Hi Readers! If you have followed me for any amount of time, you know one of the things I like to do is needle-turn hand appliqué. Early on when I began designing quilts, I would always feel like something was missing until I added an appliqué motif. At times I have to force myself to design a pieced only quilt, because I know not everyone is as passionate about appliqué as I am.
My aim in talking about appliqué in the upcoming blog posts and teaching people this technique is to dispel the myth that it’s difficult. I hope with my tips and advice, you decide to try it if appliqué has been a stumbling block for you in the past.
Here’s some of the things you can create!
These are beautiful pieced quilts on their own, but I think the appliqué adds even more beauty!
I do all my appliqué by hand however, you can do appliqué by machine! I do not do or teach the machine appliqué technique very well so I am not your resource for that. If you are interested in the machine appliqué technique, do a Google search and you will find many designers that specialize in this type of appliqué.
Supplies and Preparation
This post will familiarize you with the supplies I recommend and the prep work that you need to do when doing hand appliqué. This is only what I recommend. There will be other appliqué teachers recommending different supplies and tips. I say, try them all and see what works best for you.
Needles: These are an essential tool for hand appliqué. Finding the right needle for you is important. These are my favorite brand, John James Gold ‘n Glide:
These needles come in various lengths. The higher the number, the shorter the needle. I like size 9 because I feel it’s the right length for me. I recommend you test different size needles to see which length fits you best. I’ve also found that this brand of needle glides easier through all types of fabric, including batiks. This is something you need to consider. If you have trouble getting your needle to go through the edge of your appliqué because you are not using a good needle, that will make appliqué more frustrating.
Also, change your needle often if you appliqué a lot. Needles will bend out of shape and also become dull with usage. A good rule of thumb is to use a new needle every time you start a new project. Another piece of advice is change your needle for every 10 hours of use, which could happen if you are working on a large project.
Threads: This is actually where a lot of designers have different advice. My favorite thread to use is a 100% cotton thread. Here’s some of the threads I use:
I like Mettler brand 50 wt, 100% cotton with a silk finish. The silk finish helps it to glide through the fabric easier and there are a lot of different colors if you like to match your thread to the appliqué piece color. We’ll talk about color matching in a later post.
Other Tools: Here are two other items I can’t live without. Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it and Sewline brand marking pencils.
I was so happy when this glue came on the market! It replaced the pins I needed to secure my appliqué pieces. I’ve been doing hand appliqué for almost 30 years and have had many finger sticks from appliqué pins over those years. As for the Sewline marking pencil, this is a mechanical type pencil with chalk lead. The lead comes in a variety of colors (white, pink, green, and yellow) so the marking shows up on all colors of fabric. It’s erasable and completely disappears with a bit of water on a Q-tip.
Good Lighting: Finally, good lighting is essential when you are doing hand appliqué. If you want to keep your stitches as small as possible so they are almost invisible, you need to have good light to see and, in some cases, a magnifier on that light. I have a desk top light and a floor light, for when I am sewing in my TV chair.
Other items like scissors (both for fabric and paper) for working with templates and appliqué pieces and rulers for positioning appliqués come in handy.
Let’s Begin!
Templates: Time to move onto the first steps when beginning to appliqué. Most patterns will have their templates printed right on the pattern pages (left). I recommend copying those pages onto card stock and cutting out the templates to make them sturdier.
It’s a good idea to make these templates more sturdy so when you are tracing the shapes onto the fabric, the templates don’t lose their shape from repeated use.
Tracing: The next step is to trace your shapes onto the fabric for the appliqué piece, using the templates. For needle-turn appliqué, the templates are traced on the right side of the fabric. Templates are usually ready to use as is from the pattern, however, some patterns will tell you to also trace a template “reversed” which just means to flip it over and trace some that way. This usually happens with non-symmetrical shapes.
My example below shows the method I use. Trace around the template and leave at least 1/4″ between tracings if you are tracing several shapes on a piece of fabric. For needle-turn appliqué, you need this space to cut out the shapes with enough fabric to turn under while stitching, as opposed to machine appliqué technique with no seam turn-under.
Preparing the Appliqué for Stitching: Next step after tracing is to cut out the shapes and prepare them for stitching to the quilt top. Cut the shapes out about 1/8″ outside the drawn line. This creates the seam allowance that is turned under when stitching. Then, you will use your scissors to clip into the seam allowance up to, but not over, the drawn line (last two photos).
The clips in the seam allowance make it easier to turn under the seam and keep the original shape of the appliqué piece. The curvier an area of the appliqué piece, the closer your clips should be and there should be more clips than you would have on a straight side of an appliqué piece.
So, this is it for this week. Below, I have a link to part 1 of my appliqué mini video tutorial series that covers the things I talked about today.
Next week, I will give you tips on laying out the motif and stitching.
I’m also giving away a prize package at the end of this series for those of you who comment and/or ask questions each week. I will have a drawing a week after the last installment on 1/9/23. You will get a pattern, a pack of appliqué needles, glue and a small scissors set!
