Blog posts tagged with 'crafts'

Be honest. We all know the perfect person for the “Perfect Man” apron and that person may be either male or female! I’ve also stitched this on sweatshirts without the doily and every time I give one, I hear a chorus of “will you make me one too?”

Shown here, the project can be sewn in a 5x7” hoop with three hoopings. If you have a larger hoop, you can consolidate a few hoopings.

The doily is not embroidered, it is simply a purchased one that I’ve zigzag stitched with my sewing machine using invisible thread. To keep the project moving along quickly, I used a purchased apron, which you can find easily on-line.

There are four variations on the appliqué gingerbread guy design and there are variations of the lettering to include “The Perfect Woman.” Also, there is a version of the phrase that uses the word “grief” instead of “crap” for those sensitive to the latter word. (What can I say? I’m not…)

Skill Level

Basic embroidery skills.

What You’ll Learn

• How to plan and layout a multi-placement design project.
• How to appliqué using templates.
• What order to sew combined designs.
• Why you should avoid color sorting. Supplies
• Gingery Christmas design collection by Lindee G Embroidery
• Purchased or pre-made apron
• Purchased doily (can be any shape desired; mine is square). The large gingerman is about 4.5” tall so find one the size you like.
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (TESA)
• Scissors, sharp double curve embroidery scissors best
• Embroidery threads as desired for designs
• Mono filament thread to stitch doily to apron
• Fusible web product for appliqué (I prefer double-stick pressure-sensitive products like Pellon Easy Steam or Steam-A-Seam II)
• Printed templates from collection for selected appliqués
• Appliqué tacking iron
• Ruler
• Stabilizers: Tearaway (I used washaway tearaway because it isn’t as crisp so it rehoops better), fusible tearaway for template printing
• Chalk marker or other tool for temporary marking
• Embroidery software to print designs for placement
• Cellophane tap

General Instructions

These instructions assume you already know how to appliqué using the template method. If you’ve never done machine embroidered appliqué using precut pieces instead of stitching down a larger piece of fabric and then trimming it away (what I call the “blob” method), please read the included Appliqué Basics first! Applique Basics will cover how to prepare your appliqué pieces for use in this project as well as explain the full process for machne embroidered appliqué.

Project Instructions

1. Select designs and prepare.

Start your project by selecting the designs you’ll be using.

Print your embroidery designs from your software with cross hairs for placement. I printed mine in gray scale on a laser printer; you don’t need color for this step. Cut them out so they can be used for placement planning.

Print the appliqué template and prepare and cut out your appliqué design

2. Mark vertical center on apron.

Using your chalk marker and ruler, draw a line down the vertical center of your apron. I like chalk because it is fine enough, visible enough, and temporarily permanent enough for staying visible no matter how long it takes to complete the project while being easily removable when the time comes. Also, pressing with an iron does not impact its removability.

3. Plan placement and mark horizontal guides.

Arrange your cut out embroidery patterns along with your doily on your apron using the vertical line as a guide. You may wish to tape the templates temporarily at this point to keep them from shifting during the next step

Notice in the photo that the horizontal center of my ginger guy aligns with the horizontal center of the doily. Don’t be surprised if your doily is not perfectly symmetrical!

While you can combine designs in your software if you have a large enough hoop, I didn’t. I simply sewed each design individually as you’ll see in the next few steps. (It’s actually easier!)

4. Mark horizontal guides.

Using the cross hairs on the printed design patterns, draw horizontal lines with your ruler and chalk. Remove the pieces from your apron and connect the lines through the center.

5. Prepare the apron for embroidery.

Baste a large piece of stabilizer to the back of the apron using your sewing machine. This piece should be large enough to fully hoop with the apron and accommodate all the designs.

I used tearaway for easy removal. Although there is quite a bit of stitching, it is spread out over a wide area and there is no dense stitching. Also, purchased aprons are quite stable. If you are stitching on another fabric that may not be as stable, consider a different stabilizer.

6. Attach doily to apron.

There are several ways to attach the doily to the apron. I first fused the doily in place using fusible web and hen I zigzagged around the outer edge with my sewing machine using invisible thread in the needle. This gives the best of both worlds and keeps the doily looking sharp over laundering without eventually peeling off. You may choose to do one or the other, however, the fusible web may not fully secure the crocheted edges of the doily.

