Читать книгу Applique: The Basics and Beyond, Second Revised & Expanded Edition - Janet Pittman - Страница 7

After reviewing this information and the techniques in the next few chapters, check with quilting friends who machine or hand appliqué. Find out about their favorite techniques. Decide what you would like to practice and purchase the best equipment and supplies you can.

Sewing Machine Features

For machine appliqué, a sewing machine with zigzag capabilities is a must. The best machine to use will have the needed features and will work with you rather than give you problems. Clean your machine of lint, oil it regularly, and have it serviced as recommended by the manufacturer.

For machine appliqué look for the following sewing machine features:

Bobbin Case

An adjustable lower bobbin tension. If you have a removable bobbin case, you may want to purchase a second one just for adjusting for differing thread weights and a variety of stitches. Mark this bobbin “for machine appliqué only.”

Top Tension

An adjustable upper thread tension for making even stitches when using different weights of thread.

Stitch Width and Length

An adjustable stitch length and width allowing you to make decorative choices in your zigzag stitches, blanket stitch, and decorative appliqué stitches. A stitch width with enough adjusting points to allow for a smooth transition from wide to narrow and back will allow you to control points and to do decorative satin stitching.

Needle Position

An adjustable needle position feature allowing you to find the best combination of needle position and presser foot for guiding your stitching.

It is helpful to have a needle up/needle down function. Leaving the needle down at the end of a stitch allows you to pivot your work without it slipping out of place.

Feed Dogs

Feed dogs which can be lowered allow for a smooth transition to free-motion stitching. Some machines have a plate to cover the feed dogs, and you will have to remove your work to add the plate.

Speed Adjustment

A speed adjustment option is useful when doing stitching such as satin zigzag or free-motion zigzag where there is a wide swing of the needle, close stitching, or for top stitching.

Throat Plate

If your machine has an extra-wide throat plate (9mm), purchase a narrower (5mm) throat plate for fine and narrow zigzag stitching. You will need extra stabilizing, page, with extra-wide zigzag stitching.

Presser Feet

Most machines come with a selection of presser feet. The presser feet shown here are especially useful for machine appliqué. If you do not have them, consider purchasing them.

Open-Toe Embroidery or Appliqué Foot with Grooved Bottom

An open-toe embroidery or appliqué foot features a wide opening in front so you can see the stitching. It also has a groove molded in the bottom to allow the buildup of thread from stitching to pass under it smoothly.

Edge-Stitch Foot

The edge-stitching foot has a metal flange that moves along the edge of the appliqué, allowing straight stitches and blanket stitches to be sewn more accurately.

Darning Feet

A darning foot that allows the free moving of material under the foot is necessary for free-motion straight and zigzag stitching. This is the same foot you use for free-motion quilting. Two varieties are shown here.

Walking Foot

A walking foot is designed to move the upper fabric the same as the feed dogs move the bottom fabric. Use when straight stitching turned-edge appliqué and when stitching and quilting in one step after layering.

Machine Needles

Machine needles come in a variety of sizes, designs, and quality. Purchase the best quality needles and replace as necessary.

Machine needles are manufactured for specific jobs, and their names are an indication of that. Needles vary in sharpness of the point, size of the eye, and thickness of the blade. Select the smallest needle with the appropriate eye and blade for your project.

The size of the needle is frequently marked in both European and U.S. numbers. The European numbers start at 60 and the U.S. numbers start at 8. You will frequently see a size marked as 60/8. Both numbers get larger as the needle gets larger.

The other differences in machine needles are the point and the eye. These are marked by letters. H-M has the sharpest point and can be used for straight and zigzag stitching on cotton and silk with cotton or silk thread. H-E is an embroidery needle that has a larger eye and specially designed groove for decorative threads. 130/MET is designed with a finish to help control the heat from friction when stitching with metallic threads. It also has a special eye to prevent splitting of metallic threads. 130/N is designed with a special eye to accommodate heavy threads.

Hand Stitching Needles

Hand stitching needles are available in a variety of sizes, lengths, designs, and quality. Purchase the best quality needles and replace as they become dull or bent. Practice with various needle designs featured below to find the ones you like best.

