Originally Posted by diannemc
Can it be done without paper or is it too hard that way?
You can definitely hand applique without paper. It is called needle-turn applique. My hand cramps up during hand sewing, so I don't hand applique anymore, but needle-turn was my favorite way to do it back in the old days. I tried hand applique with freezer paper (my favorite way to do machine applique), but I didn't like it.
My method was to lightly trace the design in pencil on the right side of the fabric, just a smidge outside the sewing line. Rough-cut around the design. Use applique pins (tiny, short pins) to secure the design to the background (I liked to pin from underneath), or use glue. If you use pins, you always need at least 2 pins in an applique piece to prevent movement.
Cut just an inch or two or three at a time (depending on how large the piece is) before sewing. The cut should be around 3/16" outside your turn line. Use your needle to help you finger press the fabric into position, use your non-sewing thumb to hold down that couple of inches, and sew. Repeat the cutting and sewing all around. The pencil line doesn't show if you have kept the tracing fairly light but, in any case, you can turn so the pencil line is just under your sewing line.
Sometimes inside curves need to be clipped. Outside curves are never clipped; you just nudge the excess fabric underneath frequently as you sew.
If you Google needleturn applique, you should be able to pull up some websites with better instructions than this and some pictures. Good luck!