7. Position designs for this hooping.

Replace the templates you removed earlier and tape them into place, only using the ones that will fit your hoop. I have a fairly large hoop shown below and have arranged the top lettering and the ginger guy. The bottom lettering will be sewn in the next hooping and I’ll position that when ready.

If you have a 5x7 hoop, you’ll need to plan 3 hoopings and rotate the hoop for the center appliqué

8. Hoop for first stitching.

Center your hoop over the center of the design and hoop making sure the apron guides align with the center marks on your hoop.

To keep the ties from getting caught in the stitching. I’ve tied them up. You may also want to tape or pin them out of the way.

9. Turn on your appliqué tacking iron.

You’ll need your mini iron in just a few minutes. Turn it on now to make sure it is hot when you are ready to fuse the appliqué

10. Align needle over design center.

Load the ginger guy design and using the arrows on your machine’s control panel, move the hoop until the needle is over the center of the intersection. You can manually drop the needle and sink it into the paper to be sure.

Remove the ginger guy template before stitching!

11. Sew first color.

The first color in all of the gingerbread appliqués in this collection is the placement line, which is simply a running stitch to define where to put your pre-cut fabric. Notice in the photo below that the top lettering paper template is still in place

12. Place appliqué.

Remove printed template from front of appliqué piece and back protective sheet from fusible web. Carefully and precisely align the precut appliqué within the stitched guides.

13. Fuse the appliqué in place.

With your tacking iron, lightly fuse the appliqué into place to prevent it from shifting during the tack down stitching. I fuse the center areas more firmly and the outer edges lightly enough to be able to peel up in case I need to trim off any excess.

14. Continue sewing the tack down then stop machine.

I prefer to slow my machine down during this step in case there is any fabric slippage. The tack down stitch is a zigzag, which I feel secures the fabric better while avoiding any pleats and puckers that are more likely to occur with a straight running stitch tack down.

Manually stop the machine when the tack down has completed a full pass around the design.

15. Inspect your design.

Now is the time to check for any fibers that may have raveled off or for any fabric that extends beyond the outside edge of the zigzag stitching. Trim those off now for a professional result when the satin cover sews later. It is nearly impossible to cleanly trim them close enough later.

16. Align needle for lettering.

When the first design is finished, load the design for the top lettering and align the needle over the cross hairs on the paper template. Remove the template and sew the design.

17. Prepare second hooping.

Remove your project from the hoop and tape the template for the bottom lettering into place. Rehoop aligning the apron’s guide marks with your hoop’s center marks. Position the needle and sew the final design.

Because I have a large hoop, I was able to place the hoop so that the top was between my two areas of stitching rather than over previous stitching. Although the ideal position for sewing is the center of the hoop, I was not concerned about registration issues on the letter so chose this position to protect previous stitching.

If you watch the lettering sew, you’ll see that one line goes from left to right while the next goes back from right to left. Keyboard lettering does not do that but you can certainly digitize letters that way!

18. Embroidery is complete

Tips & Cautions

1. Do not color sort!

If you are combining designs in software or at your machine, you’ll get the best results if you sew each design individually. There are some machines that will automatically “color sort” designs for you at the machine and this “feature” cannot be overridden.

Color-sorting will look through your designs and combine repeated colors where it thinks it’s a smart thing to do. In my opinion as a digitizer, color sorting is seldom a smart thing to do because it can often increase registration problems while reducing finished quality. I’d rather spend a few extra minutes changing colors than end up with a project that I’m not happy with!

2. Sew larger designs first and lettering last.

Larger more intense designs put more distortion on the fabric and can pull the fabric out of square. If you sew lettering first, the baselines may end up crooked from all the pushing and pulling from the dense stitching. Although that’s not an issue in this project, it’s a good thing to know.

3. Sew from the center out.

You may already know this from quilting or other crafts. Working from the center of the project to the outside tends to reduce puckering. If you followed these instruction, you’ll notice we started with the ginger guy, who not only is in the center but is the largest element in the design. Again, not a big deal in this project but a useful tip in other ones with more intense designs.

Journal and book covers are quick and easy projects and are perfect for showing of your embroidery! They also make great gifts and can be customized for almost anyone of any age.

PROJECT NOTES

For these samples, I used designs from Victorian Crazy Patch in the Hoop. Related YouTube videos are available for stitching the designs and making the cover:

• How to Sew a Journal Cover
• How to Stitch Victorian Crazy Piecing In-the-Hoop

These links were correct at the time of this writing. If they don’t work, please visit my YouTube channel to locate them: https://www.youtube.com/ lindeegvideos

These covers were made for standard composition books but you can make them for just about any book by changing the measurements.

