How does an applique work?
The basics of Applique Designs:
- First your applique should start with a placement stitch. You run this stitch directly on the item you want your applique on. This shows you where to place the fabric for applique in the next step.
- Once your placement stitch runs you want to place your applique fabric down. Many people use temporary spray adhesive on the back of the fabric to keep it in place. This is a great option but not a must. If you use the spray adhesive just be sure to put it on the fabric away from your machine so it doesn't get all over your machine. Place the fabric so that it covers the entire area that stitched in step 1.
- This will stitch a tackdown stitch. It will go exactly where the first step stitched.
- Once the tackdown stitch has run you will take your hoop off the machine - DO NOT TAKE YOUR ITEM OFF THE HOOP!!! So important. Keep it on the hoop just take the hoop off the machine. You will cut your fabric away so that it's close the to the tackdown stitch. Get as close as possible so it's covered with the final stitching.
- Once you have trimmed the fabric down it will stitch the last stitch. Often a satin stitch but someitmes also a decorative stitch. This will run over the tackdown stitch and cover the edges of the fabric.
That's it! With some applique designs there will be multiple appliques in one design. This was just for a very simple applique with one applique but you would continue with the same concent.
Our appliques are almost digitized so that placement is the first step, then tackdown is the second step then we go to the 2nd applique for that design and do the placement, then the tackdown and so on. That way you do all the placement and tackdown steps in the beginning and all the cover stitches at the end.
*** Tip *** If you have a single needle machine and want to save time changing colors do your placement and tackdown stitch with white thread for all of them. Then change the colors for the satin stitches only. This way you save changing the thread for each of those first few steps.