Starch on applique with fusible web?
 

I know I need to starch (heavily) my background fabric, but should I (can I?) also starch the applique piece that I plan on adhering to the background with steam-a-seam lite?

Worried that the steam-a-seam won't stick if I starch the fabric.

It's a VERY large applique, so I need all the stability I can get.

Thanks in advance, I've not done applique with steam-a-seam yet.

I hve had the best experience with Steam a Seam lite over most other brands for adhereing to a starched fabric. You can use a stabilzer on the background fabric to give the ridgeness to make the stitching smoother, and without puckers.
Stitch and tear is the stablizer I have had very good success with... I buy it by the bolt... FYI ..it will be on sale next week for 50 percent off at Joanns plus there is an extra 10 percent coupon.

I would definitely do a test piece first to see how well it adheres with starch. Are you planning to also stitch around the applique? If you are not planning to stitch, then I might scrap the starch for both background and applique as it probably is going to interfere to some extent. Why do you think you need to heavily starch your background fabric?