Hand appliques with Woolies flannel - need help!
 

Hi All!

I am going to make a wool applique pattern using Woolies flannel (because I'm allergic to wool). Have any of you done any hand applique with Woolies? The pattern said to use fusible, but I really don't like using it.
What products would you recommend? Stabilizer on the back, freezer paper method, needle turn? There are so many choices, I don't even know where to start!

Any advice or help would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

woolies flannel is like any other flannel and it will fray so you will have to finish the edge in some way by either turning it under or encasing it in a satin stitch with your machine. As you don't like fusible stabilizer then your choices are needle turn or prepared applique cutting out your pieces with an added seam allowance to turn under or satin stitch. Or you could try using a lightweight fusible like mistyfuse and do a buttonhole stitch like you would with wool. But I don't have enough experience with Mistyfuse to tell you if that would keep the product from fraying.

It is not clear to me if you intend to turn under the edges or not. I believe felted wool applique is always done with raw edge because the edges won't fray (plus turning under would make the edges very bulky). However, the cut edge of flannel will fray. Are you intending to wash the piece later?

Could you possibly use fleece, which doesn't fray? Or could you sew two pieces together all the way around, slit the back, and turn it inside to bind in the seams?

After attending a quilt retreat last week, I got a lot of information from various people, and a chance to sit down a try some applique ideas using the Woolies flannel. I thought I would share this anyone that might be trying to applique with them:

Needle turn applique left a larger "lump" than I wanted. Fusible applique looked really flat, I didn't care for it. After several other failed attempts, I ended up with the method below:

I ironed on Pellon Shape Flex to the back of the fabric to stabilize it. Then I traced the patterns on to freezer paper, cut the pieces out and ironed that to the front of the fabric. The pattern pieces were then cut with sharp pointy scissors (not through the paper, but just next to the edge.) I got a nice clean cut edge that way. Remove the freezer paper patterns. Use small dots of Roxanne's Glue Baste It to hold the fabric pieces together (pins would have been fine, but are more difficult to keep track of when I'm stitching while we travel.) After everything was layered, I used 2 strands of embroidery floss and stitched a blanket stitch around the edges. A couple of pieces had a loose thread from the fabric, but for the most part, it held together nicely and was easy to stitch! My projects are wallhangings, and not blankets, so I don't need to worry about washing them.

Hope this helps out someone else!


PS: The Woolies pieces were appliqued on regular cotton fabric, not flannel...although that would be very pretty and rich looking!