One thing that comes to mind is to apply the Steam-A-Seam only to the edges. I've done his before when I didn't want the stiffness or weight of doing the whole thing. I just traced around my applique piece onto the Steam-A-Seam and then drew around the shape again about 1/4" - 1/2" inside the original line. I cut out that strip of Steam-A-Seam and used just that strip. It worked well.