Preparing applique shapes for machine applique

Yesterday you sewed your strips together using decorative stitching on the Brother Luminaire Innov-ís XP1. There are so many decorative stitches to choose from on the Brother Luminaire, you could spend hours playing with them!

Now it’s time to cut the background pieces for the applique shapes. I like to cut the backgrounds a little bigger than required and then trim them to size after the shapes have been appliqued.

Cut the following from black background fabric

2 — 10″ x 8″

2 — 11″ x 9″

1 — 12″ x 10″

1 — 12″ x 11″

Templates for the applique shapes

• Click on the leaf applique shapes.
  
• Print the shapes on a piece of paper.
• Cut out the paper shapes leaving about ⅛” around the outside edges.
• Lightly glue the paper shapes to a sheet of template plastic.

• Cut out the template plastic on the printed lines.
• Cut along the center line on each shape to make 2 templates for each leaf.
• Number the plastic templates.

• Following the manufacturer’s instructions, press a piece of fusible web to the back of each fabric strip set.

• Trace 2 of each leaf shape on the fusible web. You can reverse some shapes for more variety if you wish.
• Place the shapes on an angle for a more interesting design.

• Cut out each shape on the drawn lines.
• Carefully remove the paper backing from the fusible web, one shape at a time, as you need it. I like to use a pin or needle to score the paper backing, making it easier to remove.
• A thin layer of fusible web will remain on the fabric.
• Place the leaf shapes as desired on the background fabrics. I left a little of the background fabric showing so it looked like a leaf vein. You can mix and match shapes from different strip sets for added variety.
• When you’re satisfied with the placement of the shapes, fuse them in place, following the manufacturer’s directions.

Come back tomorrow to see how to use decorative stitches on the Brother Luminaire Innov-ís XP1 to finish the applique shapes.