This is just the time of year, with so much going on, to stop for a moment and do some fun sewing, You will find this Free Winter Applique Project contains templates which are relevant throughout the Winter season. The templates can be used with free motion or regular applique techniques. Moreover, I also embellished my Winter applique projects with decorative stitching to represent the Fairisle knitting. I have used the templates to make mug coasters, but they could be used on many different projects.
Many of you will be familiar with using applique templates, however for those that need a little help – here is my whistle-stop tour of applique piecing. In this project, I have used wool felt, but if you decide to use cotton fabric then I suggest you add in a square of wadding to make your coaster more stable.
Project Material Requirements
( 2) 6 1/2″ square Woolfelt , mix of woolfelt in different colours for piecing,10cm Steam-a-Seam Lite2/Bondaweb, Fat Qtr cotton fabric for binding, coordinating threads
Quick Free Winter Appliqué Project Method
Trace the template onto the Steam-a-Seam Lite 2 being careful to trace each element separately. Cut the pieces out roughly and gather the wood felt you want to use in one place.
Peel off the back of the traced pieces and press onto the wool felt and cut around the elements precisely on the lines.
Peel off the other side of the traced pieces and press them onto one of background 6 1/2″ squares of wool felt. Once they are in position, press them with a warm iron and pressing cloth to activate the glue and then allow them to cool.
Using thread similar to the colours of the wool felt piece and a straight stitch, sew around the edge of the pieces. Stitching at about 1/8th” in from the edge is perfect. Note – for speed I used a straight stitch but a zig-zag or blanket stitch would also look great!
Once this stage is complete and the applique template is secure on the background, you are now ready to embellish it.
Add in decorative stitching to create a Fairisle look. Add triple stitch lines to represent the cuff edge of the hat or glove.
Layer the other 6 1/2″ background square directly behind the decorated piece. The pieces are small enough that you will not need to use any glue.
Quilt the two pieces together. I used free motion loops and a holographic thread (see video link below). After quilting, trim back the piece to 5 1/2″ square.
Make binding (see video links below), fold in half and apply to the wrong side of the quilted piece. Then flip binding onto front and topstitch in place.
Additional GillyMac Videos
Video to help with using speciality threads, Video to help with cutting binding, Video to help with preparing binding, Video to help with applying binding & creating an invisible join.
I hope you enjoy this fun project. I’d love to see what you make. You can tag me on Twitter and Instagram using #gillymacdesigns or upload your work to my Facebook page. Otherwise you can email me at mail@gillymacdesigns.com.
Gill x
