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Who doesn’t love new accessories to start a new school year? Even in 2020, the “year of COVID-19,” with school being all weird, you can make it a celebration with the accessories included in this set.

The Back-to-School Accessories set has 6 projects:

• 2 projects for 100x100mm sewing fields
• 3 projects for 130x180mm sewing fields
• 1 project for 200 x 300mm sewing fields

Two of these are the zipped pencil case designed for stitching with woven fabric. The 4 other projects are intended for vinyl, cork, leather, or felt.

This PDF covers the vinyl projects, which includes:

• lgp03201 - Pencil charm (4x4 hoop)
• lgp03202 - Pencil snap tab (4x4 hoop)
• lgp03203 - Pencil name tag/lip balm holder (5x7 hoop)
• lgp03204 - Pencil hand sanitizer holder (5x7 hoop

Although all these items are shown with additional personalization, the included design files are blank and can be customized as you desire either in your software or at the machine.

The zip bags are covered separately

Skill Level

These projects are all very simple and once you know how to do one, you know how to do the others.

The larger two projects have pockets on the back side. While pockets were not used on the smaller ones, you can add one the same way we’ll do it on the larger projects.

Another difference is that the charm uses an eyelet instead of snap. Since snaps, rivets, and other hardware are not part of the embroidery process, you can finish your project any way you choose.

You may want to watch this YouTube video first: ITH Monogrammed Lip Balm Holde

Please read through all instructions before starting your project! This project, while complex, is not really difficult because the embroidery takes care of all the construction. Cut and place carefully and you’ll have a successful result!

What You’ll Need

• Tearaway stabilizer
• Fabric: Vinyl is recommended but felt and leather are other options. Here’s a link to the yellow vinyl I used
• Note 1: The front and back can be different colors and different weights.
• Note 2: Consider using 12-gauge clear vinyl for the pocket to reduce thickness if your machine has trouble with 3 layers of marine vinyl
• Matching bobbin thread colors are recommended. I used these.
• Tape
• Heavy scissors for final trim
• Optional bag hardware of your choice
• Suitable embroidery threads

Getting Started

Print out the corresponding worksheet for the project you’ll be stitching. Here you’ll find dimensions for cutting your pieces along with brief sewing instructions. Once you understand how these are made, you can just use those notes instead of this PDF

About Embroidery on Vinyl

You’ll notice that the fills on these designs is more open than standard designs and you will see fabric peek through.

Wovens and knits have “breathing room” between the fabric’s fibers. Vinyl and leather have no such space. Packing in too much thread into such a product can cause warping and possibly enough needle damage to create “cutwork” instead of embroidery.

Personalizing the Vinyl Projects

All four of the vinyl projects can be personalized with either a name or monogram. While this can be done at the machine, it’s much easier in software. Since all software is different, here’s a quick overview.

The process is relatively simple in most any embroidery program that can add lettering:

1. Open the design in your software
2. Add your lettering,
3. Move it into place and rotate if necessary (Some designs were rotated to allow them to fit a smaller hoop.)
4. If your software allows you move the lettering, more it to sew right before the last color.

If you can’t sequence it properly in your software, you can still sew it by skipping and colors at your machine:

1. Sew up to the final outline.
2. Advance to your additional elements and stitch them.
3. At this point, you’ll be at the end of your design so you may need to advance through all the colors one more time to get to the original last color.

Process Overview

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Cut your vinyl to the sizes mentioned on the worksheet.
• Hoop one layer of tearaway.
• Sew color one directly onto the stabilizer for a placement line.

• Position the front fabric over the placement line.

• Color 2 attaches the front fabric.
• Sew the remaining colors up to the last color

• Remove the hoop, position the back fabrics on the bottom of the hoop, and secure.
• The back fabric is laid first, face up

• The pocket is placed second with the top edge at the placement marks.

• NOTE: Because of how the last color attaches everything, you can add/omit/move pockets on any vinyl design in this set
• Sew the last color to secure everything.
• Remove the hoop, tear off stabilizer close to the stitching.
• Trim around the project a few millimeters outside of the stitching line.
• Add a closure such as a snap or Velcro to secure each project

Summary

These projects work up very quickly and require minimal amounts of fabric. Personalize them and make them as easy gifts

Remember those delicate fragile family heirloom Christmas ornaments that you were never allowed to touch as a kid? Now you can get that same shiny look with your embroidery machine and a small bit of Mylar. And they can't shatter on the floor!

Introducing "All That Glitters" for the Designer in You!

All That Glitters Mylar Christmas Designs was thoughtfully designed for the creative embroiderer. It includes 11 round ornaments and 9 "add-on" embellishments plus a bonus ornament. These embroideries are designed for maximum flexibility! You can stitch them with or without Mylar.

