Richelieu Bars

Use Richelieu Bars to place bars in the work area. Richelieu bars are short sections of satin set perpendicular to the direction of the column. They are often used in lace designs.

Use the Richelieu Bars dialog to set the width and density of the satin bars, the gap between the bars, and the number of bars.

Create Richelieu Bars

In the Freehand Create or Point Create toolbar, click Richelieu Bars .
Alternatively, choose Create > Richelieu Bars (or press ^R).
Choose Options > Richelieu Bars to set the width and density of the satin bars and either the number of bars, or the gap between them.

Note: To use Bezier lines instead of placing points, click to enable Bezier Mode , then draw your Richelieu Bars using Bezier lines. See Draw a column with Bezier Curves.

Place alternate points on the work area to define the column of Richelieu Bars.
Press Return to complete the column. It appears in the work area.
If desired, Control–click the Richelieu Bars to adjust the settings, or choose a different column type from the popup menu.
Alternatively, select several Richelieu Bars columns and change their properties, or select a single Richelieu Bars column and use Global Properties to change the properties of all visible Richlieu Bars columns.
Control–click and choose Finish Richelieu Bars Tool to deselect, or simply select another Create tool.

Select Richelieu Bars

In the Freehand Create or Point Create toolbar, click Richelieu Bars .
Choose Create > Richelieu Bars.
Press ^R

Width

Set the Width of the satin bars from 1mm to 6mm in steps of 0.1mm. The initial setting is 2mm.

Density

Set the Density of the satin bars from 2 to 15. The initial Density is 4.

Method

Select a method for setting the number of bars.

Select Minimum Gap Size to set the distance between the bars from 1mm to 50mm in steps of 1mm. The initial setting is 6mm.
Select Number of Bars to set the number of bars from 1 to 50. The initial number is 6.

Include Additional First and Last Bar

Place an extra bar at either end of the column. This option is initially selected.

Note: If the edges of the Richelieu bar area are to be covered by satin, turn off Include Additional First and Last Bar.

Underlay

Choose from Edge walk, Center link with zigzag return, and Web double with zigzag return. All three options are initially selected.

Edge walk places lines of running stitch just inside the edges of the satin bars.
Center link with zigzag return places a central line of running stitch, with a zigzag return line.
Web double with zigzag return places a crosshatch pattern of stitching with a zigzag return line.

Note: Vary the combination of underlay, depending on the type of design. It is recommended to use all three types for free-standing lace.