Thanks, Iceblossom. I tried the inside out method and it worked fairly well for my first attempt at applique. My 5 pointed stars were OK, not good. Now I see how they could be improved - "tiny stitches". That would keep the edges and points crisper.

Somehow, that never occurred to me.

bkay

That would have been awesome. Her work is beautiful.

Tiny little stitches with a thinner needle than I generally use for piecing. Trimming is also really important, clip down to the seam line at sharp angles.

You also need a couple of handy "tools" that can be knitting needles or those orange sticks for manicures to help turn the seams and keep the points or curves or whatever crisp. You want something that you can maneuver around but not too sharp so you go through the seams. Nice thing with the flip over technique is you can cut the slit really big/side to side even and get in there for the proper shapes.

My friend that I learned from was a big believer in silk thread for hand stitching down the sides and she used an Ott light both for good color match and to help her see. With my vision issues I find the Ott light necessary for my hand stitching of bindings which is about all I do in terms of handwork, I use a big needle and don't think I could even thread one of her hand stitching needles, probably can't even see a single thickness of that thread any more for that matter!

I had another friend who used to make simply glorious appliqued wall art using the mono-filament clear thread and the smallest zigzag her machine had. At least back then that didn't wash well and didn't iron at all (melts!), but I was in awe of her abilities.

I’ve Appliqued with Superior monopoly by machine and a tiny blanket stitch which worked really well. I used the “smoke” colour on darker fabric and it’s nearly invisible. The monopoly is very fine and doesn’t melt as it is polyester, not nylon.

I am just starting to try the freezer paper turn under method for a new BOM. I sure needed a lot of new tools for the job, but I am having a lot of fun learning.

ME TOO! or I use wonder under and blanket stitch

Those who do the inside out method, which interfacing do you use?

I use light weight, non-woven, iron on interfacing. I sew bumpy side to proper side of my fabric. I iron it in place, stitch it down, then cut away all but 1/4” from the back so it stays soft for use.

I've done a couple projects where I pinked the edges and used a straight stitch not right on the edge to apply. Sure it will fray but I liked the casual look of the whole project.