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Stitch & Trim Appliqué Embroidery Project

By Pat Williams on November 24, 2011

PROJECT DETAILS

SKILL LEVEL

Intermediate

TIME REQUIRED

04:00

Description

This article includes appliqué instructions for single as well as multiple part appliqué designs using the Stitch & Trim method.

Project Preview Video

Materials

Appliqué design

Background fabric

Appliqué fabrics (unless using a specialty fabric use 100% cotton; cotton/poly blends tend to fray)

Small curved cuticle scissors - sharp (these are the key to successful trimming of your appliqué)

Fusible tear away backing such as OESD Fusible Tear Away

Spray adhesive

Magic Sizing or Best Press

Preface:

Appliqué designs used in this project are available here:

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMSM01

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMSM02

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMSM03

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMSM04

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/FTBL01

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/FTBL02

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/FTBL03

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/LTSM01

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/LTSM04

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/LTSM07

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/LTSM09

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/SLAP01

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/SLAP04

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/WINP02

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/WINP06

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP02

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP04

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP05

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP06

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP07

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP08

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP09

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP10

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP11

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/pat-williams/designs/1/XMAP12

Step 1:

Prewash and iron all fabrics.

Step 2:

Cut your background the size of your desired finished block or at least 2" larger than the hoop you will use to sew the design, which ever is larger.

Step 3:

Iron fabric pieces again using a liberal amount of Best Press or Magic Sizing to make the fabrics almost stiff.

Step 4:

Iron a Fusible Tear Away backing to the wrong side of your background fabric following the manufacturer's instructions. The iron on tear-a-way should be slightly larger than the hoop.

Step 5:

Be sure the fabric is taut in the hoop and wrinkle free.

Step 6:

Load the design into your machine.

Step 7:

Begin sewing following the color chart until the Outline stitches sew. Note: Outline and Tack Down stitches are not assigned a color. To avoid changing threads as often, sew them with the color listed after the Tack Down. For example if the color chart reads, 1. Outline 2. Tack Down 3. Lt Silver, sew all three stops with Lt Silver.

Step 8:

Cut a rectangle of your appliqué fabric about an inch larger than the appliqué.

Step 9:

Lightly spray the spray adhesive on the wrong side of the appliqué fabric.

Step 10:

Place the appliqué fabric over the Outline stitches and smooth down with your fingers. Note: Even though small left over fabrics can be used for appliqué pieces, be sure to place them on a design so that the grain of the fabric is vertical.

Step 11:

Sew Tack Down line of stitching.

Step 12:

Remove the hoop from the machine; do not remove the fabric from the hoop.

Step 13:

Lift the edges of the appliqué fabric towards the appliqué and trim as close as possible to the tack down stitch with small sharp cuticle scissors. Do not use "appliqué" or " duck bill" scissors as the margin between the Tack Down stitches and the edge of the fabric will be too wide.

Step 14:

Return the hoop to your machine and complete the sewing. Trim jump stitches when you change colors to avoid sewing them down with additional embroidery.

Step 15:

Complete the sewing of the design. Remove the Fusible Tear Away backing by lifting it from the fabric to release the bond and then, supporting the embroidery stitches with your thumb, gently remove it from around the embroidered area.

Step 16:

Load the design in the machine.

Step 17:

Begin sewing following the color chart until the outline stitches sew. Note: Outline and Tack Down stitches are not assigned a color. To avoid changing threads as often, sew them with the color listed after Tack Down. For example if the color chart reads, 1. Outline 2. Tack Down 3. Lt Silver, sew all three stops with Lt Silver.

Step 18:

Cut a rectangle of your appliqué fabric about an inch larger than the appliqué.

Step 19:

Lightly spray the spray adhesive on the wrong side of the appliqué fabric.

Step 20:

Step 21:

Sew the Tack Down line of stitching.

Step 22:

Remove the hoop from the machine; do not remove the fabric from the hoop.

Step 23:

Step 24:

Return the hoop to your machine and continue sewing until the next Outline stitching sews.

Step 25:

Cut your appliqué fabric.

Step 26:

Spray with adhesive and place over the outline stitches.

Step 27:

Sew the Tack Down stitches for the next appliqué piece.

Step 28:

Trim the new appliqué piece. Repeat steps 24 through 27 until all appliqués are sewn.

Step 29:

Note: There may be places in multiple appliqué designs where a hole needs to be made in a top appliqué to allow the bottom appliqué to show through, such as where the chest of the moose shows through the streamers of the ribbon. A tack down line will be sewn around this hole. Using the tip of your small cuticle scissor just lift the top fabric a little and cut out this section of the top appliqué fabric.

Step 30:

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Meet the Author: Pat Williams

Award winning Digitizer, Embroidery Educator, Author and a Consultant to the Industry, Pat Williams has 30 years of experience in the embroidery industry. Pat has won multiple awards for her digitizing expertise including the 2007 Impressions Awards Grand Championship, Best of Show as well as the 1st and 2nd Place Awards. Pat’s love of digitizing has afforded her the opportunity to write numerous articles for Impressions magazine in the United States and Images Magazine in Europe. In 2001 Pat was named “Embroidery Educator of the Year.” For many years Pat taught digitizing seminars at the ISS Shows in Long Beach, CA and for Compucon software. She now resides in Tucson, AZ.

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