This blog is dedicated to applique. Glorious applique!!! The focus here will be hand applique, but there is room for machine applique too. Kim McLean is the designer whose patterns and quilts we will be working on together. Are you ready?! Let's SEW!!!
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Thursday, October 7, 2010
Hearts and Flowers centre panel
As I don't have any plastic large enough to make a template to go over the top of this panel I've decided to use back basting and I am just tracing the design onto the back of the fabric. I was wondering how others have approached the wiggly heart shape. Did you cut all of the wiggles out before you started or did you trim as you went along? I'm feeling that the second option is what I will do but just wanted to see if anybody had words of wisdom about it please?
I would trim as you go along. Trying to keep all those wiggly fingers together could be a hair puller! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI basted the whole thing to my background and trimmed as I went along trying to keep the fingers from moving so much. This was the hardest piece for me all those little fingers....Good luck!
ReplyDeleteTheresa, I find it much more manageable to cut the "fingers" individually as I sew along. It helps prevent the shape from distorting and getting wonky.
ReplyDeleteI use a technique I call bridging. I have a tutorial on my blog here:
http://sewpam63.wordpress.com/tutorials/applique-bridging/
Perhaps it will help...
Thanks ladies, glad I was on the right track. That's an excellent tutorial Pam thank you - I think I'll be referring back to it once I reach the first plunge.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, there are lots of ways to do the same task. I cut them all out to start with but also basted them to the background. I thought it turned out well. I used just needle-turn on these "wiggly fingers" but finger-pressed (a la Piece o Cake applique) everything else.
ReplyDeleteThis may get rotten food thrown at me, but I use washable pens for my applique. I use the Crayola brand children's markers, haven't tried other brands, and I just trace the whole design directly onto the background fabric, using a window for a 'light box'. Then I trace all the pieces to be appliqued, too, on all the different fabrics. [Sometimes I use a cardboard template when there are lots of the same bits.]
ReplyDeleteI have even sprayed starch on the pen lines, pressed them, and still got them to wash out. (You can always do a test with them first to make sure you want to do it this way.)
I tacked my fingers from the back and then trimmed round them and I haven't had a problem. I just remove a little bit of tacking at a time.
ReplyDeleteShirley.