Mine are just basic covers with sleeves on the inside to secure the book covers. I’ve added a ribbon for a book mark, a narrow elastic to secure the book closed, and a wider elastic loop to hold a pen.

The inside sleeves ofer more real estate for extra pockets and personalizing. Plan for any extra embroidery because you may need to complete that before final cutting to size.

SUPPLIES

• Fabrics for project (you’ll need to determine what you need based on how many fabrics you use and how large your book is)
• Cove
• Lining
• Sleeves
• Pockets
• Interfacing. I just used Pellon ShirTailor for mine but you may want something stifer.
• ¾” wide elastic (or a fabric loop) for the pen holder (~2½” or circumference of your pen plus ⅝”)
• ¼” wide elastic to hold the journal closed (height of book + 1”)
• Ribbon for book mark (about 3” longer than height of book)
• Optional: charm for bottom of ribbon
• Basic sewing supplies

START BY MEASURING

You’ll need several measurements:

• Height of your book cover
• Width of book measured around the circumference of the closed book from front edge around the spine to the back edge (not a full circumference)

This book is 9¾” tall by 15½” wide. Add 1” to both the height and width for your cutting size. Cut one piece for the cover and a second one for the lining.

Although we’ll only be using ¼” seams, we’ll need a little extra room for ease. When cutting the front cover fabric, I added a 2” extension to the right side for hooping and an extra ½” on the other sides for squaring up after stitching.

• Inside sleeve depth, which will depend somewhat on how wide your book can open and how thick your book is. The wider your sleeves, the more difcult it will be to get the cover on your book. Also, you need at least a 3” space between the sleeves along the spine to turn the project right side out. (More if your fabrics are thick or heavily interfaced.)

I cut my sleeves to 14” wide by 10¾” tall. Fold each sleeve in half, wrong sides together for a 7” x 10¾ size, then edge stitch along the folded edge.

INTERFACING

While not strictly required, interfacing will make your project look more professional by adding structure and will help it wear longer.

Fusible interfacings are easy to use. Be sure to follow the pressing directions included with your project.

I interfaced the outer cover with Pellon ShirTailor, which is a medium light interfacing, before embroidering. I also interfaced the lining piece and one side of each sleeve. I didn’t interface any of my pockets.

The striped pocket was cut 10” wide and folded just like the sleeve and top stitched along the edge. The top pocket is narrower and was stitched to the striped pocket to form several smaller pockets. (Pockets weren’t interfaced.)

On other journal covers, I’ve just placed one small pocket for business cards. Consider making a larger, clear vinyl pocket for an ID pocket if you’re making a cover for a student.

PREPARING TO SEW

Cut all your pieces to size, interfacing as desired. As mentioned earlier, you’ll want to complete any embroidery before cutting to make sure you have enough fabric for proper hooping. Also, embroidery can distort your fabric so having extra fabric to square up is a good idea.

Sleeves and long pockets are folded in half right sides together and edge stitched along fold. Attach any pockets to the sleeve panels.

Patch pockets are edge stitched in place. Pockets that extend into the seam allowances can be stay-stitched into place.

If you want curved corners, use your book to trace the corners in place. Remember to trace them on the seam line and not just around the book itself.

ASSEMBLING

When I took these step-by-step photos, I was working from the front cover. However, in the video, you’ll see me working from the lining side.

Working from the lining side seems a little easier because you are layering all the elements face up with only the outer cover face down. Plus, you can do all the stay stitching in just one pass. It really makes no diference to the fnal project which way you work.

STAY STITCHING

Stay stitching is another thing the pros do to reinforce various areas that are likely to get more abuse, such as the bookmark ribbon, elastics and pockets.

Stay stitching is done within the seam allowance. On the ribbon and elastics, I stitched forward, back and then forward again for extra security. On the pockets I just stitched them down once Stay stitching in this manner has the added beneft of holding everything in place when you have so many layers to stitch through.

Place your ribbon pretty side face down if applying to the front, face up if working from the lining side.

I only inserted one piece of elastic to hold the book closed. However, you could add a second to the back and then use the elastics to hold the book open to a specifc page.

Finally, layer on the lining, face down and then stitch around the outside edge using a ¼” seam allowance, leaving an opening on the bottom edge between the sleeves for turning.

Trim the corner seam allowances to reduce bulk. Turn right side out through the opening, taking care to push out the corners smoothly. Press well, tucking in the seam allowances at the opening; edge stitch closed.

