I'm on Christmas break! Today's goal was to not get out of my pjs all day. I wanted to take a shower tonight and take off one set of pjs to put on another. Well that didn't happen I am sad to say but I still didn't really get dressed. No makeup and sweats are days that I long for so I can sit at my machine and stitch until my muscles say "STOP!"
I had another goal also. (I can't really be that lazy!) I wanted to give it a go with applique. I have some upcoming projects that I think would look great with some applique pieces so I wanted to practice. I was a little bit concerned about trying this but I was excited at the same time. I like to keep challenging myself to learn the next step. I had already perused the internet to see what kinds of supplies I would need. I bought some Heat n Bond Lite, stabilizer (the tear away kind) and some new embroidery needles. I used coupons for these items at JoAnn and saved a few dollars. I already had some fabrics and scraps I was wanting to use for this project. I bought the Valentine's fabric last year for a project that I never started. I know that I'm the only one who does this. ;)
Next I needed the letters for my applique. I searched Google images but didn't find any that I really liked. So I went to Powerpoint and typed my letters, saved them as an image, reinserted the image and then flipped it to a mirror image. To trace an object, it will need to be reversed to iron onto your fabric. I traced the letters straight off my computer screen onto the paper side of the Heat n Bond.
I cut the letters out but just trimming first. I left an edge around the letters for now. There isn't any reason to cut out the centers of the letters, thank goodness. I get enough of cutting things out at school.
I took the Heat n Bond pieces and ironed them onto the back sides of the fabrics I chose for my letters.
I arranged the letters on the piece of fabric that I want to use for the pillow. Then I peeled of the backing and ironed the pieces. I expected it to be sticky like tape and was trying to be careful...wasn't necessary. I wouldn't even use the word "sticky" when you peel off the paper. But it will stick to your fabric well when you iron it on.
Let the sewing begin! I tried to find a mark on my satin foot to use as a guide to help me keep my stitches even on applique and the base fabric. I used the top right corner to line up with the edge of the fabric. It's close to the needle and I could tell when I needed to pivot my foot around curves. I tried to take a picture of the needle and foot the best I could. For this project, I set my my stitch width to 4.5 which I thought later was a little too wide. My stitch length was set to 0.2.
I was pretty excited with my first satin stitch applique. I was so impressed (and a bit shocked) with my new skills, I even sent pictures of it to people. My people are very understanding. ;)
