A tinkerer, Kathy Korevec, has made ZigZag available under the Apache 2.0 license. She says that the entire app was built with AI, using ChatGPT, and her goal was to get software made to her specs, similar to the Adobe suite, but with MCP support built in.
That MCP support is a built-in server that lets AI agents draw and edit in the same window.
Her post about this on Hacker News has already managed to reach top 10 status (over a 48-hour period), and she has been answering questions there about how this was built and which machines it supports.
ZigZag: Why develop this? #
This was built around a Brother Skitch PP1 embroidery machine that she says cost her around $300.
You see, the Skitch needs Brother's Artspira app to operate. While the app is free and works with the machine, a paid plan called Artspira+ adds useful extras such as digitizing images into embroidery patterns and creating cross-stitch patterns.
Kathy says the free version is limited in colors and tools, and she believes some of the clip art is reserved for subscribers. She also guesses Brother sold the machine at a loss at first because of the subscription.
seeingwhat many hardware manufacturers are doing. ZigZag imports SVG art and can trace PNG and JPEG images into shapes. It covers 11 stitch types, including fill, satin, and appliqué, with a preview of the stitches being shown in the editor.
As for the MCP server, it lets an AI agent inspect the open design, add and edit objects and text, trace images, preview the stitches, and export files. It can also control a Skitch device, and each action counts as one undo step.
This is not something new.
Open source embroidery tools existed before ZigZag. People have brought up projects like Ink/Stitch, an Inkscape extension, and Respira already lets people send designs to the Skitch without Artspira.
The project also credits Respira for the Bluetooth protocol and sewing flow. Kathy says she reverse-engineered the protocol herself and that her agent used Respira to verify it.
Get sewing #
Currently, ZigZag is available for Windows and macOS. You can grab the latest release from the project website or its GitHub releases page.
The README covers installation, Bluetooth pairing, and the MCP server, and it advises against firmware updates on the Skitch. Linux users can follow its steps for building ZigZag from source with Rust.
The Brother Skitch PP1 is the only machine ZigZag sends designs to over Bluetooth, and Artspira needs to be closed first since the Skitch can only talk to one app at a time.
For other machines, ZigZag can export PES, DST, EXP, JEF, or VP3 files. Suggested Read 📖: Synaptics went hard after a lone open source developer who wanted to get DisplayLink working on Linux.
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