How to Cut Appliqué & Embroider

Applique and embroidery combine well together to decorate fabric items such as purses.

When making garments, quilts or giving a plain fabric item a face-lift, you can use applique and embroidery to fuse together fabric and techniques to create decorative contrasts. It's easy to cut applique shapes, providing that your scissors are sharp. Even a child can sew applique shapes onto fabric using the most basic of embroidery stitches.

Things You'll Need

• Dressmaking scissors
• Pinking sheers (optional)
• Parcel or greaseproof paper
• Pencil
• Pins
• Embroidery silks
• Embroidery needle

Instructions

Cutting Applique

1. Use a mix of plain and patterned fabric to applique. Recycle your wardrobe fabrics by cutting up an old skirt or duvet cover.

2. Cut around the floral or patterned shapes in the design of the fabric with a pair of sharp needlework scissors. Use pinking shears to cut a zigzag edge around the applique shape, if preferred.

3. Sew a neat narrow hem around the edges of the shape if you want the applique shape edge to be neat or leave the edges raw for a more frayed effect.

4. Cut shapes out of plain fabric by using a template. Draw your required shape in pencil onto parcel or greaseproof paper. Cut the paper shape out, place the paper template onto the plain fabric and pin it in place. Cut around the template to create your plain fabric applique shape.

5. Cut out all the applique shapes you need.

Embroidery

1. Use a range of different colored embroidery silks and an embroidery needle.

2. Pin your applique shapes onto the fabric item.

3. Sew on the applique shapes using a basic embroidery running stitch. Use the basic running stitch around the outline border of the shape to sew it onto the primary fabric item. Embroider with one color or contrast and combine it with another color by sewing another running stitch in between the gaps of the primary running stitch. Weave a third color into the mix by weaving the silk in and out through the series of running stitches to create another embroidery effect.

4. Embroider over the edges of the applique shape to attach it to the primary fabric item using the stem stitch. Stitch in a series of short loop style stitches to fill in the border around the applique shape. Feed the needle up and over through the fabric and sew each stitch next to the other to create a tight row of stitches.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with basic embroidery stitches to create your own pattern of stitches.

References

• Quilt Lovers Guide:Applique Techniques And Tips
• NeedlenThread:Basic Embroidery Stitches