Even though there are endless possibilities with reverse applique, somehow it seems that it is the forgotten method... perhaps for some it's just not a familiar technique, or maybe for others it's just a little nerve racking to cut that hole in the middle of the fabric. Whatever the reason might be, let me show you how fabulous a technique it really is... and that it gets even better when you use spray starch!
This is the current status of my Folk Flower quilt. The block can be found on Creativebug from Anna Maria Horner, in which she essentially uses the reverse applique technique, but per hand. Since hand sewing doesn't even come into question for me, why not use the same approach... but with starch applique?!?
Start by layering two pieces of freezer paper, both shiny side down. Iron together, leaving the steam function OFF. Using a compass, draw a circle in the center of the template, and trim so that there are the same measurements on all sides. For this template, I left one inch on all sides. I'll show you why it is important to do this in the next step. When cutting out the shape, start cutting directly on the line instead of cutting into the template - we'll be using the cut-out for a later step.
Remember how I said that it is important to have the same measurements on all sides? Well, this is because it can be a big help when you are placing the template on the fabric. You can easily measure how far the template is to be placed on the background fabric, so that you end up having the template spaced the same on every block. Place the shiny side of the template on the wrong side of your fabric, and iron in place.
The next step might be a little bit of the scary part for some, and that's cutting a hole in the middle of your fabric. I'm sure we all had those grade school teachers who scolded to NEVER cut shapes out of the center of the paper, but rather from the edges. Well, this is where you get to brush that little voice off your shoulder, and be brave. I usually use about a 1/4" seam allowance.
... and make sure you keep that fabric cut-out, and in all one piece!
For regular starch applique circles, it's not needed to clip along the curve, but it this case it is necessary. Usually you can feel the spots where you need to clip - if it feels like you are having a little resistance for the fabric to wrap around to the back, you most likely need a little snip in that spot. Since I used bias tape on this block, I made sure to cut on either side so I wouldn't have to cut into the bulk.
For the leaf shape, you actually have to make less cuts - just around the rounded part of the template, and in the sharp point.
Begin by spraying starch in a small ashtray or bowl. Wait for the bubbles to dissolve, and using a stiff brush, begin to brush the starch on the seam allowance. If you are unsure about your supplies, then you can read my Top-Ten Starch Applique Tips or visit my YouTube channel.
Use a mini-iron to iron the seam allowance to the back of the template.The starch will hold it it place.
Once you have ironed the fabric to the back of template, you can remove the freezer paper template.
Remember how I told you that you would be needing the center cut-outs from your templates? Well, this is why: Because you can use them as a cutting template for your fabric that will be inserted on the back side of the block. Simply align the cut-out on your selected fabric, and use about a 1/2" seam allowance. Here I use a larger seam allowance to make sure that I can center the shape as I want it.
Use an applique basting glue, apply a thin line along the seam allowance.
Position the fabric behind the finished opening, so that the fabric is "peeking" through. Once the placement is as desired, iron in place to set.
If there is excess fabric on the back side, trim as desired so that the extra fabric will not be seen from the front side of the block.
There are two ways that you can stitch the block in place: Most of the time I use an invisible thread from Aurifil, and using a straight stitch, sew as close to the edge as possible.
The second way that can be used to finish the block, is to stitch it in place from behind. Simply fold the fabric to the side, and stitch along the pressed seam line. Your thread will not be seen from the front.
Remember how I said to keep the fabric cut-outs from the beginning? This is where you can really bring "waste not, want not" to life - here I reduced the size of my leaf shape, and used the cut-outs for leaves for another project.
I did the same thing for the circle cut-outs, and I really like how they look with the bias tape stripe. I could imagine that these would make a sweet baby quilt, with a good amount of negative space for design interest.
... oh, the possibilies!
Ask any professional, tradesman, artist, or handcrafter... having the right tools for the job really makes all the difference. One of my most asked questions about my applique, is "how do you get the edges so crisp?"... simple, by having the right tools. I've shared a lot about my favorite starches, irons, paintbrushes,etc. for the starch applique method (found here), but one important tool that is not to be overlooked is a proper pressing board.
While one could argue that a regular ironing board works just as well, let me explain why I use a pressing board instead:
- A really hard surface, combined with the proper starch and a high heat mini iron, really IS what gives the desired clean and crisp edge.
- The high heat of the iron and the spray starch have a tendency to slightly "burn" and brown your work surface over time and high use.
- With that being said, it saves your regular ironing board cover having to be frequently replaced.
- Re-covering a pressing board after it's been soiled is a breeze!
- Lastly, it's small and easy to transport.
