How to Applique {Tutorial}

Want to learn how to applique?

Then, let's get started with my free tutorial!

You'll need:

1. A basic understanding of your sewing machine. How to change from a straight stitch to a zig zag stitch. And how to make that zig zag stitch tight (small) so that the stitches are very close together.
2. A drawing for your applique. You can draw it yourself or trace a design from a coloring book or picture.Whatever you like.
3. Heat N Bond Lite for attaching the applique to your project. This can be found hanging in the notions section at JoAnn.
4. Tear Away Stabilizer if you are sewing on a light weight fabric or knit. Also in the notions section. Make sure it's the iron on kind.
5. Fabric and thread to either match or contrast.
6. A clear presser foot. How else are you going to be able to see what you're doing?
7. Ball point needle. This is only necessary when sewing onto a knit t-shirt, so the needle doesn't make holes in the knit.

I start by drawing my design on plain paper. You could also trace from a coloring book or do a google search for what you are looking for. I could have searched "monogram letters" and found a bunch of things to try.

When making Boutique clothing I usually draw my appliques from the fabrics themselves. I do it freehand because I love to draw, but I've heard of people actually making photo copies of the fabric, shrinking or blowing it up on a copier and then tracing it. So you don't even have to be able to draw. Anyone can do this!

One thing I've been wanting to try is going to a scrapbook store and using their die cut machines (is that what they are called) to cut out various letter fonts on card stock. They'd make great stencils and be about the right size for clothing or baby blankets.

I outline my drawing with a sharpie pen so that when I flip it over I can still see the design. Or you could also tape it a window and use the light to help draw the reverse on the backside of the paper.

Front (how your finished design will look)

Back (reverse image I will use for making the applique)

Lay a piece of Heat N Bond on top of your drawing. The scratchy surface (adhesive side) down on the paper, the smooth surface (for writing on) facing up.

Trace your image on to the Heat N Bond paper.

Tip: if you are working with a more complicated design (see end of post for examples) you'll need to draw out each piece/color separately. Add on about a 1/4" to an portion that will be layered under another piece so it can be anchored under the outline stitching of the top piece. You don't want to just place them next to each other because you'll have 2 rows of stitching right next to each other. I hope that makes sense. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.

Trim around your design a bit so you don't waste too much fabric. Then position it on the wrong side of your fabric. For this one I tried to get it to hold as many polka dots as possible.

Set your iron to no-steam, and cotton settings. Quickly run your iron over the paper. It only takes a couple of seconds to fuse it to your fabric (you'll hold it down longer when you attach it to your project later.

I like to cut it out and lay it where it's going to go just to make sure it's taking on the look I had envisioned. No point in going further if you are going to change your mind about fabric selection or scale.

Now cut it out fully. Remember learning how to cut out the inside of a circle back in grade school?

Isn't it nice to know that some of that comes in handy later on in life? I loved art class in school. Always my favorite subject.

Remove the paper backing and lay it in place on your project. Hold your iron down (without moving it around) for about 6-9 seconds. Lift it up to see if you have a good seal all the way around. If not, iron for a few more seconds.

*In my example, I had to iron the applique onto minky fabric. It's made of polyester, so you should have your iron on a cooler setting for this. You can read more about minky here.

Voila!

Now, if you are working on a stretchy fabric or a thinner fabric (i.e. not denim), you'll want to put some stabilizer on the back to keep it from getting wonky. I also find that having this more slippery surface underneath makes it easier to maneuver the fabric under your needle since the feed-dogs want to keep it moving in only one direction.

Cut out 2 layers of the Tear Away Stabilizer, a bit bigger than your applique. Iron down each layer separately, with the same settings, for about 6 seconds per layer.

Now you are ready to start sewing.

For applique, practice is really key. The first time I tried it, about 3 years ago, I didn't even have my bobbin installed correctly. It looked horrible! Not to scare you, but just to say that anyone can figure it out.

Since all machines are different I can't really tell you how to adjust your settings. But this is what you are going for. You want to use a zig zag stitch with a stitch width of about an 1/8". Of course you can make it wider or narrower to your liking. But you want to make sure your stitch sits far enough into the fabric that the fabric can't just be ripped out of it.

The next thing you want to do is make the stitch length really short. I usually make mine as short as possible (a satin stitch). For my example here I made it a bit wider so you can see the stitches and so any of the polka dots I had to sew over would show through. That's just personal preference/style though.

I start stitching with the right side of my stitch just barely making it over the right edge of my applique. If you don't go off the edge, the edge of the applique will look like it's frayed, with pieces of the fabric coming through the stitches.

I also do a back-stitch as I start and stop each section. This helps secure the threads so they don't unravel. I'll show you later how to tie off all the ends.

See how easy it is to see what I'm doing with my clear presser foot? I've done it without, but it was a nightmare.

I hold my fabric down making a "v" with my fingers. This allows me the most control when guiding the fabric along the outline I am sewing. Having that stabilizer on the backside makes it move much smoother too.

Make a note of where you need to start and stop based on your design. I want the "L" to look like it's hand drawn, with the appropriate sections seeming like they are laying on top. Refer back to your original drawing for queues.

By the time you are finished, you'll have a lot of threads on the top and bottom. Keep them long so you have plenty to work with when you tie them off.

Flip to the backside and start tugging on all the threads. Anything that isn't secured from your back-stitching will yield a little loop from the thread on the opposite side. Just pull it all the way through, so you have two threads that are close together. Tie these together with a triple knot and trim them.

This can get tedious especially if you have a complicated design. It might be easier to do this throughout the process instead of waiting until the end. But try not to skip this step as it really adds to the longevity of your piece. Attention to detail. This is something that mass-produced clothing does not do. Ever find a stray thread and pull it only to find the garment/design starts unraveling? So annoying isn't it?

See the tiny loop in the middle of this next photo? I got that by pulling on the thread right there. That's the thread from the top side coming back through with the one I pulled on. If you didn't pull it all the way to the back and tie it off, your applique could start unraveling in that spot.

Now that all your threads are tied off and trimmed, flip it over.

The threads left on the top are secure now and can just be trimmed.

Now, isn't that purdy?

Flip it back over and gently pull up the stabilizer, one layer at a time, tearing it at the stitching. Remove it from the center of your stitching too. You can use a pin or the point of your seam ripper to get it loosened.

Now you can finish your project. Might I suggest my Ribbon Baby Blanket?

Need some inspiration? Here are some of my past appliqued Boutique clothing.

For this one I just traced the lemons from the fabric itself.



This was all free-hand drawn to copy the fabric. It was a lot of fun to draw.

This tree was actually quite labor intensive with all those points.
I ended up making a bunch of them.
I'm crazy like that.

Who doesn't love a cute sock monkey? Seriously!
I'm making these again for the girls. They were so cute to wear to the Zoo.



This was for a collection I made using fabrics by Anna Maria Horner called Chocolate Lollipop. There weren't actually lollipops in her prints, but I decided to do a literal take on the name and drew up this fun applique. There ended up being 5 layers of applique (plus the denim) to so sew through. Next time I would remove some of the center from the brown and aqua layers to get rid of some of that bulk.



This last one is so simple. A scrap of fabric and the face is cut right from the fabric itself. I drew the letter, but letter stencils would make that easier.



Now go applique something!