hi,
This is a really simple one but i want to know an easy way to do a zig zag stitch when using illustrator. At the moment it seams to take for ever and there must be a way of doing it so if any one has any idea’s i’d be really greatful.
scotty
the easiest way is to make a brush.
1-draw a v-shape, the size and color you want the stitch to be.
2-open the brush palette (in the window pull down menu)
3-drag your v shape into the brush palette
4-a pop up menu will appear with some options, select new pattern brush
5-a second pop up will appear, just click OK
6-apply the pattern brush to whatever shapes you want…
This is nice because the v’s are completely consistent and you can still edit the line…
Thanks that’s a great help.
scotty
even easier:
-draw the line with a stroke and no fill with the pen tool
-go to Effect>Distort and Transform>ZigZag
-click the button on the bottom that says “Corner”, make sure the “preview” box is checked and adjust til you’re content
hint: keep the line segment distances between each achor point even and the line fairly smootgh with out super tight corners. yo ucan edit it after to your hearts content
-when you have it right turn it into a dashed line in the stroke pallette
Try both methods–they each have advantages. But the first method allows a lot more design freedom and is probably the best choice. Note that when you use the second method (the effect) you can later edit it through the “appearance” tab.
In both cases you can “edit > expand appearance” if you need to edit individual stitches.
I’m in healthcare, so my stitches might be a bit different than Yo’s. Anyone know the best way to create a “wound” brush? 
Super_
I used to do it that way, but sometimes a design line lends itself to unevenly placed segments…
The wound brush? Is that what you call the little screen that comes up with the bomb?
i use Yo’s method too but i choose scatter brush instead of pattern brush. i feel i can edit it better to the size and rotation that i need.
something that Yo didn’t mention is that you can double click on the new brush you created and a window pops up that lets you edit the brush a little bit.
J_
I haven’t tried the scatter brush. ill try that out next time so I don’t have to make a new brush each time… thank you.
I’ve been designing backpacks recently. That also works great for zippers.