|
|
|
Shapely Applique Patch
|
Tell me if this sounds familiar....
You’re out at the store, wandering around, when you
see a really cute purse, or bag, or whatever, that
you just KNOW would look fantastic with that new
embroidery design you got. You grab it, buy it, and
run home in anticipation. You set your machine up,
and grab your hoop and some stabilizer and...
Oh fudge.
In your haste you realize you’ve bought something
that would indeed look super cute with that new
embroidery design, but offers you no conceivable way
of hooping it. Double fudge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
That’s exactly what I did. Contrary to my glossy,
polished, professional demeanor, I do make mistakes like
this sometimes. More than sometimes. Hey, I am blonde.
I
bought such a purse in hopes of sticking a cute design
on it, only to discover when I got back that it was a
hooping impossibility. Cue the sad puppy eyes.
Well, now for all of you out there who want to or have
tried sticking embroidery on something un-embroiderable,
we have a solution. Patches! It’s how most of the
non-embroidery world does it (poor people), and now
there’s a way you can do it too, but with your own
patch design that you stitch and customize. It’s
basically a fancy appliqué design. I’ll show you...
|
|
|
For this, you’ll need your favorite un-hoopable
item, like a purse or backpack or whatever, some
applique fabric, water soluble stabilizer, and some
patch glue. I’m using Patch Attach, which to be
honest is probably not the gold standard of patch
glues, but it worked. You can find patch glue in
most craft stores.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You will also, of course, need our
Yarrrrrn patch design.
To begin, we’ll first need our dieline. This can be
made in one of two ways. If you’re printing it, it
will look like mine here. If you’re sewing it, then
follow along...
|
|
|
Whether you’re printing it or sewing it, you’re
first going to want to take your applique fabric
and back it with some stabilizer using spray
adhesive. If you’re sewing the dieline, you’ll
need your fabric and stabilizer large enough to
hoop. If you’re just cutting it out (like me)
you just need it larger than the dieline.
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you have a printout, spray the back of it
lightly with adhesive and stick it on top of
your fabric.
If you’re sewing it, hoop up your applique
fabric, and load up the dieline file. Stitch
it out.
|
|
|
Cut out around the dieline, very carefully.
When you’re done you should have a nice
funny lumpy shape with applique fabric on
one side and stabilizer backing on the
other.
Now we’re ready to make our patch. Hoop up a
piece of your water soluble stabilizer. I’ll
show you the steps the patch will go
through...
|
|
|
First, another dieline will stitch. Spray the back
of your applique piece generously with adhesive, and
stick it carefully inside the stitched dieline. This
is not quite like our usual applique, where the
fabric totally covers the dieline ... this one will
simply sit inside of it. Once it’s set, your machine
will stitch a tackdown stitch all the way around
your patch. After that, all the inside elements will
sew, followed finally by a thick satin stitch border
all the way around your design. Your patch is done!
|
 |
|
Patches are a great way of adding your designs to
anything. You can actually turn any design into a
patch simply by stitching it onto a larger applique
piece with a satin border, but that limits you to
always having them in certain shapes.
I like “shaped” patches like these because they’re
just the design on its own, simple and clean, like
the patches you’d buy in a store, except these you
can make and customize on your own!
|
|
|
Carefully tear the patch out of the
stabilizer, removing any little excess
bits at corners or edges, and use a
scissors to remove any excess stabilizer
from the back.
Ta daa! Your very own yarrrrn patch,
ready to apply anywhere! It should be
said that this design can also be
stitched like normal onto whatever you
CAN hoop as well. It just can also be a
patch. It’s whatever you need it to be,
depending on the project. What a useful
little patch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now it’s time to apply it. Grab your
patch glue and give a generous coating
of goop to the back of it. Be sure to
get near the edges and cover all the
“sticky out” bits (technical term)
carefully. This patch has a lot of those
bits, and you want to make sure they’re
all glued down properly.
Your glue has to dry before it can be
ironed. Mine said to let it sit for 10
minutes. Be sure to read your bottle’s
instructions.
Patch glue is just one of the many ways
you can attach your patch. If your un-hoopable
thing can fit under a sewing machine,
you can also stitch it on, using a clear
nylon or matching thread around the
edges. Hot glue also works rather well,
and is especially good for edges that
don’t want to stick down.
|
|
|
Carefully place your patch onto your
item of choice. You may want to use a
ruler if you’re looking for exact
placement. You’ll want to find a thin
piece of fabric as an ironing cloth, so
if your iron is icky it doesn’t do
anything to your new patch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Place your ironing cloth over your patch
and press with a hot, dry iron (cotton
setting) for about 60 seconds...
Or at least that’s what the instructions
said. I had to press a good deal longer
before the glue started to melt. Follow
the instructions on your bottle, and
adjust accordingly. Make sure your
ironing fabric isn’t too thick either,
which may prevent the heat from getting
through.
When testing the bond, don’t pick at the
glue too much when it’s hot, because it
can still come up easily. You might want
to let it cool a bit before you decide
you need to attack it again.
|
|
|
Your patch is finished! You’ve now added
swank embroidery to something that was
previously un-embroiderable. With
patches the embroidery possibilities
just got a little bit broader. You can
attach this patch to anything you can
stick under an iron, or sew, or hot
glue. Which is pretty much everything I
guess.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You can finally stick some embroidery on
that cute crafting bag you never could
manage to hoop!
The shaped applique border will mean you
don’t have to stitch it into another
square or shape in order to patch it or
give it away to a poor unfortunate
embroidery deprived soul. It’s perfect
for anyone who fancies crafting, yarn,
or pirates.
|
|
|
Or crafty yarn pirates. It’s a
specialized market.
Enjoy your new patched booty, and have
fun playing with your
yarrrrrn!
|
|
|
|
Suggested designs for this tutorial:
|
|
|
|