Sewing 101, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Sewing Back-to-School: Applique

This post is part of the Sewing Back-to-School series, 30 days of helpful sewing articles by guest bloggers. Feel free to check out the original Sewing Back-to-School post for schedule and previous posts!
 
 
 
Jennifer is another quilter in blogland whom I absolutely love! She is starting the Across the Sea Quilt Along with another Sewing Back-to-School guest blogger. Even if you are a beginning quilter, you will be able to join in on this project! Click here for more information!
 
 
Hi! I’m Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilts, and I’m so happy to be guest posting at Sew Sweetness today. Thanks Sara for including me in the Sewing School.
Let’s talk applique. It’s an easy way to sew two fabrics together, one on top of the other.  There are lots of ways to applique but today I am going to show you how to machine applique circles the quick and easy way.
Supplies Needed:
Rotary circle cutter or Go! Baby Shape Cutter (You can also make your own template the old fashioned way with a plate, a pencil and some scissors.)
8.5″ square piece of fabric for the background
5.5″ square piece of fabric for the circle
bonding agent: either Lapel Stick (a fabric glue stick) or iron-on stabilizer such as Heat-n-Bond Lite.
coordinating thread
iron
sewing machine
1. cut your fabric into 5.5″ squares.
If you are using a fabric stabilizer, such as Heat-n-Bond Lite, now is the time to iron it onto the back of the fabric squares. Cut pieces of stabilizer that are just shy of 5.5″ and follow the package instructions.
I prefer not to use stabilizer and just use a fabric glue stick. See below. 
2. Trace the circles of your die with a sharpie and draw a line above and below the circle so you’ll know where to place your fabric.  Let the marker dry.
3. If you are using a rotary cutter, cut out a 5″ circle. If you are using a Go! Baby fabric cutter, stack 5-6 squares of fabric on your large circle and roll it through the machine.
You get perfect circles and are left with minimal waste.
4. Next, take your 8.5″ background fabric square and fold it in half twice, then press the middle corner with an iron. This will give you the center.
5. Take your circle and apply a small amount of fabric glue to the back, center it and press it gently into place on the background square.
6. Set your sewing machine to a blanket stitch and make sure you leave LONG TAILS of your thread.  Sew on the circle using the blanket stitch. You can also use a tight zigzag stitch.  Again, cut LONG THREAD TAILS.
Turn your fabric over and gently pull on the threads so a small loop appears. With a pin (not a seam ripper!) pull the thread to the back. Repeat with the remaining thread tail and tie all threads in a knot. Trim excess.
7. Your perfect circle is now complete!
This same method of applique works with a variety of shapes and is a great way to add a special embellishment to a t-shirt, a tote bag or a quilt.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Feel free to email me with any questions!
Thanks again Sara for including me. This was fun!

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10 thoughts on “Sewing Back-to-School: Applique

  1. Making it look so easy!!

  2. Rosa says:

    Yes,thanks so much.It`s easy to follow.

  3. That circles die is on my wish list!

  4. KOcanQuilt says:

    Perfect timing. I am making a quilt with all circles from a pattern in a magazine this summer for my daughter. I didn’t want to use any kind of fusible stuff, so I am glad to learn there is fabric glue. I am a new quilter, and this will be my second quilt. I am currently quilting the first by machine.

  5. suemac says:

    Nice. I guess I am going to have to spring for the circle die for my Go Baby.

  6. felicity says:

    You make it look so easy! I will try this soon, I’m sure!

  7. ritainalaska says:

    good show! i’m going to be sewing circles like this as soon as i cut them … by hand. at times like this i dream about a go! baby!

  8. Connie says:

    Looks like fun! That circle die would sure make it easier!

  9. I have never used the blanket stitch on my machine, but this makes me want to try it out. Love the variegated thread 🙂

  10. Allie says:

    Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial! My circles have never been neater. I’m ready to go back to diagnostic medical sonography schools with my new stuff.

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