Wiener Dog Skirt-Sewing 101 ( all about applique)

 We're going to talk about applique today.  It's the art of attaching one piece of fabric to another for decorative purposes.  You can use this technique to make a cute blue skirt down right adorable by adding a wiener dog.

I use fusible webbing or "Wonder Under".  It's basically a big sheet of paper with an adhesive that you activate with an iron.  


HINT:  I always use spray starch on all my pieces.  It gives a more professional result.
Step 1:  Iron the wonder under (paper side toward the iron) to the WRONG side of the fabric. Do not use steam!
Step 2:  Trace your shape onto the paper and cut it out.
Step 3:  When the paper is completely cooled, carefully tear off the paper backing.  
Step 4: Place the applique shape on top of bottom fabric and iron (no steam).  If it is just for a wall hanging or something that you won't wash, you can stop here.  However, if you making clothes, you will need to stitch it into place.

If you are using a fabric that doesn't fray a lot -like a knit or felt, you can just use a normal stitch, like I did with this carrot pillow.  

 If I am sewing clothing, I like to use a tight zig-zag stitch.  Line up the edge of your applique with the needle.

 Every machine is different, but lower your thread tension to about a 3.

 Change your stitch width.  If you have a large applique, you may want to go wider, but for this project I set it at a "2".

Also adjust your stitch length.  The smaller the stitch length the tighter together it will look.  Practice on some scraps-I went with a 1.0 (can you see my typo?).

You can also use stabilizer. It's that paper fabric on the inside of all your embroidered sweatshirts. Do you see how my trial piece looks a little wavy?  This could have been avoided by placing a piece of stabilizer behind the bottom fabric.  It would have also helped if I wasn't rushing our the door to piano:)

I used one of my patterns from Ruby Jean's Closet to make these cute little skirts for my nieces.  Wiener dogs crack me up and I love how it's long body wraps all the way around the body.

This is my first time to sew w/ a PDF pattern and I couldn't be more impressed.  There are ridiculously detailed pictures and instructions with each and every step.  If you want to learn to sew, but have been nervous, try-out one of her patterns.  

Please check out my entire series.

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