WHOOPS!

Did your sleeves or pockets end up on the outside instead of the inside? Don’t panic! This can happen during turning. Simply flip them over to the inside.

OPTIONAL

Add a small charm or bead or just tie a knot at the end of the ribbon.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!

Now all we need to do is dress our book. Fold back the covers and slide them into the sleeves, then pull on the cover.

NOW THAT YOU’VE MADE ONE, MAKE ANOTHER!

Once you’ve got your measurements worked out, making multiples for books of the same size is pretty speedy.

Having an embroidery machine along with some basic sewing skills makes it easy to make a gift stash so that you always have some little something on hand. Finger tip towels, kitchen towels, and journal covers are perfect for stocking that stash because they’re small, quick and easy to make, and can appeal to a wide range of people without having to deal with sizes!

Recycle a plastic container with screw on lid for button storage that doubles as a pin cushion. This easy project requires only minimal sewing to attach the binding and the buttons; your embroidery machine does the rest!

Using embroidery designs to quilt makes it easy for anyone to create intricate designs quickly and easily. An important difference with embroidery designs is how the machine is tensioned. In normal sewing and quilting, the needle and bobbin threads are evenly balanced. This is not the case with embroidery. Here the top thread is pulled to the back and the back is likely to look rather messy—especially if your machine has automatic trimmers that pull all the thread tails to the back. To minimize this, match your bobbin thread to the top thread and choose a busy fabric for the back that blends well with your thread color. You may also wish to adjust your tensions for a more even balance. The back of this project is not prominent but neatness is always a good thing!

Most quilting motifs are continuous and will only have one pair of tie-offs.
Redwork designs with many distinct elements will have more tie-offs.

The Bluework Sewing designs collection from Lindee G Embroidery includes 10 decorative, redwork style designs with a sewing theme. Each design is available in 2 sizes: one for smaller hoops) and one for 5 x 7” hoops. Due to the amount of detail in these designs, I don’t recommend shrinking the smaller size, which all have shorter stitch lengths.

Additionally, I’ve included the design used in the jar wrap for your convenience. This design is a resized version of an existing design in the collection and it has had two additional basting runs added for placement. I’ve added custom digitized lettering and provided “Buttons” as a stand-alone design for other use.

These instructions are for machines with a 5 x 7” sewing field. If you have a smaller sewing field, adjust accordingly.

Skill Level

Basic sewing skills are required to piece binding strips, apply the binding (standard method used in quilting), and sew on buttons. Instructions are included for mitering corners on binding.

Designs Used

• Bluework Sewing lgs01205 Buttons
• Bluework Sewing lgs01221 Button Jar Bonus design

Fabric Requirements

I used scraps and bits from my stash. While this project doesn’t need much, depending on the circumference of your container, fat quarters may not be wide enough. I used two colors: solid white and a blue print.

Supplies

• Batting—Choose one that is not too lofty; I used a fusible one for quilts.
• Wash-Away stabilizer
• No-Show Mesh stabilizer
• Small amount of thin or round elastic for button loops
• 3 buttons
• TESA (KK2000 or similar temporary embroidery spray adhesive)
• Construction thread
• Embroidery thread
• Matching bobbin thread for embroidery, if desired
• Rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
• Plastic container with screw on lid (pick one with straight sides). This one is an Isagenix container.
• Tape measure
• Rotary cutter, ruler, mat
• Hot glue gun
• Heavy cardboard (I used a scrap of matte board)
• Basic sewing supplies
• 5 x 7” hoop
• 4 x 4” hoop

Preparation

1. I used matching thread in the bobbin. The back won’t show on the lid and the back will only show on the wrap if you remove it. This is your call. You won’t even need to wind a full bobbin if you choose to match your thread.

2. Measure your container to determine the fabric requirements for the wrap. My wrap just meets at the back and is slightly taller than the straight part of the container. (15-1/2” by 4-1/4”).

For the wrap, you’ll need:

• 1 front
• 1 back
• 1 batting

Layer these into a “quilt sandwich” with your back fabric face down, your top fabric face up, and the batting as the filling in between. If you are using a fusible batting, fuse according to package instructions.

3. Measure the circumference and height of the lid rim. This one is 1” tall. I cut a 3” wide strip on the bias. You’ll be folding this in half. The folded edge will be at the bottom of the lid rim and the top raw edges will be hot glued to the lid. Make sure you have enough excess fabric to wrap over the edge of the lid.

