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I enjoy doing applique on quilts. But the easier type: raw edge, or wool. Both of which are easier than needle turn applique. However I like learning new techniques and many times I prefer to learn the traditional way of doing something before I decide what I like best. Apropos to that, I went to Williamsburg to take a Applique class. No prepared edge, no fusing, just the original method. Our class was small because most attendants wanted to learn the faster, easier methods. I have nothing against that and may move on to those.
I should say there was a minor modern aspect — wax paper/ freezer paper.
So I have done a bit of this wreath already. The blue in the edges of the smaller roses is because of outlining as I will explain later. A bit of water and the flue will be gone.
So far, this piece does not have much of the embroidery done on it. Adding that will ‘punch’ it up a bit.
There are many ways to do applique — even traditional needle turn. The teacher ( Judy Craddock ) method was as follows.
1. tape the pattern together as necessary. This is a 20” wreath, so multiple sheets of paper taped together.
2. Make an overlay. We used vinyl, but you could use tissue, or whatever. (Left to my own devices, I’d do this on blue fabric and trace pattern on the fabric using a lightbox.) But I was here to learn the teacher’s method.
Because the background was black, silver magic marker was suggested. The dots of silver are because I rolled the vinyl up to get it into my suitcase without putting tissue paper in between.
3. Choose the next applique piece. For this I chose the ‘free standing’ leave between the rose and the poppy. One thing to keep in mind is how the pieces are laid out. The teacher should have numbered them in the order they went in for each section. She didn’t. Rule of thumb is that you work back to front. The petal / leaves that will be in back go in before the front petals/ leaves.
4. Choosing pattern piece 46 I used the pattern from step 1 and outlined the leaf on the paper side of a small piece of waxed paper / Freezer paper.
5. Cut out the wax paper template exactly and placed it on the front side of the fabric. Mostly I used batiks so front and back were much the same. Then draw an outline around the template. This is to give you a stitching line. For the roses, I used blue water soluble marker for the leaves I used white.
6. Using the overlay for reference, place the leaf in position and use an applique pin to hold it in place. I deliberately shifted the leaf to a position I preferred that it not too far from where the pattern places it and angled it a bit different. It is your art work, after all.
7. Carefully folding, using the needle as needed turn the fabric directly ahead of the stitching. This teacher preferred doing stitches that started just a tiny bit behind the last stitch and then going forward, catching just a very tiny edge of the top fabric.
8. Points. These are the tricky part. I prefer to fold the section I am working on underneath and then carefully clip the little bit that sticks out the other side and fold the second part back to form a good point. There is no way I could take a picture of this as two many hands and needles in the way. I will have links to resources at the end. I will say I am very happy with the stitching on this piece and will likely redo it. But for an example it works, though. You also may need to clip the fabric close to the sewing line if you have tight curves, as with any sewing.
9. Below the leaf is in place. I’ve also tried to show with the next leaf in place with the folded point.
Here are some resources videos on needle turn applique using freezer paper / waxed paper: Here and here and here
When this piece is done, it gets a lot of embroidery which I like. I’ve started some embroidery just to get some ideas. This is only my second needle turn applique and the first one was something of a disaster. But I like to keep going forward and learn new things.
So what are some projects you are working on?