Help with hand appliqué
 

Hi,

I'm doing some simple appliqué (fusible with blanket stitch) of a snowman face. I have three pieces, a hat, face and scarf, that I'm putting on a block.

when I fused it, I placed the face first, then the hat (overlapping the top of the face), the the scarf overlapping on the bottom.

is there any "method" to what pieces you outline? Do you outline everywhere pieces touch? Is that too much outlining?

here's what I tried. I outlined the hat, the scarf and just the sides of the face where it doesn't touch the others.

i want to try something a bit more challenging...any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

thanks so much!

fusible appliques have to be stitched down- along any edges that are not covered by another piece or when laundered the edges will come up- because the fusible washes away. generally fusible applique is a machine applique method (the fusibles are often difficult to stitch through by hand. hand applique is usually done without a fusible- the edges are turned under (needle turn applique) and stitched down. if you are having luck hand stitching that's a good thing- just make sure you stitch down all *outside* edges

Mmmmmm... the fusible I use does NOT wash away - but it will separate, so in the past I've stitched mine down. However, I've moved away from using fusible and more into using washable school glue. It's easier and cheaper.

Erin Russek has an excellent how-to series of posts and videos about how she does applique. In this one, she shows how to assemble multi-layered appliques.

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-pi...d-flowers.html

If you'd like to see more of her instruction, go to the list on the left side of her blog and click "Applique Lessons".

not all fuse is the same ....for t shirt quilts i use the heat and bond in purple package ...easier to sew through .....for stuff i want to stay put i use the one in the red package ........for applique i use the sew something really thin on the back all the way around then slit and turn then all the edges are secure and you can 'topstitch or blanket stitch whatever '' and if you sew it to the really thin fuse interfacing you can heat set it in the right place

It sounds to me like you have stitched all the exposed raw edges with the stitching you did. You wouldn't want to stitch all around the face before you added the other pieces or the stitches on the face would cause slight ridges on the scarf and hat shapes. Love to see a picture of your project...snowmen and ladybugs are my favourites!

Thanks! I watched the videos and am going to try the techniques. They were very helpful!

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