The checked fabric I used was printed, not woven. By cutting it on the bias, I avoided any off grain stripes, matched the bias binding on the wrap, and had stretchy piece with a little give to it for a snug fit. Sew the ends together with 1/4” seams, press open and fold the strip in half.

4. Cut a circle from heavy cardboard to loosely fit inside the center of the lid.

5. Cut a generous square of fabric for the pincushion cover. You can trim this down later after you decide how full you want the puffing on the lid. Cut a piece of batting to be hooped with the fabric for embroidery.

6. The binding strips for the wrap are 2” wide bias cut strips pieced to the required length and folded and pressed lengthwise.

Embroidering

For the pincushion top, you’ll be using the 4” x 4” hoop. Sandwich your batting between the top fabric and a piece of no-show mesh stabilizer and hoop together.

1. Load design lgs01205 and embroider.

For the wrap, you’ll be using the 5 x 7” hoop. The Baby Lock Ellisimo I’m using doesn’t come with this size hoop and I recommend getting one if one is available for your machine and you don’t have one. Many designs are sized for this hoop and best embroidery practices dictate using a hoop that most closely fits the design being sewn.

1. Hoop a piece of wash-away backing.

2. Load design lgs01221. The project design has been customized to sew a basting stitch as the first color stop. This is a shorter than normal basting stitch and it has four indents to help you with perfect placement.

3. When the machine stops, lightly mist the back of your quilt sandwich with TESA and smooth into place. In the following photo you can see I’ve used pins to mark the center. Line the pins up with the stitch markings, which should coincide with the center marking on your hoop. This technique will work on any machine. Be sure to remove the pins before sewing.

4. Sew the second round of basting to attach the fabric securely to the stabilizer. These basting lines mark a 4” wide area that can later be used as guides when trimming your fabric to size after embroidering.

5. Finish sewing the design.

6. Remove from hoop and trim way excess Wash-Away. Use a rotary cutter and ruler to trim the wrap to the desired size. You don’t need to add any extra for seams if you are binding the edges. Remove basting stitches.

Finish the Wrap

The wrap is held onto the container with buttons and elastic loops. The elastic loops allow for some give and require less precision (and work!) than normal button holes. Other options for fastening include ties. I used 3 mismatched buttons from the button jar.

1. Position the elastic loops at one short end of the wrap, matching raw edges. The top and bottom loops are 3/4” in from the closest edge and the middle one is centered. Stitch over your loops to secure. A shortened zigzag stitch works very well. Give a tug on the open ends of each loop to make sure they are secure.

2. Attach the binding, mitering the corners. If you don’t know how to miter corners, see separate steps below.

3. Press the binding open and fold over to back covering the raw edge. I prefer to hand stitch on the back; choose any method you prefer, such as top stitching or fusing, if desired.

4. Attach buttons, positioning them along the binding seam line to match the loops.

5. Soak out the Wash-Away stabilizer while you finish the rest of the project.

Be sure that all the TESA has dissipated before wetting your project. To force dissipate, press with a dry iron.

How to Miter a Corner when Binding

1. With raw edges matching and right sides together, sew binding to the edge of the wrap using a 1/4” seam. Start on a long edge at least 1” from the corner.

2. Sew to 1/4” from the next corner, back stitch and cut threads.

3. Rotate the fabric for the next seam and fold back the binding fabric so that it’s at right angles to the previously stitched binding.

4. Pin at the previous seam line.

5. Fold the binding strip straight down matching raw edges of the wrap. The fold line matches the raw edge of the previous seam.

Repin to mark the starting point 1/4” from the top edge and at the edge of the diagonal fold of the miter. Remove pin before sewing. Sew to within a quarter inch of the next corner and repeat.

Finish the Lid Rim

1. Stretch the rim cover you made in step 3 of Preparation over the lid. The folded edge is at the bottom of the rim and the raw edges should be sticking up beyond the top. Using the hot glue gun, squirt glue in between the fabric and rim and press in place.

I tried applying the glue before stretching the fabric on and this proved to be a mess. The glue just cooled too quickly and I couldn’t get the fabric positioned ideally.

2. Apply hot glue to the lid and wrap the raw edge of the rim wrap over the lid edge and glue to lid. You’ll need to glue each layer of fabric individually.

