processor, the set of instructions being operable at least to:

receive a selection of a first stitch pattern;

operate a sewing means to sew the first stitch pattern onto a material;

receive a selection of a second stitch pattern; and

operate the sewing means to sew the second stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the combination of the first stitch pattern and the second stitch pattern create a stacked stitch pattern on the material.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the set of instructions are further operable to:

receive a selection of a further stitch pattern; and

operate the sewing means to sew the further stitch pattern onto the material, wherein the further stitch pattern is combined with the first and second stitch pattern to create a further stacked stitch pattern on the material.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the computer readable storage medium and the processor are included as components of the sewing machine.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein at least a portion of the second stitch pattern overlaps the first stitch pattern.