Wondering How to Applique
Give this sample a try!
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Creating appliques is fun and fairly easy. You can create personalized gifts for your children and friends. Children seem to never be able to part with that special shirt that has their name on it. Hand towels, pillow covers, and bibs can all be appliqued. With all the different possibilities you could start a small business venture or give them away for special occasions such as birthday or holiday gifts. No matter what, you will love knowing someone is enjoying your creation.
What I'm about to share with you is the basic concept on how I applique. As you get more experienced, you will find little tricks and techniques that work best for you. At times I may go into a little detail but don't let that scare you, it really is quite simple. OK, let's get started.
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On the left is the finished product we are going to sample. To begin, download one of our designs to your computer and transfer it to your embroidery machine. Check your embroidery machine's manual for the preferred file type.
If you would like to follow along with us, you can find this free flower design on our website
here.
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First, hoop your shirt or towel with the appropriate stabilizer underneath. Then attach the hoop to the embroidery machine. The following steps will guide you throughout the stitching phase.
Step 1: The initial stitch will be the design's placement stitch. This will let you know where the fabric should be placed.
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Step 2: The next stitch will be the design's tack-down stitch. Make sure the area inside the placement stitch and the stitch lines are fully covered by fabric. You can use a temporary adhesive spray on the back of your fabric to keep the fabric lying flat and avoid puckering. This tack-down stitch will secure your fabric and stitch-out the cut-line for your design.
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Step 3: After the tack-down stitch is finished, remove the hoop from your machine (But DO NOT remove the garment from the hoop). Then cut around the outside of the stitched pattern. Try to cut as close as you can to the stitches without actually cutting the thread. The final satin stitches will cover your cutting edge.
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Step 4: Put your hoop back in your embroidery machine and repeat Steps 1, 2 and 3 for each layer of fabric in the design.
In this case, I cut out the purple fabric in the center to prevent overlapping layers. You don't have to remove overlapping fabrics, but I recommend it to stop the bottom layer from bleeding through to the top layer.
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You can see we completed a second layer for the center pink circle. The machine did another placement and tack-down stitch on the flower for the center circle.
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Step 5: Continue to follow the design's information chart for the color changes. Your machine will now do a final tack-down stitch followed by a satin stitch to cover the cut edges of your fabric.
If there are any decorative lines, they will also be stitched-out. Your machine will stop for each color change as needed. At times it may be necessary to clip loose threads between start and stop points.
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And that's it, you're finished. All you have to do is remove your hoop. You may need to tear away your stabilizer or trim it down.
This is the final product again. As you can see all the edges have been covered, including the center pink circle.
Once our files are downloaded, it is yours to keep and can be used over and over again. You can change your fabric and thread colors to create a whole new applique look. And typically, if you can hoop your piece, you can add an applique. This makes the items you can create endless.
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