Applique Options

Applique is a great way to add more images, motifs or even dimension to a piece of fiber art or a quilt.

Do you find all the different options confusing though?  Needle turn?  Raw edge?  Satin stitch?  What’s a fiber-aholic to do?

Each techique has it’s benefits (and disadvantages) and some of them work better for certain uses than others.  Is your project strictly art or for decorative use only?  Or is this something that’s going to get used well and washed frequently?

For instance, I’ve cut these cute little motifs out of another piece of fabric and want to applique them onto a baby quilt.  But let’s face it, it’s going to get grimy and need to be washed frequently.  For me, the best option is to fuse the motifs in place with your favorite fusible web and then satin stitch over the edges.

Machine satin stitching just means setting the zig zag stitch length to almost zero on your sewing machine.  You get a dense, wide stripe of stitching that does a great job of holding all those little raw edges in.

I frequently use raw-edge applique for my art quilts, but it’s certainly the most fragile method – and not one I’d use for something that’s going to see much time in the washing machine.  For raw-edge applique I either fuse the motif or just pin it in place and then straight stitch around the outside.  It gives a softer, more organic feel to the finished piece, which I quite like.

If you want a clean edge with no visible stitching, needle turn applique is your method.  Here’s a great step by step how-to for doing it yourself.

image: © C Findlay-Harder