{"slug": "developer-s-300-embroidery-machine-required-a-subscription-so-they-built-this", "title": "Developer's $300 Embroidery Machine Required a Subscription, So They Built This Open Source Tool", "summary": "Developer Kathy Korevec released ZigZag, an open-source embroidery design tool under the Apache 2.0 license, built for the roughly $300 Brother Skitch PP1 machine that otherwise requires Brother's Artspira app and its paid Artspira+ subscription tier. ZigZag imports SVG art, traces PNG and JPEG images, covers 11 stitch types including fill, satin and appliqué, and ships a built-in MCP server that lets AI agents inspect, draw and edit designs and control the Skitch over Bluetooth, with each action counting as one undo step. Korevec said she built the entire app with ChatGPT, and the project credits Respira for the Bluetooth protocol and sewing flow; ZigZag is available for Windows and macOS, with Linux users building from source in Rust.", "body_md": "A tinkerer, [Kathy Korevec](https://www.kathy.pm/?ref=itsfoss.com), 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.\n\nThat MCP support is a built-in server that lets AI agents draw and edit in the same window.\n\nHer post about this on [Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50470488&ref=itsfoss.com) has already managed to reach [top 10 status](https://x.com/simpsoka/status/2120986510929313852?ref=itsfoss.com) (*over a 48-hour period*), and she has been answering questions there about how this was built and which machines it supports.\n\n## ZigZag: Why develop this?\n\nThis was built around a [Brother Skitch PP1](https://www.brother-usa.com/p/sewing-embroidery/PP1?ref=itsfoss.com) embroidery machine that she says cost her around $300.\n\nYou see, the Skitch needs Brother's [Artspira](https://www.brother-usa.com/apps/sewing-embroidery/artspira?ref=itsfoss.com) 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.\n\nKathy 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.\n\n[seeing](https://itsfoss.com/news/bambuddy-self-hosted-bambu-lab-alternative/)what many hardware manufacturers are doing.\n\nZigZag 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.\n\n**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.\n\nThis is not something new.\n\nOpen source embroidery tools existed before ZigZag. People have brought up projects like [Ink/Stitch](https://inkstitch.org/?ref=itsfoss.com), an Inkscape extension, and [Respira](https://github.com/jhbruhn/respira?ref=itsfoss.com) already lets people send designs to the Skitch without Artspira.\n\nThe project also [credits Respira](https://github.com/simpsoka/zigzag/blob/main/NOTICE?ref=itsfoss.com) for the Bluetooth protocol and sewing flow. Kathy says she reverse-engineered the protocol herself and that her agent used Respira to verify it.\n\n## Get sewing\n\nCurrently, ZigZag is available for **Windows** and **macOS**. You can grab the latest release from the [project website](https://zigzag.diy/?ref=itsfoss.com) or its [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/simpsoka/zigzag/releases?ref=itsfoss.com).\n\nThe [README](https://github.com/simpsoka/zigzag?ref=itsfoss.com#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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nFor other machines, ZigZag can export *PES*, *DST*, *EXP*, *JEF*, or *VP3* files.\n\n**Suggested Read 📖:** Synaptics [went hard after a lone open source developer](https://itsfoss.com/news/synaptics-vino-fiasco/) who wanted to get DisplayLink working on Linux.\n\nEnjoyed this update? 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It takes just a click.\n\n[Set as preferred source](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=itsfoss.com)\n\nGet FOSS Weekly in your inbox", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/developer-s-300-embroidery-machine-required-a-subscription-so-they-built-this", "canonical_source": "https://feed.itsfoss.com/link/24361/17523834/zigzag-embroidery-software", "published_at": "2026-11-13 12:50:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-11-13 13:20:50.764363+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "agent-protocols", "ai-tools", "developer-tools", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Kathy Korevec", "ZigZag", "Brother Skitch PP1", "Artspira", "Artspira+", "Respira", "Ink/Stitch", "ChatGPT"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/developer-s-300-embroidery-machine-required-a-subscription-so-they-built-this", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/developer-s-300-embroidery-machine-required-a-subscription-so-they-built-this.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/developer-s-300-embroidery-machine-required-a-subscription-so-they-built-this.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/developer-s-300-embroidery-machine-required-a-subscription-so-they-built-this.jsonld"}}