The drawing will be on Monday, January 9, 2023. **We have a winner. Congrats, Debbie Toth!**
Happy Quilting!
Deanne
I am excited to learn your method of appliqué. Thanks so much for sharing!
Looking forward to learning more. Thank you for sharing your expertise.
Thank you for your tips on applique. I look forward to the rest of your tips. I’m interested knowing about different fabrics you use.
I’m always happy when I am quilting!
I’m just working on a applique project and was using the needle turn method. It will be nice seeing your method to see if I can make it easier for me.
I’ll have to try this glue. The applicator on the one that I have always gets clogged, despite my best attempts to clean it out. I end up just dipping a pin in the bottle and dabbing that on the fabric. messy and annoying! Looking forward to your posts on appliqué.
The new design of this Roxanne’s bottle helps keep the needle unclogged. I think the accordion design sucks the glue back out of the needle when you are not using it.
I have done some applique in the past, not nuch. But will be following you to learn more about it. Thanks for sharing with us.
Just learning applique and gathering supplies. Looking forward to all your tips and tricks.
While I know how to do appliqué I haven’t done much. It is a good goal for the new year. Thank you!
I still use the tiny pins and no glue. But needle turn traditional Applique is one of my favorite technique. I am so glad you are teaching it. It is almost a lost technique in the Modern quilting world, of which I am not a part of! Hugs
So looking forward to your daily tutorials!
Love appliqué. You give excellent suggestions. I need to change my needle more often. Debra, Roxanne glue is the best. I prefer the “accordion” bottle over the regular bottle. To help with it not clogging, I do a pull up motion on the bottle after I use it. I feel this sucks down any glue left in the needle area. Hope that helps you too.
Yes! That’s why I like the accordian bottle too.
I would love to try your appliqué method. Thanks for sharing.
does the needle size change if using wool instead of cotton?
Yes it does. For wool I use a chenille needle. They have a bigger eye for the thicker perle cotton or embroidery floss that you use when stitching. I either use a size 22 or 24 for wool appliqué.
Applique is my favorite! It’s such a peaceful process. Looking forward to your tips!
Love to appliqué,thanks for your tips
Appliqué has been on my bucket list for quite sometime now! Even have some pieces cut out using freezer paper but, that is as far as I got. Looking forward to following along with your tutorials and seeing my first applique project to fruition.
Great information! I always wanted to try this. Can’t wait for next week
I love your ideas on so many things! I too love to applique. I use wool on cotton.
I just used your free 2021 patterns to applique on a wool army blanket. Just putting final touches on it. Thank you!
Thanks, Debbie, for sharing. I do a lot of appliqué with wool because there’s no turning under the edges. Is it true that you can do the same with batiks?
You are always so helpful and thorough. Thanks.
Love a touch of hand applique on pieced quilts. Thanks for sharing the great tips and information on helpful supplies, I have never tried the glue – have always used pins.
I’ll have to try the Roxanne’s. Looking forward to your applique tutorials.
I have a lot of trouble with points while I applique, hope you can share some tricks!
Hi Eileen,
In the last post of the series, I do cover stitching points and inside corners. Hopefully, my tips will help.
Love learning more about applique, have tried needle turn and done OK but prepared edge gives me smoother edges. I have not tried the glue baste only use pins. Can’t get past the knowledge
I’m a big fan of needle turn applique and am always looking for tips.
I like your method better than needle turn. That would be so much easier.
This coming year I’m focusing on needle-turn applique and wool applique
Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge, really enjoy your blogs!
Hi Deanne. When reading your paragraph on clipping I had to actually stop and read it twice because you mentioned clipping the straight sides of the applique pieces. This is the first time I’ve heard of doing that in the 30 years I’ve been appliqueing. I’m looking forward to testing out this newfound information.
Hi Nancy,
Yes I still put a few clips in the straight sides, depending on how long of a seam it is. It allows me to keep a smooth, crisp seam as I sweep it under. Definitely not as many clips as on a curved edge.
When you use wool, do you use wool felt or felted wool? Can you explain what the difference is? I am also surprised about clipping on straight sided applique pieces – I’m definitely trying it!
Hi!
Wool felt is not woven but is made from tightly pressed together fibers and is more difficult to needle. It’s flatter and more uniform.
Felted wool is a woven fabric and is often washed and shrunk to get a softer feel and a tighter weave.
I like using felted wool for my projects.
I have done a little applique, but am always open to learning more.
Thank you for these tips, Deanne. I’ve got a UFO quilt which is mainly applique blocks, but I’ve been too intimidated to finish it. This applique series gives me the courage and incentive to pull it out and and finish it!
Happy New Year!
Oh boy, somehow I missed this blog entry before asking questions about needles and thread in Part 2. I have my answers–thank you–I should have known you had it covered! 🙂
Lookingforward to better applique skills thanks for very video
I’ve just started applique sewing. It is getting to be addictive.