The higher the size number, the smaller the needle diameter. Choose the smallest needle you can comfortably use to make the smallest, most inconspicuous stitches for hand appliqué. Use a needle threader for the smaller needles.

Betweens

Betweens needles are the shortest and are what many quilters use for hand quilting.

Sharps

Sharps needles are slightly longer and easier to use for many appliquérs.

Straw or Milliner’s

Straw or milliner’s needles are even longer and are frequently used for needle-turned appliqué.

Chenille

Chenille needles are very large with a sharp point and are used to carry decorative threads to the back of the appliqué.

Irons

Use a full-size iron to prepare your background and to work with larger machine appliqué pieces. It is important to press out any creases before you add fused appliqué to a background. A medium- or travel-size iron is helpful when turning under edges of appliqué. A mini iron is useful for tacking fused appliqué to a background. Be very careful with the mini iron as both the shaft and the point heat.

Keep your iron clean from residue, fabric, and fusible web. Some irons come with a non-stick coating that helps clean up mistakes with fusible web. To help keep your iron and ironing board free of fusible web accidents, use a non-stick pressing sheet, page, both under and on top of the appliqué. Or, pin a piece of muslin to the ironing surface and discard it as it gets sticky.

Scissors

Scissors are available in many styles, sizes, and qualities. Purchase the best quality you can. Some scissors have a knife edge and others a serrated edge. The serrated edges hold the fabric in place while cutting.

Scissors come with a variety of tips from blunt to rounded, with spring action handles or rubberized flexible handles and in many different lengths. Use smaller scissors for cutting small pieces. For clipping curves, use small scissors with a very sharp point that will cut one thread at a time. Duckbill scissors, sometimes called appliqué scissors, are for closely trimming away the back with protection to the appliqué.

Although normal-weight papers will not dull your scissors, use separate scissors for cutting plastic template material and cardboard.

Thread

Threads available to appliquérs and quilters come in many different colors, textures, and fiber contents. The end use will dictate the threads you will choose.

Thread spools are usually marked with the size and ply of the thread. The higher the size number, the smaller the thread diameter. The ply number indicates the number of fine yarns that are twisted together. Some thread spools state what the threads are designed for: embroidery, quilting, bobbin, etc. Spools are also marked with the fiber content.

Cotton

There are a wide variety of cotton threads available. Cotton comes in a wide range of colors, and it is easy to match almost any appliqué fabric. Spools for the sewing machine range from fine embroidery 80/2 (which is difficult to find) to 12/2. For most machine appliqué techniques, use 60/2 or 50/2 embroidery thread. For heavier stitching, use 30/2 or 12/2. For hand appliqué, use 60/2 embroidery thread.

Monofilament

Monofilament nylon or polyester threads are size .004mm and are usually labeled “invisible.” Use this thread for invisible machine appliqué stitching, page. This is the same thread you might have on hand for invisible machine quilting. The sheen of the thread varies by brand, so experiment for the look you prefer.

Silk

Silk thread is very fine and makes a nearly invisible hand appliqué stitch. Silk is more costly than cotton but, because it is so fine, does not need to closely match the fabric color. Purchase a few basic colors and neutrals.

Rayon and Polyester

Rayon and polyester threads come in a variety of sizes usually ranging from 40- to 30-weight. These threads often have more luster than cotton and therefore are more decorative. Rayon threads seem to blend well with more shades of appliqué fabric and do not have as defined an edge as cotton after stitching. This can be a plus when blending colors in decorative stitching. Man-made fibers come in more decorative threads, such as metallics and ribbon-like polyester film. Practice with these threads for decorative stitching.

Refer to stitch types in Stitching (page) and Embellishing (page) for more thread-use suggestions.

Bobbin Thread

There are a variety of thread choices to use in the bobbin. For ease when working with 60/2 or 50/2 embroidery cotton threads, match the bobbin thread to the top thread. You will probably not have to adjust the sewing machine tension to get a perfect looking stitch. If you will be changing top thread color frequently, it is more convenient to choose one thread for the bobbin. The sewing machine top tension may need to be adjusted so that none of the bobbin thread shows on top.

