There are so many methods and materials that can be used for applique, this is just my preferred technique. I was taught applique by a lovely lady who has created some stunning wall hangings and quilts. I'm very appreciative of her assistance and knowledge sharing over the years.
My preferred technique is raw edge, fusible applique. I don't have patience for turning seams on applique, and I also love the look you get with blanket stitch and matching threads (more on this later).
I use a paper backed, lightweight adhesive web (eg. Heat n Bond lite, Vliesofix Bondaweb). I don't use anything too heavy, just enough for a firm placement.
Right - crack those knuckles (not literally!). You now have a pattern, either purchased or designed. Time to transfer the image.
Step 1. Number each individual 'piece' of the applique. This will assist with placement and to refer to if things go a bit wobbly.
Step 2. Take a piece of the adhesive paper and lay it over the images to be traced - you'll be surprised by how many there are, there was over 60 in this design! You can do this over a lightbox, but this one was a bit big and I thought it would be too fiddly to do on an A3 lightbox - so I used a window. Everyone has one right? I taped the design to the window and it was easy to manage.
Step 3. Trace each individual piece (I used a 0.7 HB pencil), label with the corresponding number, and roughly cut leaving approx 1/8" to 1/2" (3mm to 1cm). I started with the bunnies as they are the biggest, offcuts can be used for the smaller pieces.
You have to leave a gap around each piece, this will assist with accurate cutting later. I also ticked off each piece on the design as I did them...ticking things off feels good, and you can easily identify any missed ones.
Some lines came out a bit wobbly from the tape and whatnot, don't worry about it as they have to be cut again once they're bonded to the fabric.
Here's the result, lots and lots of bits with sufficient spacing.
One thing to always be mindful of - the image will be reversed once it's bonded to the background fabric. For this image it doesn't matter as it's a mirror image, but this isn't the case for all images.
I'll be leaving the small pieces as they are until it's time to fuse them to fabric, much more manageable. Pretty sure one sneeze and those small bits will be everywhere!
Join me next time for some colour! We'll be fusing these bits to lovely fabric.