Finish the Pin Cushion

1. Cut a stack of fleece circles to pad the lid. The amount is up to you as to how padded and pouffy you want the lid.

2. Cut your embroidered lid cover into a circle large enough to cover the padding and wrap under the cardboard. I used a soup bowl (6-1/2” diameter) to trace a circle. Trim back the stabilizer and batting as required for your lid to allow a smooth gathering.

3. Run a basting stitch 1/4” or so from the edge. You can do this by hand or machine.

4. Layer the batting pieces on top of the cardboard, cover with the embroidery (face up), and then tighten the gathering thread over the cardboard side, adjusting fullness evenly.

5. When the cushion is covered, secure the thread and hot glue the fabric to the cardboard.

6. Hot glue the pin cushion to the lid by applying glue to the lid and the firmly pressing the assembled pin cushion into place.

Fill Your Button Jar & Enjoy

These little container covers are easy to make and are perfect for gift giving. With simple modifications and a design change, you can cover boxes and jars for all sorts of storage containers!

Appliqué with your embroidery machine is fun and easy once you know a few tricks! In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use PDF templates included with appliqué designs to precut pieces for accurate and professional machine embroidered appliqué.

Skill Level

What You’ll Learn

• How to use simple yet creative techniques to expand your embroidery options
• How to use a template for hand-cutting appliqué pieces
• How easy and versatile appliqués are with embroidery

What You’ll Need

• Appliqué design with a template file (PDF)
• Fusible tearaway stabilizer or freezer wrap (I use the tearaway since it is sized to my paper)
• Computer with Adobe Acrobat Reader and an ink jet printer
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (“TESA”) and/or fusible web (I prefer a double-stick pressure sensitive web like Pellon EZ Steam II)
• Embroidery threads
• Tweezers
• Double curve appliqué scissors
• Appliqué tacking iron

Some collections may include an SVG file or an FCM file (Brother ScanNCut format). These are designed for use with a digital cutter. Follow the directions with your cutter to use these files. Prepare your fabrics as for hand cutting and apply a fusible web product. Pressure sensitive (double or single stick) fusible web products may not be suitable for cutters; the sticky web adheres to the mat too easily and comes off the fabric. Test various fusible web products to find one you like. Fuse it securely to your fabric but avoid overheating that can melt the adhesive. You can leave the paper backing on or peel it off for cutting. Test to make sure the web stays fused to the fabric and doesn’t remain on the mat. After cutting the pieces, placing and stitching are no different.

Why Appliqué?

Machine embroidered appliqué is one of my favorite techniques! I love the added texture, dimension, color, and pattern that fabric adds to the embroidery that simply cannot be achieved by thread alone. It’s easy, it offers design variety, and it works on a wider range of fabrics and textures than standard embroidery. How else could you embroider a white snowman on a fluffy red towel and not have it turn out pink? (White embroidery thread is not opaque and any high contrast fabric can show through.) Plus, appliqué with the embroidery machine comes out with perfect curves and corners every time!

You may have stitched machine embroidered appliqué by placing a patch of fabric over a stitched outline, stitching the fabric over the outline by running that stitch a second time, and then removing the hoop and trimming away the fabric. Once I learned the method described here from the professional embroidery world, I never went back to that method again when working with smooth, firm fabrics. This way of creating appliqué will give a clean, professional look with no “pokies” that scream “amateur!”

There are times when the stick/sew/snip method works (I’ll use it when working with dimensional effects like putting batting under a large, simply shaped appliqué). To accommodate this method with Lindee G Embroidery designs, simply back up one color after placing the fabric to sew the placement line again. Remove the hoop, trim away excess fabric (keep in mind the satin stitch only extends beyond this line 1mm so trim closely!), replace the hoop and continue sewing. Whenever using this method, you must take extreme care not to distort the hooped fabric when trimming the excess appliqué away. This becomes increasingly more difficult with intricate shapes and/or multiple appliqués

Some Preliminary Notes

If you’ve previously done appliqué with your sewing machine, you likely lraced a pattern onto fusible web, applied it to the back of your fabric, and then stitched it out. This meant you were actually tracing a reversed (mirrored) version of the design.

Templates for machine embroidered appliqué are not reversed and are designed to be applied to the front of your fabric. Some fusible web products can be run through an ink jet printer to save you the step of applying a product to each side of the fabric. If you choose to print on the web, then you must mirror image either the design or the templates.

Tracing templates onto fusible web is not recommended. You need accurately cut appliqués for a successful result with machine embroidered appliqué. Besides, tracing is far too tedious.