Have I convinced you now? So, here's what you'll need to make your own pressing board:
- Cotton Canvas 16 x 20 inches. (ca. 40 x 50 cm)
- Cotton Batting 16 x 20 inches. (ca.40 x 50 cm)
- Plywood Board 10 x 14 inches. (ca.25 x 35 cm)
- Craft Felt Piece 10 x 14 inches. (ca.25 x 35 cm)
- Staple Gun & Staples
- Spray Glue
Layer the cotton canvas, then the cotton batting, and finally the plywood piece on top, as shown in the picture above. Begin on the long side of the board and pull fabric and batting to the back side. Tack with three staples. Rotate the board to the opposite long side, pull fabric taunt, and tack with three staples. Fabric should be taunt but not stretched. Repeat steps with the remaining short sides, but do not staple to the end yet.
After all four sides have been secured, pull the corner batting piece to a point, and cut at an angle for a mitered edge. Repeat for the remaining corners.
Continue stapling along one long side of the board, stopping 1 - 2 inches from the corner, and repeat with the short side until there is a small "dog ear" left as shown in the picture below.
There are two ways that you can finish the corners, and it is simply a personal preference. The first is to pull the fabric down at an angle. The second is to simply fold it over as shown below. NOTE: Some prefer to also cut out the corners of the canvas fabric to avoid bulk, but my preference is to leave the fabric corners in.
Tack the corners in place. Repeat until all corners are finished. Cut any excess fabric as desired.
Finally, spray a generous amount of spray adhesive/glue to the back side of the felt piece. Position it on the back of the board. This prevents scratching from the staples when working on a table or other sensitive surface.
Now you're ready to go! Be sure to check out my YouTube channel for starch applique how-to videos, including tips on my favorite supplies!
Are you in the Hamburg area and would like to learn more about the
starch applique method? Then, mark your calendar because I will be
teaching a two day class (in German, of course) at Patch-Yard, September 29th & 30th!
We'll start out with a couple basic shapes to make a simple applique block. Simple shapes are often the foundation for creating more complex blocks.
... and it wouldn't be a starch applique class unless I shared my Top 10 Tips. There's so much more to share than what I can pack into one blog post.
All my patterns will be available in print, including my mini Home Sweet Home applique sets...
You can find out more
details, and register for the class on the Patch-Yard website, as well as find some of my favorite applique notions. There is limited space, so be sure to get in touch with her
now. Hope to see you there!
It's great to have another quilter in the family that you can simply "talk shop"... favorite fabrics, projects in the works, proud finishes, and a variety of techniques, tips, and tools. On my recent visit to the States, I was able to catch up with my aunt, and let's just say that there was a flurry of conversation that would put any non-quilter to sleep. Of course the topic of applique came up because I had taken my Summer Garden blocks with me to work on. When I asked her about starch applique, knowing that she is a master appliquer, I was puzzled by her hum-ho response... in my opinion, starch applique is THE best thing since sliced bread... how could she not love it and not want to applique everything with it?!?
So I've come up with my 10 BEST starch applique tips to pass along:
1. Let's talk STARCH - make sure it's PURE (starch tips for Germany, see below)
Let's just start with NOT ALL STARCH IS CREATED EQUAL, and I found out first hand why my aunt had been so indifferent to the starch applique method. With that being said, here's what I found when testing different starch brands.
- Faultless Heavy Starch was the first starch that I tried and I was not at all impressed. It really felt like work without the result of a nice, clean, crisp edge. This might work beautifully for ironing shirts that are not stiff, but you can leave it on the shelf if you want to applique.
- Niagara is the brand that was the most well-known to me. It was a small tick better than the Faultless brand, but it still felt like too much work to get too little results.
- Sta-Flo from Purex (found at Wal-Mart) is a concentrated liquid starch, and is my top pick for starch applique. Despite the fact that you might be tempted, DO NOT dilute the starch with water... not even a little smidge, you must use it PURE. One advantage is that this already comes in liquid form and you don't have to wait for the spray foam to liquefy. Sometimes there are some light, flaky "scales" left on the back side, but those can be lightly scratched of with the fingernail. They are definitely not bothersome enough to avoid this product.
- Additional Notes: Faultless also offers a concentrated liquid, but I have no comparisons since I've not tested it. The label suggests that it is also for crafts.
STARCH IN GERMANY (skip over this part if you're in the US)
- Sprüh Stärke von Edeka is my favorite and top pick of the German brands that I've tried. It gives a really crisp and clean finish, there are no flakes, and it has a nice hold. A+ for this brand that does starch applique the right way.
- Denk Mit von DM seems to be the starch that is closest to my favorite Edeka brand. It is even similar in smell, but it is listed to also include "Hilfsstoffe" which is missing from the Edeka brand.
- Domol von Rossmann gets a good rating, but it is not as good as Denk Mit or my favorite Edeka brand. It is very foamy when you spray and evaporates to a thinner liquid than the above two. You do have to work more to get the shapes to lay flat with this brand.