You can stitch them as standard applique with or without the background fill. You can stitch them as direct embroidery or free-standing applique. You can combine the add-ons to the Mylar filled versions or the plain applique. You can even mix in other designs from your stash to extend the designs even further. The following sample uses one of the included monogram fonts with Essentials combined with a bow add-on and the center feature ornament.

To make them fast and easy, they have few color changes and low stitch counts. Also, since all but one ornament use the same applique shape, you can easily mix and match fabrics. If you have a digital cutter, you can really go to town and still whip up a batch before Christmas! In addition to the designs, the collection includes applique templates for hand or machine cutting. All the round bulbs use the same shape so cutting enmass is simple. There is also the circular pattern for the center feature and the shape for the "mint" shape, which is somewhat of an extra with this collection.

Sometimes it's the simpler designs that offer the most creativity and flexibility!

Designing with the Center Feature Ornament

The center feature design offers quite a bit of possibilities. I've fussy cut a piece of fabric from my stash as an insert. You could also you a photo printed fabric insert or a pretty holiday colored fabric with a monogram or short word.

With a little more work, you can drop out the Mylar fill and replace it with a standard applique fabric. Then with your lettering software, arc some text into the area. How about a fabric print of your child's school picture with the year underneath for the grandparents?

If you're observant, you'll notice that this design was digitized in StitchArtist. I had hoped to release these as BX design library but that part of the program is not functioning yet so I'm just releasing the standard stitch file formats I usually support. The highlighted object in the Objects panel on the upper right is the Mylar fill section. Just delete it if you don't want it for your edited version.

Maximum Flexibility Designs!

These designs have been programmed with multiple color stops to make customizing easy. For example the light fills intended to stitch over Mylar can easily be deleted in software or skipped at the machine. Likewise, the second color on the ornament cap—which I've run in the same color as the rest of the cap—is only necessary if you want to do free-standing applique. Otherwise you can skip or delete it. I've included multiple Mylar fills so you can select one you like. Here's one that doesn't have any Mylar under it so you can see the stitches:

Appliques & Extra Colors

If you've never sew machine embroidered applique, there can be up to 3 color stops in the design for each applique. First is the position stitch, which is most often a run that outlines where the applique goes. Second is the tack down stitch. In my designs, I most often use a zigzag here because it catches the fabric better and is less likely to push a little pleat into the fabric. Finally the cover stitching—usually a satin—runs. When you look at your actually stitch file, these all need to be separate colors if they run consecutively, otherwise your machine won't stop. Therefore you need to refer to the color sequence list. I do understand there are people who think this might be too difficult—skipping colors or using software—so I have included a plain applique ornament. I promise you though, simple modifications like this really are simple once you try it!

Add-On Embellishments

The add-ons can be combined with any of the Mylar fills or the plain applique. You can combine them either at your machine or in software. While all the designs and individual add-ons will fit a 4x4 hoop, if you add a bow to the top of an ornament, you'll likely need a larger hoop or you can rehoop or use a multi-position hoop. (Instructions not included for that!)

Of course, the add-ons can work stand alone and feel free to sort through your stash for other suitable designs you can combine. The basic round ornament and the Mylar fills are perfect for that!

Advanced Customizing

I've done all my designs on the first few ornaments on top of the curved fill variation. Depending on the color of thread and Mylar you use, the various background fills may be more or less prominent. If you decide you like the swirly design on Swirls 2 and the meandering fill on Mylar Fill 6, it's not terribly difficult to isolate and copy the color block for the swirls and paste it into the right place on the other design. For the designs on the first few ornaments that are more "finished" it was important that the designs be a little more integrated than just dropping in an add-on at the end of the design. But that doesn't mean it's major surgery to extract them and use them on one of the other ornaments.

Customize with Color

These designs can be stitched with any colors you like. In fact, when I started stitching them, I chose entirely different colors from what I picked when digitizing. On Swirls 2 I used a light blue Mylar and stitched over it with white to soften it a bit. I was going for a wintry, cold look here. The white softened the blue color even more and the stitches breaking up the Mylar gave it almost a crystalline appearance.

How to Embroider with Mylar

Mylar works best when stitched under a light fill. The lighter the fill, the more the Mylar can sparkle through. All the sparkle in the designs you see here comes form the Mylar. Of course you could add even more with metallic thread. For these designs I've created curved and motif fills use Embrilliance StitchArtist. I have two YouTube videos on how to create the curved fill and the stitch carving you see on the caps of the ornaments. If you have StitchArtist Level 3 you can duplicate these techniques.

Mylar is available in colors from Nancy's Notions. I sprung for the mega pack because I couldn't decide which colors to order. According to the description, this product is machine washable but I haven't actually tried that.

