Lori Bergman Page 8
How to Create and Attach Appliqués
Applique is a sewing technique where you take smaller pieces of fabric and use them to create a pattern on a larger piece of fabric such as a shirt or a tote bag. Although it’s a rather complicated process it can vastly improve the look of plainer items or allow them to be customized. The results from this process looks cleaner than attaching it via glue or simply straight stitching the edges on.
WARNING: Be careful when ironing as contact with the metal while it is on will burn your skin
WARNING: Wear protective eye gear while working with a sewing machine. It is possible for the needle to shatter while sewing and debris may end up in the eye.
IMPORANT: All sewing machines are different so I cannot supply exact instructions. If you have questions like how to change stitch width and length consult your sewing machine’s manual.
Table of Contents
What you will need: 2
Designing the Applique 2
Preparing the Applique 2
Ironing the Applique in place 3
Sewing the Applique down 3
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Fusible Web 5
Figure 2: Traced Pattern 5
Figure 3: Web Adhesive 6
Figure 4: Needle placement 6
Figure 5: Inside Corners 7
Figure 6: Outside Corners 7
Figure 7: Curves 8
What you will need:
1. Fabric piece that you want to add the applique on to
2. Fabric in desired color for Applique
3. Thread in like or contrasting color
4. Muslin or another cheap or spare fabric
5. Sew-through fusible web. See Figure 1
6. Iron
7. Ironing board
8. Towel
9. Squirt Bottle
10. Sewing machine with a zig-zag stitch and a straight stitch setting
12. Fabric scissors
13. Straight pins
Designing the Applique
1. Either design or find the applique pattern you want online and print it out
2. Cut out the design using regular paper scissors
3. Trace the design onto your muslin or cheap fabric of choice
4. Pin the fabric design where you want the applique to lay to make sure it lays properly
5. If it doesn’t adjust the design as necessary and repeat from the top
Preparing the Applique
1. Once you are happy with the design use the paper pattern from earlier to trace it onto the paper side of the fusible web
Note: If the design is direction dependent such as wording, trace it backwards as you are drawing on the ‘wrong’ side of the fusible web. See Figure 2
2. Cut the design outside of the lines
3. Cut out your applique fabric around the same size as your fusible web
4. Lay your cut out fabric piece on top of the ironing board
5. Lay the cut out fusible web on top, pattern side up.
6. Lay a towel on top of both
7. Take the squirt bottle and spray the towel until sufficiently wet around where the design is underneath
8. Preheat your iron to the lowest setting
9. Press the iron onto the wet parts of towel with some pressure
10. Do so until around a second after the sizzling stops
11. If the design is bigger than the iron rewet towel and press iron on parts that were missed
12. Wait for the now fused webbing and design to cool down
13. Cut your pattern on the web side along the design lines this time with fabric scissors
Note: It is usually not recommended to cut out paper with fabric scissors but the paper backing on the web is thin enough to not dull the scissors
Ironing the Applique in place
1. Lay out the fabric piece you wish to attach the applique to as flat as possible onto the ironing board
2. Peel the paper backing off of the wrong side of the design
Note: It should look like it’s covered in white stuff. That is completely normal. See Figure 3 for more details
3. Lay the applique out on top where you want to attach it
4. If a large applique pin the side the iron isn’t going to reach to minimize shifting
5. Check the position one more time before laying the towel on top again
6. Take the squirt bottle and sufficiently wet the towel over where the decal is
7. Again press the iron down where wet
8. Keep applying pressure until around a second after the sizzling stops
9. If a large applique repeat as needed until entire applique is ironed down
Sewing the Applique down
Note: Play with the zig zag stitch setting on your machine until you find a length and width you’re comfortable with. It should be long enough to keep moving forward at a decent pace while stitching and wide enough to cover the edge of the applique.
1. Thread your sewing machine with your selected thread color
2. Set your machine to a straight stitch on the second lowest setting
3. Put the attached applique under the sewing machine foot with the needle just off of the edge (see Figure 4)
4. Stitch about three or four stitches along the edge of the applique to keep the zigzag stitches from unraveling
5. Switch to a zig zag stitch setting with the settings you played with earlier
6. Start stitching along the edge of the applique. The right side of the stitch should be just outside of the applique and the left side should remain inside the applique
Note: I’d personally suggest using the hand crank wheel until you get comfortable with hitting just outside of the edge of the applique. It’ll take longer but look a lot nicer
7. If you hit a corner stick the needle down before lifting the foot and pivoting
Note: For where to pivot for corners and curves see figure 5 through 7
8. Once you made a loop around your applique, repeat the process two more times of before the stitching gets too thick.
9. Once you’re happy with how much your stitching covers the edge of the applique, switch back to the straight stitch with the settings from before
10. Stitch a couple more stitches just outside the applique
11. Make sure the needle is at its highest point before lifting the foot and removing the applique
12. Use scissors or a built in blade to cut off the thread still attached to the machine
13. Trim the excess thread down on both sides
And your applique is done! The zigzag stitching will prevent the edges of the fabric from fraying like it does in other methods and it creates a nice border around the applique as well. There are other methods like the zigzag stitch method but I found this one the easiest to use and still have my outcome look professional. Of course different projects require different appearances so don’t be afraid to experiment with more edge stitches.
Figure 1: Paper Backed, Sew through Fusible Web. CAUTION: Make sure the fusible web says SEW THROUGH or MACHINE SAFE. No sew fusible web can damage a sewing machine’s needle.
Figure 2: Pattern traced on the paper side of fusible web. Because I needed the gear larger than the design I found I simply used it as a reference in this picture. This is not suggested if this is your first time attaching an applique
Figure 3: This is the white stuff I talked about above in the instructions. It’s actually the web adhesive that you transferred from the paper to the fabric via the iron. Sometimes it likes to stick to the paper so try to keep as much of it on the fabric as possible when peeling away the paper backing. Also be warned that when you try to pick a corner of the paper off the fabric will fray. Do not worry too much as later instructions will hide this fraying and prevent it from fraying further
Figure 4: Needle placement
Figure 5: Inside Corners
Figure 6: Outside Corners
Figure 7: Curves