Fusible web products require heat to activate the adhesive. Some fabrics are not compatible with heat. The advantage of using a fusible web is that it reduces wrinkling and is added security to reduce raveling if the stitches don’t adequately cover the edge of the applied fabric. Fusible web also adds body, which can be great on some projects like wall hangings but less attractive when you want a softer result such as on quilts or baby clothes. Different fusible webs provide varying degrees of stiffness. There are very stiff versions that work great on a canvas banner and there are very soft ones that are barely apparent once stitched and fused.

You’ll want to experiment to see what products work best and are readily available. Start by experimenting with what you find in your local sewing and craft stores. Products can also be ordered online so if your local area is very limited, look to the internet.

For items that can’t take the heat, use TESA to temporarily hold the appliqué in place during stitching. If you don’t want to use a spray adhesive, then a glue stick may be an effective substitute. Some TESAs are deactivated with heat (KK2000 is one) so skip the tacking iron step or you will lose the adhesiion.

Ultimately the stitches secure the appliqué to the fabric. If you cut and place your fabric accurately and your fabric is not prone to excessive raveling, you should have a good result. Keep in mind that if you shrink the design, then the satin cover around the edges shrinks and so does your security. Heavy laundering and/or use may also increase the tendency to ravel if a fusible web is skipped.

If you want the security of a fusible around the edges with the loft and softness of no web in the center, then you can “window” the fusible. This involves leaving an outer edge of about 1/4” web applied to the fabric with the inner portion cut away.

To do this, apply the template to the front of the appliqué piece in the usual manner (full details to come). Cut a piece of fusible web and place it behind the piece. Using your mini iron, fuse the web by pressing from the front along the outer edges and in about 1/4”. Cut out appliqué and then trim away excess fusible from the inside of the design on the back.

You may want to try this technique on larger pieces for quilts. Fusible web doesn’t allow the appliqués to “puff up” like hand stitched needle-turned appliqué. While machine embroidered appliqué is unlikely to loft as much and needle-turned, you’ll have a more authentic appearance.

Step 1—Prepare Fabrics

Your appliqués will stay smooth and crisp if you preshrink both the appliqué fabrics and the background fabrics. Pre-shrinking all the fabrics will help avoid any uneven shrinkage after your project is assembled. Be sure to smoothly press fabrics before the next fabric steps. I also find that starching the fabrics (both background and appliqué) makes them easier to work with and reduces shifting during the sewing process.

Step 2—Print Appliqué Templates & Any Guides

Print out PDF appliqué templates, making sure to print them at actual size. Notice that each piece has the design file name (if large enough) and possibly a number. On multiple piece appliqués this number is the sequence number for placing the appliqué. If several pieces have the same sequence number, it means they are placed at the same stop.

Do not let Acrobat resize your template to fit the page. Page Scaling must be set to None for accuracy!

The template pages may vary per collection. A design with just one appliqué may have the element repeated multiple times whereas a more complex multi-piece appliqué design may show the pieces as they combine in the design plus another set that is separated for easy cutting. Some collections may have multiple arrangements per design.

I prefer to print my templates on a lightweight fusible tearaway or you can use freezer wrap. (I don’t use freezer wrap for embroidery stabilizer, only for templates.) I cut an 11” piece of stabilizer from an 8” roll (about the size of a sheet of paper) and lightly fuse the top and bottom edges to a sheet of printer paper to help it move through my ink jet printer smoothly (and to make sure I print on the non-fusible side!)

I find that using heat fusible pattern pieces provides more sticking power over a longer period of time than templates printed on plain paper and held in place with TESA. If your pattern shifts during cutting, you will not be able to cut out an accurate piece and this technique definitely requires precision. I also find that I get more accuracy with this method than when tracing onto the fusible web. Some fusible webs have a waxy coating on the protective sheet and often shift around easily, especially when working with larger or more intricate shapes. With this technique, accuracy is definitely the name of the game.

These templates are created from the placement stitch in the embroidery design and are therefore intended to be applied to the front of the fabric. Some fusible webs can also be run through an inkjet printer. However, these products are applied to the back of your fabric and won’t work as a shortcut unless you mirror the embroidery design.

Step 3—Loosely Cut Out Template Pieces

Separate your paper template pieces by cutting loosely around the outlines.

Step 4—Apply Templates to Fabric.

Press the cut out pieces, right side up to the right side of the corresponding appliqué fabric.

