Embroidering a Dog Pillow with Laser-etched Frame

Before beginning work at HAL/WGL, staff member Peter Forberg’s first project was to embroider a picture of his friend’s dog, Rosie.

Using paint.net, he converted a photo of the dog into a few primary colors saved as a PNG. Then he used Hatch Embroidery software available on the HAL computers to turn the PNG into a PES file by using the program’s “Auto-Digitize” function. Next, he printed out two versions of Rosie using HAL’s Brother SE600 Embroidery Machine: one version with text and one without. (The words comes from Frankie Cosmos’s gentle song, “If I Had a Dog.”)

With needle and thread, he turned one design into a pillow, sealing it with a felt dog bone.

And using the HAL laser cutter, he cut out a plywood frame, stained it, and glued the design into place.