Machine appliqué is faster, and gives your designs a bolder, more
professional look. This type of stitching can result in a stiffer piece of work,
and is generally used for items of clothing. Motif pieces are cut by tracing
templates onto fabric and cutting on traced lines. No seam allowance is needed
for machine appliqué work.
How to Machine Applique
There are two different methods that can be used to keep fabric from sliding,
or crawling, around when you are machine appliquéing. The first is to use spray
glue. Lay the smaller pieces of your design wrong side up on a piece of
newspaper, and spray with glue. Position the small pieces on the base fabric,
face side up, and lightly iron.
The second method is to use iron-on fusible webbing. Using fusible webbing
will give your fabric a very rigid feel. Keep this in mind when choosing what
projects you will use the fusible-webbing technique on. Attach your fusible
webbing to the wrong side of your fabric by using a warm iron and a pressing
cloth. Trace around your template design, and cut your fabric pieces out on this
line. You can attach these pieces to your background fabric by peeling of the
paper backing off the fusible webbing, and pressing them into position with an
iron and pressing cloth. Once you have temporarily attached your motif pieces
using the method of your choice, use a zigzag satin stitch on your sewing
machine to stitch around all of the raw edges of your motif pieces. You can
really make your machine appliqué pop by using contrasting thread colors.