Step 5—Apply Fusible Web

I prefer double-stick pressure-sensitive fusible web (Pellon EZ Steam II). Remove the looser paper sheet and arrange your appliqué fabrics on the web. Cut out around the web. I like to very lightly press them with a dry iron to help the fusible stick to the fabric.

One disadvantage of the regular weight EZ Steam II is that it leaves the appliqué feeling somewhat stiff. You might try Pellon EZ Steam II Lite, which is a thinner, lighter weight version. Other fusible web products are available but most of these are only sticky on one side. If you aren’t using a double-stick pressure sensitive fusible web, you will need to press a bit more. Avoid over pressing. If you completely melt the adhesive there will be nothing left to fuse the piece to the hooped fabric.

Don’t use steam when pressing fusible web and don’t over heat! Use a Teflon™ pressing sheet or parchment paper to protect your iron and ironing surface from the adhesive.

Step 6—Cut Out Appliqué Pieces

Carefully and precisely cut along the outside edge of each appliqué piece. If I’m preparing for a design I will sew immediately, I like to lightly stick the pieces to a plastic sheet protector in which I’ve place a printout of my design information. (If you haven’t used a double stick pressure sensitive, this won’t work.) Otherwise, I keep them in snack size zipper-type plastic bags. This is especially useful if you are cutting a number of pieces for a large project or multiple projects.

Don’t firmly press the piece to the plastic; the fusible web sticks to it very easily and will hold faster to it than the fabric.

Step 7—Embroider Design

If you’re embroidering on quilt-weight cottons, a medium tearaway should be sufficient for embroidery designs that are composed of predominantly appliqué that may also have additional light detail stitching. These types of designs are generally “low impact” and do not require extensive or heavy stabilizing. Make sure your fabric is secure in the hoop and that it will not slip during sewing. If your fabric slips, raw edges of appliqué fabrics may be exposed.

As your design sews, the machine will stitch a running stitch guideline for you to place your fabric and then stop to allow you to position the fabric.

Many machines may move the hoop forward to make it easier for you to do this while others will simply stop. If your machine just stops, you may wish to remove the hoop to place your fabrics. Be careful not to disturb the hoop tension and make sure your hoop is correctly attached each time to avoid registration problems (where stitches don’t line up with previous ones).

Carefully place the fabric within the stitched line and lightly fuse the center of the appliqué with an appliqué iron. If you fuse the edges too tightly, you will not be able to trim them off later if they extend beyond your stitching. (If you’ve cut your pieces with a digital cutter, then your pieces will fit exactly within the stitched guides.)

Continue sewing and the machine will zigzag around the edge of the fabric. Many other digitizers will use a straight stitch for this step; I find a zigzag more forgiving of slight miscuts and misplacements and less likely to push the fabric out of place.

I often slow the machine down for the tackdown to make it easy to stop if the fabric should shift.

Stop after the tackdown and inspect your work. If you see that fabric is sticking out beyond these stitches, stop the machine and carefully trim the fabric away or it will be exposed after the final satin stitching is complete. Also check for any “pokies”—raveled fabric threads that may have been freed by the action of the needle.

Continue placing each piece as called for in the color sequence until the design is complete.

Press embroidery from the back to complete the fusing.

Note 1: Printable templates only work with designs sewn at actual size. If you resize your embroidery designs, you will have to make your own templates. One way is to use a customizing program like Embrilliance Essentials to extract the placement line and print it just like the PDF is printed. A second option is by sewing the positioning outlines on template stock and cutting them out for tracing pieces. To embroider on template stock (mylar quilter’s template or card stock), tape a piece of the template material to the bottom of your hoop and sew without thread in the needle. The perforations are the “outlines” you see on the actual size printed PDF templates. Cut out the template and trace (template face down) on the fusible web paper on the back of your prepared fabric. Mylar quilter’s template will retain crisp edges and corners—and therefore accuracy—with more uses than card stock. Be sure to label your template with a design name, sequence order, and a guide arrow to denote the top.

Note 2:These instructions are for medium-weight woven fabrics that can tolerate heat. Loftier fabrics such as polar fleece may need to be cut slightly further away from the template line to accommodate their thickness and will also melt when pressed with an iron. Instead of using fusible web, use a temporary embroidery spray adhesive to hold in place during the sewing process. While a fusible web will permanently fuse an appliqué in place and reduce raveling puckering over washing and wearing, polar fleece, which is a knit, doesn’t ravel and due to the stretchy properties, will not pucker if sewn smoothly in the first place.