Beginner's Guide to Quilting - UK (2020-02)

‘Appliqué’ comes from the French verb

‘appliquer’, which means ‘to apply’.

In a craft context, it’s a technique used

in many different areas, from pottery

and cake decorating to sewing and

quilting. Sewn appliqué involves cutting

out a small shape from one material and

then stitching it directly onto a larger

piece of fabric. Appliqué can be done by

hand or with a sewing machine, although

as this is a beginner’s guide we’ll stick to

the simpler hand techniques! Here we

cover two different ways to hand

appliqué – choose the method that suits

the project you are working on and that

you feel most comfortable with.

Getting started

with appliquÉ

First, choose what shapes you want to

stitch onto your quilt top. These can be

hand drawn or printed from a computer

to create a paper template. Ready-made

plastic templates are also handy and

easily available. Draw around the shape

onto the wrong side of the fabric, making

sure the shapes are cut as neatly as

possible. One of the trickiest parts of

appliqué can be holding the shapes in

place on the base fabric while you sew

them on. Many stitchers find pins, tacking

stitches, basting spray, fabric glue or

fusible web helpful.

Fusible web is a man-made fibre

backed with glue – essentially a fabric

version of double-sided tape. When it’s

placed between two pieces of fabric and

ironed it becomes sticky, so it’s ideal for

appliqué. There are several types

available – choose one that has a similar

weight to your appliqué fabric.

Raw-edge method

This is the simplest appliqué method, but

does require neat stitching when you sew

it on. In this method, the edges of the

shapes are left to fray, as the stitches

holding them in place are sewn just inside

the edge of the shape. This can create a

decorative finish as the fabric can

develop a slightly ragged edge over time.

Find our easy appliqué cushion project

on page 138 to try the technique yourself.

For a neater effect, try the turned edge

method (see below).

Reversed images

If your shape isn’t a regular circle or

square – for example, a letter of the

alphabet that will only work in one

orientation – then you’ll need to

reverse it before stitching in place.

Simply trace your chosen shape onto

tracing paper then turn the paper over

and draw over the lines on the back.

Use this reversed pattern shape on the

wrong side of the fabric to make sure

the finished appliqué shape will have

the right orientation.

Use appliqué elements to add flair to your patchwork

designs and create shapes that are hard to achieve

through piecing. It’s both easy and effective!

ALL ABOUT

APPLIQUÉ

Turned edge

appliquÉ method

With this technique, the edges of the

appliqué shapes are turned over and

hemmed before being stitched onto the

main base fabric. The best product to use

for this is freezer paper, but if you’re just

starting out and don’t have any to hand,

you can use any thick paper instead.

First trace the appliqué shape onto

paper, taking care to leave space

between shapes so there’s room to cut

them out. For freezer paper, make sure

that you trace the shape onto the

non-shiny side.

Cut out the shape, then cut the fabric

¼in bigger than the paper shape.

If you’re using freezer paper, lay it shiny

side up onto the wrong side of your

appliqué fabric.

Turn the edges of the fabric over onto

the paper and iron into place, snipping

curves and corners as you go, if needs be

(see Fig 1 to the right). The shiny side of

the freezer paper will stick to the fabric. If

you’re using ordinary paper, just tack the

edges in place.

Continue turning the fabric edges over

in this way until you’ve worked all

around the shape (Fig 2).

Turn the shape over to the right side of

the fabric and pin, then iron, into place

onto your base fabric. If you’re using

freezer paper, the shiny side will hold it in

place. Stitch it on using small, neat stitches

just around the very edge of the turned

edge appliqué fabric, taking care not to

stitch through the paper (Fig 3).

Finally, remove the backing paper

shape from behind. You can do this in

one of two ways:

Leave one edge of the appliquéd shape

unstitched, undo any basting stitches and

pull out the paper. Then turn the edge

back under and hand stitch the gap.

Or, make a small snip in the base fabric

behind the appliquéd shape and carefully

remove the paper through this hole before

stitching it up. This works when adding

appliqué to a quilt top, where the batting

and backing fabric will hide these stitches.