How to Appliqué

Appliqué means sewing a shaped piece of fabric — or a finished crochet or knitted motif — flat onto a background to build up a picture or decoration. It’s how our quilt blocks get their koalas and waratahs, and how a plain mug cozy gets its drop bear face.

Step by step

Pick your motif and background fabric, and press both nice and flat. If you’re working from a pattern template, check whether seam allowances are already included before you cut anything.
Trace the motif onto the paper side of a piece of iron-on fusible web — and trace it in reverse, because the finished motif comes out as a mirror image of your drawing.
Roughly cut around the traced shape, lay it paper-side up on the wrong side of your motif fabric, and press with a hot, dry iron for the few seconds the web’s own instructions say.
Cut the motif out neatly, right on the traced line, then peel away the paper backing.
Lay the motif glue-side down on the background fabric, check the position twice, and press to bond it in place. No fusible web handy? Pin or tack the motif down instead — just keep it flat and still.
Stitch all the way around the edge, about 2 mm in from it. By hand, use blanket stitch or small, neat slip stitches; by machine, a short, narrow zigzag. Match your thread to the motif so the stitching melts in.
At a sharp point or a tight corner, stop with the needle down, lift the presser foot (or turn the work in your hands), and keep going — that’s what keeps points pointy instead of rounding them off.
Working with a crochet or knitted motif instead? Skip the fusible web. Pin the motif flat onto the base piece and sew it down with small slip stitches in matching yarn, catching the edge stitches as you go.
Finish with a gentle press from the back, and snip away any stray threads. That’s it — one flat, tidy picture, ready to become a quilt block, a runner, or the front of a cushion.

Patterns that use it

Aussie Animals Appliqué Quilt Blocks Vol 1

Aussie Sea Life Quilt Blocks

Aussie Christmas Table Runner & Placemat Sewing Patterns

Drop Bear Mug Cozy Crochet Pattern

Flat Hanging Angel Ornaments Crochet Pattern

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Common mistakes

Forgetting to trace the motif in reverse on the fusible web, so the finished shape comes out mirrored — a wombat facing the wrong way, or lettering you can only read in a mirror.
Stitching right on the cut edge instead of about 2 mm in from it. Stitches that close to the edge have almost no fabric to hold onto, and the edge frays out from under them in the first wash.
Leaving the iron parked in one spot too long when bonding. The glue overheats, squeezes out past the edges and leaves stiff, shiny patches on the background — keep the iron moving, a few seconds at a time.

Tina’s tips

Before you stitch a single thing, lay every motif out on the background and walk away for a cup of tea. You’d be amazed how often one piece wants to move a centimetre when you come back with fresh eyes.
Save your offcuts of fusible web, even the skinny strips. They’re perfect for little shapes — ears, eyes, gum leaves — and a motif cut from a scrap stitches down just as well as one from a fresh sheet.
A knitted cosy makes a lovely base for appliqué — stitch your motif on before you seam it up, while the piece still lies flat.