Thanks everyone for your kind words! Try it out and let me know what needs to be improved or clarified.
Originally Posted by
Steady Stiching
...What type of needle do you use. Its hard to tell from the pictures because of the zoom. It looks long like a straw needle but a larger gage. I've got a love hate relationship with my straw needles, find i cant swoop the fabric with them and they bend so badly. I'd love the recomendation of a good applique needle.
Steady, that's one of the great debates of the applique world, right up there with silk vs cotton thread. The needle I use is a #12 sharp, and it's actually about 1 and 3/16 inches long (I went and measured.) When I was taking a beginning applique class years ago, my teacher told us that some people use sharps and some use straw needles and had us try both. I really hate the straw needles, hate hate hate. The short thin needle is best for me. They do bend eventually, but they work great!
I use John James #12 sharp and it's the perfect needle for me. (Also silk thread; YLI not Tire. I hate Tire silk thread too, it's a snarly mess to work with.)