Well - a long time ago I was taught the ladder stitch for,appliqué - I sweated bullets just doing 4 small basket handles and ended up hating appliqué. Forward a few years when I signed up for a year-long Baltimore appliqué class - why? I have no idea - but from the first lesson I learned that the stitch I had been using forever to hel clothing was actually the tack stitch (I know it was wrong for hems, etc.). So the tack stitch is what I do for hand appliqué, and bindings. The ladder stitch looks great but I just dint seem to be able to do it properly. If the ladder stitch works for yiu that is super - wish I could manage it.