betz white

Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials

Betz White has arrived at whipup on her blog tour to promote her new book. She is here giving us some tips on applique – there are a few projects in her new book that use this technique. And Melanie Falick books are giving away one copy of sewing green to a lucky reader – so be in the running by leaving a comment in the next 48 hours – and let us know your favourite repurposing crafty material. thank you for entering – winner will be contacted shortly.

Applique Tips, Tricks, and Techniques by Betz White

Appliques are one of my favorite ways to revamp any garment or accessory. Simply put, applique is a sewing technique in which a cutout decoration is attached to a larger piece of material. It’s an easy way to make something unique and personalized for yourself, your family or to give as a gift.

{project from sewing green}

Sometimes a favorite T-shirt or skirt gets stained or torn. A decorative applique can be applied to hide the damage. This works great for kids clothes. And speaking of kids, appliques come in handy for hand-me-downs, too. A boy’s T-shirt or jacket can be “girl-i-fied” by adding a sweet appliqued motif that can be used to cover up an existing screen printed graphic. I use this trick for hiding unappealing logos on an otherwise perfect thrift store find.

To applique a fabric design element to another piece of fabric, I rely on double sided fusible webbing. This is not the same as fusible interfacing. Fusible webbing is kind of like an iron-on glue sheet that gets sandwiched between layers of fabric. It can be purchased by the sheet or by the roll. The webbing has paper on one side that is removed after the webbing is fused to a piece of fabric. I like the brands Steam-a-Seam and Heat-n-Bond but there are many other options available.

To create an applique using fusible webbing, simply draw your desired shape onto the paper backing with a pencil. Be sure to reverse the image first if it is not symmetrical. Cut out the webbing around the drawn shape, just outside the pencil lines, NOT on the lines. Place the drawn shape, webbing side down, onto the wrong side of the fabric you wish to use as your applique, such as a piece of felt. Following the manufacturer’s heat setting instructions, iron on the paper backing to fuse it to the fabric. When cool, trim out the shape by cutting on the pencil lines. Peel away the paper backing to expose the webbing. Now you may place your cut fabric shape, webbing side down, onto the fabric or garment you wish to decorate. Cover with a press cloth and fuse the shape in place. For some visual explanation, you can refer to my caterpillar eyeglass case tutorial on my blog.

There are many ways to sew your now-fused applique shape. You can machine stitch around the perimeter using a straight stitch or a zigzag. You could hand stitch with yarn using a blanket stitch, as I did for the Penny Rug Trivet and Coasters (see photo below left).

For a more deconstructed or casual appearance, you might like to try an applique with a frayed edge. You can see an example of this on the Denim Shopper (see photo above right). Follow the above technique applying the webbing to the back of the applique fabric, but make the webbing the exact size of the shape you’d like. I used large floral motifs from a print fabric. Cut out your fused motif about 1/4″ beyond the edges of the webbing. Peel the paper backing away and fuse the motif to your base fabric or project. Stitch around the motif letting the extra 1/4″ extend beyond the stitch line. Now for the fun part! Dampen the edge of the extended fabric with water using a spray bottle. Take a soft brush (an old toothbrush is perfect) and scrub the loose fabric until it frays.

Thank you Betz for the fabulous tips – to catch the rest of the tour check the itinerary – thank you to Melanie Falick books for giving away one copy of sewing green to a lucky whipup reader – thank you for entering – winner will be contacted shortly. congratulations to Hilary.

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