Beginner/Intermediate
Appliqué Made Easy
Appliqué is an excellent way to cover a large surface area in a short amount of time. The artwork will determine whether appliqué or
embroidery is more appropriate. Another
determining factor can be whether the
design would require more than 10,000
stitches for the segment. If so, appliqué is
a good consideration.
Appliqué has a unique look and offers
an easy way to obtain coverage of a large
area versus trying to embroider large sections. If you have ever tried to embroider a large white fill on a black or dark
fabric, you have noticed that the white
embroidery isn’t a stark white anymore.
The background fabric tends to show
through even with correct underlays.
This is when an appliqué should definitely be considered. By using a light-colored appliqué on a dark fabric, the
appliqué really pops off the dark background making a recognizable difference
in the end result.
Colleges and high schools are strong
markets for appliqué, so consider making
some designs using local mascots. Incor-
porating embroidery will create a unique
niche market with this crowd. Plan a sales
call to a local high school and realize the
potential business that having just one
school as a customer can land. Think of
coaches, cheerleaders, clubs, band and
sports teams, and the potential is obvi-
ous. Showing samples is important in this
market. As for creating them…
Appliqué can be achieved with vari-
ous methods. Those starting out in em-
broidery may not have the resources for
expensive fabric cutting machines, nor
the amount of orders to sustain such a
purchase. Regardless of the size of shop
or amount of equipment, appliqué can
be achieved with very simple methods.
The goal is to be accurate and understand
the appliqué process. Follow these simple
steps to achieve eye-catching appliqués.
62 • PRINTWEAR • JUNE 2010
Give me three steps
First, determine what is to be the appliquéd section of the design. Once the
section has been determined, the actual
stitching process for appliqué is created
with three steps.
The first is the placement stitch/cut
line. Second is the tack-down stitch and
the third, the satin or decorative stitch.
Set up the design with these stitches for
a manual approach. Some software programs have an automatic feature that allows users to trace a shape and click it to
an appliqué. If it is a stand alone section,
using the automatic feature will be easy.
If it has multiple pieces and/or several
pieces overlapping, a manual approach
will help to avoid a lot of editing.
Manual stitching starts with tracing the
desired art section to be appliquéd with a
run stitch just outside of the shape line.
This becomes the placement/cut line.
Next, using a run stitch or open satin/
zigzag stitch, trace inside the cut line approximately an eighth of an inch. For the
appliqué stitch, choose either a satin or
decorative stitch to finish it off.
No matter if taking a manual or automatic approach, the distance you want
the satin stitch to cover the fabric must
be determined. Is a 50/50 setting—with
half the satin on the appliqué and half the
satin off—the right look? Or is more on
the appliqué with a little off the way to
go? I prefer an 80/20 setting, allowing the
appliqué to be very secure with 80 percent of the satin on the fabric and only 20
percent off the appliqué.
Cutting edge
Once the design is plotted out with your
stitches, it’s time for the crucial step of
cutting the fabric. This can be done easily with a pair of scissors or with the use
of cutting equipment. If appliqué orders
are rare, using scissors is simple but time-consuming. If you are taking large-vol-
BY MELANIE COAKLEY
About the author: Melanie Coakley has been in
the embroidery industry
since 1989. She and her
husband, Steve, are the
general managers of Flori-ani Commercial Products,
Knoxville, Tenn., which offers a wide range of traditional and specialty stabilizers. She owns her
own shop, EmbroideryFX, and is well-known for
her digitizing expertise. She is a highly sought-after consultant, a regular contributor to industry publications, and a speaker at tradeshows.
You can reach her at melanie@embroideryfx.
com or visit the website at www.rnk-inc.com.
ume orders, an automatic cutter is a good
and necessary purchase.
Whether using scissors or a cutting machine, the best results come from using
a product for stabilizing appliqués that
will be pressed onto the fabric being appliquéd. Once the fabric is stabilized,
cutting will be more accurate. After the
pieces are cut, peel off the paper side of
the stabilizer, exposing the adhesive that
will now hold the appliqué in place while
it gets stitched down.
Save only the placement stitch/cut line
portion of the design you created. This
becomes the line for accurate cutting
with scissors. Save this portion of the design as a .jpg in order to run the fabric
through the printer if your printer will
print on fabric. If not, print the line on a
piece of paper and trace the design right-side up on the right side of the fabric.
These methods make it possible to cut
appliqués accurately.
Once they have been cut out, you are
ready to produce orders. The first thing
the design is going to stitch is the same
outline/cut line that you pulled out for
cutting your fabric pieces. The placement
will be accurate because you have a sewn
