Welcome back to the second installment of my wool appliqué series. Last week I covered templates and preparing the background, which included some of the tools needed. If you missed it, find the post here: Welcome to Wool Appliqué – Part 1. This week, I will cover fusing the wool and laying out the design on the background. I will share tips on how to do this so you are ready to stitch in no time. So, let’s get started!
Creating the Wool Shapes
This is where you get to use the fusible shapes you cut out last week to create your wool appliqués. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the fusible web brand you chose to fuse the shapes to the wool using your iron.


Notice how I have placed the fusible templates for the flower up in the corner of the piece of wool. That is how I make sure I am not creating any waste. Wool is expensive so you want to have as little waste as possible.
Tip! Wool can be used on either side, however one side of your piece of wool may be prettier than the other, especially if you have a piece of hand dyed wool. Choose the side you like and iron the fusible shape to the other side.
Once the pieces are fused, I cut away all the usable wool and put that back in my stash. I actually use a small serrated scissors that is used only for this task.


Now is the time you use the drawn lines to cut out the shapes. This is why we cut out the fusible shapes outside the lines last week, so our final wool appliqués look like the actual flower. It’s easier to cut along lines now than trying to follow the outside of the shape, if there were no lines.




Once the shapes are cut out, you can peel off the paper backing from the back of the wool shape and now it’s ready for the layout and stitching! Note the shiny side in the last photo; that is the fusible side. Don’t forget to pull off the paper! Trust me… I’ve done that before.
Design Layout
Now that you have all the appliqué shapes cut out from the wool, it’s time to layout the design. We will now use those lines you drew or folded into your background last week.
Stems: If your appliqué motif has stems, those are usually laid out first and glued in place. Stems for these projects are commonly as thin as 1/4″ so I do not use templates and fusible. I simply cut strips for the stems from a piece of wool, lay them out and use a small amount of glue to secure.
Tip! Use the other motif pieces as a guide for getting your stems in the correct position.



As you can see from the above photos, I am using the folds in the background, the flower pot and one of the flowers as guides to laying out my stems. Once I have them in the right place, I glue the stems so they do not move when I fuse the rest of the design. My favorite glue to use is Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it.
Layout & Fuse
Now it’s time to layout the rest of the design and fuse it in place. Here’s the design all laid out:

Now that it’s all set in place, it’s time to fuse. I use a method of steaming without putting water in the iron. I carefully place a towel over the whole block, spray it with water from a spray bottle and then press the iron down in sections on top of the towel.



Use a white towel with no dyes that can potentially transfer onto your project. When the fusing is done, carefully lift the towel starting at the top checking to see if everything is fused securely. Repeat the spray and press step as long as it takes to fuse everything down.
Here’s my mini video tutorial that covers these steps to give you a better understanding, especially of the fusing process.
So that’s it for part 2 of the series. Come back on January 3rd for the final installment where I cover stitching. I’ll have some tips & tricks for that. Leave a comment or ask any questions you have below and be entered into the drawing for the wool appliqué prize package.

The drawing will be on Monday, January 10th so you have lots of time to enter! See you for the final installment next week.**We have a winner! Congrats, Wendy!***
Happy Stitching!
Deanne