Fabric Appliques Ideas ~ Tips, Tricks and More!

Fabric Appliques are an amazing and simple craft item that you can use
to add a personal touch or flair to nearly anything you are working on!

Appliques are made with a fusible web adhesive. There are 2 main
kinds of adhesive, Regular and Ultra Hold. The Regular webbing is
thinner and is typically used on appliques that will then be sewed,
painted or attached with edging in some other way. The Ultra Hold
is thick and cannot be used with any type of sewing machine or serger
because it will gum up and ruin the needle being used.
Appliques made with Ultra Hold can also be painted or trimmed ~ they
just cannot be sewn down!

There are thousands of appliques available for purchase in nearly any
type of style, character, design, team or theme that you could
imagine! After you decide which appliques you would like and
whether you want the simple no sewing Ultra type or the appliques that
need additional sewing you can start your search for your perfect
appliques!

Some appliques are cut in different manners. Some are cut very
intricately and some have a small background left. I prefer a
small portion of the background being left on the appliques which
leaves room for painting, glitter or other items even though I use the
Ultra webbing. If you find appliques that you LOVE and have
a bit of edging on them that you don't want there you can always trim
that little portion off when you receive your package.

Using fabric appliques is such an easy process! Turn on
your normal household iron to the silk/medium setting and let it heat
up. It is advised that you wash and dry the item you are
going to use your appliques on but you cannot use fabric softner or
sheets! The appliques will not stick properly!
Make sure the item you are using is wrinkle free and turned with the
portion you are going to use facing you! If you are making
a shirt, make sure the shirt front is on top, facing you.
Peel the backing off of your applique and place it right where you want
it to be. Place the iron gently on the first portion of the
applique, hold for approximately 8 seconds. Move the iron to the
next section, slightly overlapping the area you just bonded and
repeat. It's best to not jiggle or "iron back and forth" on
the applique as it could peel up and be ruined. That's
IT! That's all it takes to create your one of a kind
awesome project!

What types of things can you make with fabric appliques? How far
can you let your imagination run? You can take a plain T*shirt
and turn it into a totally unique item featuring any favorite of
yours! You can add appliques to Blue Jeans (Front, Back or
Pockets!), Hats (children's hats look especially sweet with darling
character appliques!), Gloves, Scarves, Socks, Overalls, Onesies,
Jackets (they are GREAT for jean jackets!), Personalized Nightshirts,
Pillowcases (My daughter is a Level 5 gymnast with pillowcases made
from my gymnastics appliques), Blankets, Quilts, Wallhangings, Towels
(just for show!), gefortors, Curtains, Placemants ~ as you can see the
options are absolutely endless!


Appliques can even be applied to wood type boxes, walls or doors!
They stick like glue but might damage the wall a bit if you try
to remove them! If your kitchen has a theme and you want your
bread box or potatoe catch to match the rest of your theme ~ appliques
are a great way to do that!

Any scrapbookers out there should know how great appliques are for
scrapbooking! All you have to do is hold the appliques with a
small tool like tweezers, heat the backing with a hair or heat dryer
until the glue melts and then you add those appliques to your
scrapbooking project! Now how unique will THAT page be?!

Appliques make great gifts for many different occasions. Any
child's birthday party should have appliques as a party
favor! They are so easy to use with parental supervision
and a young child will feel a HUGE sense of acgeplishment after making
their very own project! They can wear their new shirt (or
anything else they make!) with pride knowing they made it by
themselves! Appliques make unique small gifts for
team sports banquets in the designated sport. They can be given
as shower favors with baby designs.

Appliques can also help promote awareness. You can show
your support for Breast Cancer Awareness or Autism Awareness with
appliques available in those designs.

Fabric Appliques are a GREAT unique and inexpensive way to add your own
personality and touch to nearly anything. As long as you have an
imagination and you can run with it your options of creating are
limitless!!