For decorative stitching, such as satin zigzag and free-motion embroidery, where there is a heavy buildup of thread, a fine bobbinweight thread works best. Use polyester 80/2 to 120/2 bobbin thread. Because these threads are so thin, you may have to lower the top tension almost to 0, thread the bobbin thread through the pigtail on your bobbin case, and/or tighten the bobbin case tension.

Fabric

Most fabric used for appliqué is 100% cotton. There is a wide variety of choices in color, print, and thread count in our quilt shops and fabric stores. Any fabric used for piecing can be used for appliqué. Thread count is the number of yarns per inch in both the crosswise and lengthwise directions. For many projects the thread count may not be as important as color. For fusible appliqué or appliqué with turned edges, any cotton fabric may be used, although fabric with low thread count may shift and be more difficult to work with. Fabric with a high thread count, such as batik, keeps a crisp edge for fusible and turned-edge appliqué for either machine or hand stitching.

If your project is going to be washed, you will want to test fabrics for colorfastness. If one fabric is prewashed, then all fabrics should be prewashed. Iron the fabrics before using for any type of appliqué. Do not spray with starch or sizing as this may prevent freezer paper from adhering when doing some types of preparation for appliqué.

For a uniform-looking finished project, the background fabric should have a similar or greater thread count.

Fabric Samples

On a very low thread-count background with very high threadcount appliqué pieces, the background may pucker when stitched.

There are many other types of fabric that can be used for appliqué. Silks, polyesters, and rayons will have different stitching and care requirements. For wall hangings or quilts that will not be washed, any fabric can be used. Make a sample with each fabric to find which method of appliqué works best. Test the method, thread, needles, and stitches.

When selecting fabrics for an appliqué project, look for contrast in value among the colors. For most appliqué pieces, select hand-dyed or slightly mottled-looking prints, toneon-tone prints, or solids. These will add texture to your quilt without the fabric pattern interfering with the shape of the appliqué pieces.

Permanent and Temporary Adhesives

Paper-Backed Fusible Web

Paper-backed fusible web has revolutionized appliqué for many quilters. Trace directly on the paper backing, fuse to the wrong side of fabric, cut out, remove paper, fuse to the background, and you are ready to stitch. There are no pins getting in the way and usually the stitching is done by machine. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for iron temperature and pressing times.

Test several brands to find the one you like. Brands differ with the temperature-and-time requirements for pressing. Even within a brand there are papers designed with varying amounts of adhesive for different purposes. For appliqué to have a soft appearance, use the lightest-weight paper-backed fusible web and window the paper and adhesive, page. For very flat wall hangings, leave the fusible web on the back of the entire appliqué piece and do not remove any stabilizer that may be added for special stitching.

Mark the paper of the paperbacked fusible web side with an ultra-fine point permanent marker or pencil. A permanent marker will not rub off; a pencil may smudge and even rub off onto light-colored fabrics.

Spray Adhesive

Temporary spray adhesive can be used for large pieces of fabric. Follow manufacturer’s instructions and spray in a ventilated area with the work surface protected from the adhesive. Spray the back of the appliqué piece. Then position on the background. You will be able to reposition the piece a few times. If you are working with small appliqué pieces, the propellant may scatter the appliqué.

Other Adhesives

Other adhesives used for machine and hand appliqué techniques include fabric glue sticks, liquid fabric glue, and spray starch. Read the labels to purchase a glue that is washable and acid free.

If any adhesive products gum up your needle, use rubbing alcohol to clean it.

Stabilizers

Stabilizing is essential for many machine-appliqué techniques. The thin layer of adhesive in fusible web acts as a stabilizer for fine zigzag stitching. For wider stitches and stitching through only one or two layers of fabric without any fusible adhesive, use a temporary or permanent stabilizer and/or a wooden hoop.

Temporary Stabilizers

Temporary stabilizers can be carefully torn, cut, ironed, or washed away. For sheet stabilizers, place a piece the full size of your background or just slightly larger than the size of the appliqué pieces behind the background of the appliqué. Use pins or temporary spray adhesive to hold in place. Carefully remove stabilizer by tearing or cutting away after stitching.