- Dalli Duo (I think I found this by REWE) I actually bought this by mistake not noticing that it has an extra "Bügelhilfe" in addition to the Sprühstäke, which explains why I had the same poor results that I had with the two US brands, Faultless and Niagara above. These extra additives give this brand a poor rating from me.
Now that you you've learned more than you'll ever need to know about starch, there are a few other tools/notions/tips that you will need:
2. Make yourself a PRESSING BOARD I find that it's nice to have a portable surface that you can use to finish your applique shapes. Because of the small size of a pressing board, you can use it outside, in the car, on the couch, or even by the pool (trust me, I did it). Another benefit is that you save your regular ironing board cover. Between the really hot iron and the starch, It's actually quite easy to get your board a little messy. Check out YouTube for tutorials.
3. Use a STIFF BRUSH for "painting" the starch on At first I had tried a softer bristle brush because it's desirable for painting, and I assumed that it would be the same for applique. What I found was that when the brush was more stiff I could apply in a more controlled way without drenching my freezer paper shape.
4. That iron is REALLY HOT! - Pay Close Attention When reading reviews about mini irons, there are two major complaints that I've noticed... firstly, that the iron is hot, and I mean REALLY hot. This is where I think to myself, well, duh, but it has to be hot for the most desired results. I think if one is aware how hot the irons are, it's easier to pay attention. The second major complaint is that the stand is not that stable. Somehow manufacturers just have not come up with a good solution for this, but it's a flaw I'm willing to live with considering the end results. I was able to compare two different mini irons because I was not able to take my German mini iron with me to the States (different cable/voltage)
- In the US I tried the Clover Mini Iron. With Clover being a brand that I am already familiar with, I had high expectations. Even though the iron has a high and a low setting, I found that it wasn't quite hot enough, another complaint that other reviewers had given. It was sufficient, and I would still give it a good rating, but it didn't completely meet my expectations. On that note, it IS very important to get a mini iron with a high and low setting.
- The iron that I use in Germany is a Komerci Mini Iron. This was a gamble for me that paid off. I was unfamiliar with the brand, but found it to be my favorite of the two. The tip is slender and I assume it holds the heat better since the head is thicker.
- Additional notes: You can also use a regular or small travel iron, but just remember to keep the steam OFF.
5. FREEZER PAPER is a quilters best friend.
Freezer paper is an appliquers best friend (and quilters too).
For starch applique it's best to layer your freezer paper for stability.
You can double up, triple up, or more if you want. Just place the freezer papers on
top of each other shiny sides down. The beauty of it is that the
shapes can be reused. TIP: If
you are tracing shapes from a template, I find that it's best to draw the shapes on a
single sheet of freezer paper before ironing on the second layer. TIP: Even though you might have 20 leaves
in one applique block, I usually
make at least two leaves despite the fact that they can be re-used, so I can work on several shapes at a time. (If
you are in Germany, don't worry, you can find Freezer Paper on
Amazon... and the Reynold's brand is the way to go)
6. Remember to THINK BACKWARDS. If
your flower template is pointing to the left, and you simply trace it,
when you have your finished applique shape, it will be pointing to the
right... so you have to think backwards. Just to keep it real, you can see how I made a mistake and traced this stem on the wrong side...ooops.
7. Take a NUMBER, please As I trace the applique shapes, I put a number on the paper side of the freezer paper shape that matches the block number because you may want to use them again OR just in case they get separated from the group you can find where they belong. If there are, for example, a lot of leaves in a block, I might also label them R, L (right, left) T, B, M (top, bottom, middle), etc.
8. STAY ORGANIZED My mother would be quite shocked that this statement actually came from my mouth, but she's right. Find a way to sort and store your applique shapes so you can pick up and leave off as you need to. I found a nicely bound, clear pages folder/organizer, which means that the applique shapes that I have started can stay filed with the block template. I can easily flip though the book when planning the next block.
9. Keep your bags packed - Do a SCRAP PULL When working on an applique project, it really helps to have all your scraps sorted in advance and in one place. Store them in a box, bag, a basket, or whatever you like so that you always have a project packed up and ready to go.
10. Pick the STITCH that fits YOU best Everyone
has their favorite method for applique. While many prefer hand
stitching blocks, there are those of us who prefer the machine stitching
for either patience or health reasons. For a straight or blind stitch on
the machine, I like to use an invisible thread. The beauty of an invisible thread is that you don't have to change the top thread with each color change. It's not necessary to use invisible thread in the bobbin, but it is very important to
remember to adjust your thread tension.
Never tried the starch applique method, but you'd like to? Check out this video from The Fat Quarter shop and get started.
