About Sewing Appliques

Series Summary

Sewing is an ancient craft that still has remarkable relevance in today's modern world. The art of stitching and assembling pieces of fabric together, either by hand or with the use of a modern sewing machine, is still a valuable skill. It is the backbone of the textile industry, it comes in handy for clothing repair, and homemade clothing wouldn’t exist without it. Whether using a sewing machine or a needle and thread, the techniques involved in constructing a well-fitting garment are very specific and involved. Becoming skilled at the craft is a lifelong pursuit. In this free video series on sewing, a fashion designer discusses a few simple sewing tips. Learn the whip stitch, which is great to sew on patches, and see a demonstration of the blind stitch, which is perfect for closing up a pillow. Get ideas for repairing clothing using creative sewing techniques, and learn the basics to start any simple sewing project.

Video Transcript

"Putting additional decorative touches to any apparel can be fun, and it also can reflect some of your personality. Sewing appliques on top of a ready-made garment can also be something that gives a little distinctiveness to it. My name is Daniel King. I'm a designer and pattern maker. I'm going to talk about sewing appliques. Appliques can be contrasting fabric. They can be something that is a leaf perhaps, a shape, some sort of image that's in fabric. You can cut that out of any type of fabric, and sometimes even backing or batting is added to it to give it some depth or some texture. Applique many times will need to be on the fabric itself, and sometimes it's easier if you use fabric glue to put it onto the fabric so it doesn't move. If you glue it to that that's not quite enough. What you need to do is actually stitch it. If you have a machine you can stitch around the edges of it, or you can use a decorative stitch using your hand stitching techniques, like whip stitch. You can also use different types of threads, different colors, different weights, or even yarns to stitch around the applique itself. So, using appliques is a great way of adding personality, your distinctive design, and also, to give depth and some texture to any type of apparel. So, have fun with it, and be creative. My name is Daniel King."