Another alternative to Mylar that I've used for years and years is party balloons. I think these fill densities might be a little too open for the printed side of the balloon but the inside is silver and looks just like those old family heirloom ornaments. Below you can see some early samples, one that was modified and two that didn't make the cut for various reasons. These are stitched on the "wrong" side of the happy face balloon shown following. Ask for damaged balloons at the party store and you can often get them for free!

hese designs are set up as standard appliques. Sew the first color to get the placement line.

Then lightly mist the back of a 4x4" square of Mylar with TESA (I use KK2000) and smooth it over the stitching line.

Sew the design up through the background fill then stop the machine and carefully tear off the Mylar. If you tear toward the stitching line you'll get a nice clean finish.

Don't forget the middle!

Then complete the rest of the stitching. This design has a second applique for the center. Place the precut fabric and then stop the machine after the zigzag tack down (if it doesn't stop automatically) to inspect your work. The zigzag should just cover the edge of the fabric and there shouldn't be any excess extending out beyond the edge.

I usually precut all my appliques before placing them in the hoop. However, Mylar is a bit tricky to work with and since it is so easy to tear off after stitching it in place, I just use the "blob method" of applique in this case.

Stitching with Fabric?

If you're doing actual applique with fabric, then use the pattern pieces to precut your fabrics. You can either cut by hand or by machine as long as it's accurate. I also like to use a fusible web on the back of my fabrics for a smooth, long lasting great appearance. Instead of placing the Mylar, position your pre-cut applique exactly within the sewn lines. The next color will zigzag tack it in place. If any fabric is extending beyond the zigzag you either incorrectly cut or placed your fabric and you'll likely have fabric extending beyond your applique. Carefully try to trim off any excess without cutting any stitches or disturbing your fabric tension in the hoop.

What's Included with the Collection

All That Glitters Mylar Christmas Designs includes 21 designs in all the supported formats usually found in my shop. The collection also includes color sequences, templates, and instructions for standard applique and a reprint of this blog post as a PDF for off-line reference.

The designs are also available individually. Please note that instructions are not included on individual designs. I'll be posting videos on how to use these designs on YouTube so go there and subscribe and you'll get an email notification of when they're available.

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.

Appliqué is a very versatile machine embroidery technique. Creating free-standing ornaments is fun and easy!

Skill Level

These instructions assume that you already know how to work with templates printed on fusible tearaway, a method I use most often for machine embroidered appliqué. If you’ve never used this technique, detailed instructions are included in the Appliqué Basics pdf that is included with most Lindee G Embroidery appliqué collections

What You’ll Learn

• How to use simple yet creative techniques to expand your embroidery options
• How to make double-sided free-standing designs with appliqués

Selecting a Design

This technique works best when the satin cover stitching that finishes the appliqué sews last, as it so happens in the gingerbread designs on Gingery Christmas. There are 4 small ginger cookie appliqué designs and 4 larger ones that work well with these instructions.

You’ll also want to select a design that does not have any stitching extending beyond the fabric appliqué area. If you’re using the “bitten cookie” versions, the crumbs will be lost during the finishing process.

If you are using other appliqué designs, you may want to resequence some stitching or wind matching bobbins for each color change in your design so that the back looks as good as the front.

What You’ll Need

• Small scraps of fabric for front and back of appliqué
• Cutaway stabilizer (medium to heavy weight)
• Washaway stabilizer (fiber, not film)
• Light-weight tearaway stabilizer for printing templates
• Double-stick (pressure sensitive) fusible web for appliqué (Steam-A-Seam II or Pellon Easy Steam II)
• 6-8” piece of ribbon for hanger
• Cellophane tape
• Small gingerman design from Gingery Christmas by Lindee G Embroidery with templates
• Suitable embroidery threads
• Regular embroidery bobbin thread
• Bobbin of matching thread for the outer gingerbread color (last color in these designs)
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (“TESA”)

Print templates onto fusible tearaway and loosely cut around shapes to separate. (See technique in the Appliqué Basics instructions if aren’t familiar with this process.)

Fuse a piece of cutaway to the back of each piece of appliqué fabric using fusible web. Press one template to front of one fabric and one to cutaway of other fabric to make a reversible ornament.

While the cutaway isn’t strictly necessary, it adds extra body and dimension to the design.

Cut out appliqués just to the outside edge of the pattern lines

Hoop 2 pieces of washaway stabilizer. Sew first color of design (outline).

Fold a loop of ribbon in half, place cut edges within top outline about 1/2”. Tape in place out of range of needle.

Spray back of top piece with TESA. Remove template from piece and position in hoop within outline.

Inspect the design to see if any areas extend beyond the tack down and trim off.

Don’t sew last color! The last color attaches the back of the ornament.

Remove the hoop from machine. Spray cutaway side of back appliqué with TESA, remove paper template, position appliqué in place, reset the hoop, replace the bobbin with the matching thread, and sew last color.

Trim off excess stabilizer close to the stitching. Remove remaining bits with damp paint brush or sponge. It is not necessary to soak out the remaining stabilizer