Temporary Sheet Stabilizers

Liquid Stabilizers

Apply liquid stabilizer (including starch) according to the manufacturer’s directions. Before using water-soluble or liquid stabilizers, consider if you will be washing the finished piece.

Test several varieties of stabilizers and choose the one appropriate for your project.

Tips

SCREW MECHANISM

Lower hoop features sturdier screw mechanism.

Embroidery Hoops

Wooden or plastic embroidery hoops are especially useful for decorative stitching on appliqué to keep the background taut while stitching.

For machine stitching, use a hoop along with temporary or permanent stabilizer for maximum hold. Look for a sturdy screw mechanism, because the appliqué may have several layers of fabric and/or stitching. The round, 7" (18cm) or 8" (20cm) size is the easiest to use. Anything larger will not give you room to move the hoop around between the needle and the head of the machine, and a smaller hoop limits the stitching space.

Embroidery Hoops

Template Materials

Freezer paper is used for several methods of appliqué preparation. Tag board, lightweight cardboard, and file folders can be used to make templates for the markedline technique. Standard plastic template material is the same as used for making piecing and quilting templates. Heat-resistant template plastic is used when ironing in appliqué preparation. Investigate the different methods of preparing appliqué pieces in Preparing Appliqué and choose the appropriate template material.

Template Materials

Overlay Materials

For appliqué designs with many layers, you may want to prepare an overlay to aid in placement of the appliqué pieces. Trace the design onto lightweight clear vinyl, sheet protectors, transparency film, tracing or tissue paper, or lightweight nonwoven tracing material with a permanent marker. For large designs use vinyl, tissue paper, or nonwoven tracing material. See pages 39 and 41.

Overlay Materials

Pins

Purchase the best pins possible. Sharp points and a metal that will not rust are important. Glass heads on pins will not melt if ironed. For securing pieces for hand appliqué, short pins will not interfere with stitching.

Pins

Wool Pressing Mat

A felted wool pressing mat retains heat, which makes ironing easier. This is also helpful when pressing fusible web to fabrics because the heat comes from both directions. Use a wool setting and without steam.

Wool Pressing Mat

Marking Tools

Marking tools come in many varieties and are selected for a specific use. A mechanical pencil will keep a sharp point. It can be used on paper, template materials, and many fabrics. An ultra-fine point permanent marker can be used on all template materials and when dry will not smudge. There are many specialty markers for fabric, including liquids and chalk. Choose them for color and ease of use.

Marking Tools

Light Box

The light coming through a hard surface makes tracing or positioning pattern pieces for appliqué easier. Purchase a light box at an art supply or craft store.

You can make your own light box by putting a light under a glass top table, in a shallow drawer topped with a glass or acrylic top, or under your acrylic sewing table. In daylight tape your pattern to a window; the light coming through mimics a light box.

Light Box

Other Tools

Many other tools are helpful in preparing and stitching appliqué.

Thimble

For hand appliqué, practice with a thimble or thimble pads (small leather pads to put on the area of the finger used to push the needle).

Hand Stitching Tools

Wooden Pick

For needle-turn appliqué, a round wooden toothpick, shown here made from bamboo, is helpful for turning under the edge rather than using a needle, page.

Stiletto

A stiletto is very useful when machine stitching to control the points of appliqué, hold yarns and other threads in place, and also to guide fabric when piecing. Stilettos come in metal and bamboo.

Stilettos

Needle Threader

For hand stitching needles with small eyes or any time you have difficulty threading a needle, use a needle threader. They loop the thread through the eye so it can be pulled through.

Workspace

Good light is essential for both machine and hand appliqué. At the machine, add extra light both in front and back to eliminate shadows. There are several styles of lamps with full-spectrum, true-color light bulbs. These are portable and can be moved to your favorite spot for handwork. A design wall is useful for arranging appliqué pieces and laying out blocks. Cover a wall or a large piece of plywood, solid insulation, or foam core with felt, flannel, or low-loft batting. The texture of these materials will hold some fabrics without pins.

Rotary Cutting Tools

A good acrylic ruler, rotary cutter, and mat are important to cutting backgrounds, sashing, and binding for your appliqué projects. These tools are also used to cut bias strips for stems.