When my Poké-obsessed kiddo saw a picture of this cute “pika-T”, I said, no problem, Mama can make that! Appliqué is one of my favorite techniques for adding a special touch to my sewing.

There are many different ways to appliqué, but I’m going to show the method I turn to most often. It uses an iron-on adhesive, so it’s is best for fabrics that can take a lot of heat and steam, like cotton Lycra jersey or French terry. I have used it with polyester fleece—I just kept the iron on the synthetic setting and checked often to make sure it wasn’t melting. But if you don’t like to live on the wild side with me, stick to natural fibers for this technique.

Doing applique this way is also a great technique to use when you find a fabric print that is perfect for adding something special to your project.  In this post I will also show how I used this technique on some amazing water color dino’s from Eunoia Fabrics.

*Daryl is a home sewist, not a business, and the Pika-T was made for personal use only; not resale.  The purpose of this article is to show the home sewist how the applique technique can be used to add unique items to their sewing projects, even fun ways to resemble your child’s favorite characters on items that don’t exist in the retail market.

1. Cut the garment pieces following the sewing pattern
2. Trace my design MIRRORED onto the paper side of Heat n Bond lite.
3. Rough cut the Heat n Bond and fuse to the WRONG side of appliqué fabrics.
4. Carefully cut out the appliqué pieces on the lines.
5. Fuse appliqué pieces to the garment piece.
6. Top stitch the appliqué.
7. Sew up the garment.
Let me go through each step with a few tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way.

I like to cut all the garment pieces before I start working on the applique for 2 reasons. 1) It helps me plan my appliqué by laying out the pieces in the shape of the finished garment, so I can visual the size and placement of the appliqué and how the colors all work together. I often lay scraps of the appliqué fabrics on top of the garment pieces to try out different ideas. And 2)once I’ve done all the top stitching for the appliqué (not gonna lie, it can get a little tedious), it’s so satisfying to have everything ready to whip through the serger for a quick finish.

Heat-n-Bond Lite is the fusible adhesive I generally use. Be sure to get the “lite” version which can be sewn (the heavier one will gum up your needles, ask me how I know). Heat-n-Bond is a double-sided adhesive: one side has the adhesive exposed (shiny with a rubbery feel) and the other side has paper covering the adhesive. Draw your design on the paper side. Although I use washable marker to mark fabric, on the Heat-n-Bond, I use a regular ink pen so it won’t run or disappear when ironing.
The projector I use for tracing sewing patterns also makes appliqué so easy! (If you’re not familiar with using a projector yet, I highly recommend the Projectors for Sewing group on Facebook for tons of useful guidance and help getting started).

In the pics, you can see I projected a picture of the appliqué design right onto the shirt front (Pic 1). I adjusted the size of
the image until my 6 year old told me it was perfect. Then I traced the main outlines of the shapes onto the shirt front with washable marker (I use Crayola Ultra Clean markers), so the placement would be easy later (Pic 2). Finally, I traced
every single shape in the appliqué on to the paper side of the Heat-n-Bond (Pic 3). For example, each eye in this design has 2 shapes: a bigger circle (black) and a little circle (white). If your design isn’t symmetrical (and especially if it includes writing!), remember to MIRROR when you trace. Your final appliqué will be the reverse of what you are tracing now.

I find that I get a cleaner cut on my appliqué pieces if I fuse first and then cut through the paper. So to initially separate the pieces of Heat n Bond, I do a quick rough cut leaving a little margin around all of the edges. Tip: If your design has pieces that look similar (like the circles for the eyes and cheeks), label them before cutting apart. Then fuse to the WRONG side of the
appliqué fabrics following the fusible directions. (I use a hot dry iron and iron for a few seconds, just enough to adhere.)

I use my sharpest non-fabric scissors to cut through the paper right on the lines for a good clean cut. For more complicated shapes like these beautiful dinos, I find it helps to hold the scissors steady and rotate the fabric instead with my other hand.