How to Make Cupcake Appliques

Create colorful cupcake appliques to attach to your fabric craft projects. Use a bright solid color of ruffle fabric to create the textured icing and a coordinating patterned fabric to form the base. Keep the base a simple one color to represent the color of the cake or use a bolder pattern to create the cupcake wrapper. Creating the appliques requires a basic knowledge of sewing, though hand stitching is suitable for even beginners.

Things You'll Need

• Card stock
• Scissors
• Ruffle fabric
• Base color fabric
• Fabric pen
• Pins
• Thread
• Needle

Instructions

1. Sketch the two parts for your cupcake pattern onto a piece of card stock using a pencil. Make the base of the cupcake as an upside down isosceles trapezoid. Create an upside down wide "u" shape for the icing portion of the cupcake. Draw a straight line across the bottom of the "u" shape to close it.

2. Cut out the patterns using scissors. Lay out your ruffle fabric and base color fabric on the table with the backs of the fabric facing up. Place the "u" shape icing pattern on the ruffled fabric and the base pattern on the other fabric. Draw the outline of the patterns using a fabric pen. Press lightly so that the ink from the pen doesn't seep through to the front of the fabric. Discard the card stock patterns. Cut out the fabric shapes.

3. Turn over the base fabric shape so that the right side of the fabric faces you. Fold in the edges for a seam allowance, not to exceed 1/2 inch all the way around. Press on the folds to create a crease that will hold in the fabric. Repeat the seam and crease for the icing layer.

4. Position the icing layer on top of the base layer so that the top edge of the cupcake's tucked under seam aligns with the top edge of the base fabric. Pin into place.

5. Thread a needle and sew the two pieces together using a slip stitch. Perform a slip stitch by starting the needle outside the fold shared by the two pieces. Pass the needle through just the seam allowance layers for two stitches, then bring the third stitch through the front of the base layer. Repeat until you reach the end of the fabric. The bottom ruffle of the icing layer will hang over the stitching that will show through the front of the base layer.

6. Create additional appliques using the same technique. Position the cupcakes appliques on the pillow cover, garment or fabric square to which you plan to attach them. Pin them into place. Use a basting stitch to temporarily attach the cupcakes. Create a basting stitch by passing the needle in and out of the fabrics in a straight line, leaving large gaps between the stitches; do not pull the thread tight as you work. You will remove the basting stitch so it doesn't need to be perfect.

7. Remove the pins. Use a back stitch to firmly attach the cupcakes; avoid crossing over the basting stitch. Create a back stitch by pulling the needle forward one stitch then doubling back to cross over that stitch again before moving forward a new stitch. Pull the thread to remove the basting stitches when the cupcakes are attached.

References

• IA470: Hand Stitches
• CyberSeams: Seam Allowance and Finishing Edges