I’m so lucky! Really lucky that Nicky didn’t turn me in to the Mounties 2 years ago when I started stalking* her on FB. She just accepted that we were going to be friends. Phew!!

And now she’s relented and agreed to write a guest post on my blog. So, heeeeee-eeee-eeere’s Nicky!

I must say, I’m so glad that Marsha lets me “guest post” on her wonderful blog. Doubly glad to be able to review a pattern from The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art.  Ah blessed is me …

Oh yes,  sunny sky with a soft breeze, a perfect Summer day.  On days like this my thoughts are often drifted into images of wriggly doodles and colouring outside the lines.  Yes, pictures of imperfect yet whimsical childlike drawings.  Can these be transferred to fabric in an applique method? I’ve seen them appliqued on stuffs before but never thought of how it was done.  Even the User’s Guide of my Brother sewing machine (bought in 2000) had a section on “Free Motion” embroidery…what the heck??

Like a curious kitty I had to explore.  I scratched on my laptop keyboard and Googled, and YouTube-d, read and watch with amazement, so I had to try it out.

In Free Motion you replace your normal pressure foot with a free-motion darning/quilting foot.

Next you drop the feed dog, you know the tiny teeth-like metal bit that guides and feeds your fabric through so that your stitches are evenly spaced and pretty looking, well we don’t need that for free motion, because we use our hands to guide the fabric.

I found that The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art by Canadian designer, Jeanine Thomlinson, has some of the cutest designs. Her patterns look easy enough to follow.  So armed with hours of watching YouTube tutorials, pressing pause and play button until I’m flat out like a tired puppy that couldn’t wag her tail, I’m now ready to get my sewing gear on.

Bubble Pets pattern by Stitch Art is so cute I just had to try it out.  I chose the cat applique for my very first attempt..  She listed out all the notions recommendation on her patterns, making it super easy to gather your tools and figure out what you want to do. These are just the few main things:

• HeatnBond Lite is a double sided adhesive sew-able paper that does double duties by keeping your fabric from fraying and affixes your applique pieces
• Free motion foot
• Embroidery stabilizer (tearaway for the woven, cutaway for knit and wash-away for delicate fabrics)
• Fabric vanishing ink pen or pencil or tailor chalk, Fray Check (optional).

It was suggested to use Muslin or broadcloth in neutral colour for the base of your applique; I had neither on hand so I used cotton poplin which turned out not too bad.  She also gives the approximate size of the applique depending on the scaling percentage which is very helpful.

So first, we trace the pieces directly onto the paper backing of HeatnBond Lite not the textured shiny side.

Cut loose around each shapes.  Place these textured shiny side against the wrong side of your chosen fabrics for the pieces. Preheat iron to medium heat, no steam; iron the paper for 2 seconds, repeat until the required surface is bonded.

Wait for it to completely cooled, cut the shape out and remove the backing paper, pretty easy far.  Now your fabric pieces are fray-proofed.

Lay the pieces in the order as instructed by the pattern on top of your muslin or broadcloth or base fabric of choice.  Once happy with the way it looks, iron them down on that base fabric.

Now you can draw the inner details and inner out lines, and the outer outlines as well if you wish, with tailor chalk or fabric pen/pencil of choice.  These will be guide lines while free motion sewing.  It is suggested that you should sew over the lines at least twice.

Sewing starts! Yay!

Drop the feed dog, install your Free Motion darning foot.

Place the stabilizer underneath it all and start free motion sewing.  Just do the inner detail and inner outlines.  Start from anywhere you’d like, there is no rules to this. Remember to leave the outer outlines alone…for now.

Once the inner details & inner outlines are done, trim the back stabilizer.

Again, iron the assembled pet to the HeatnBond Lite.  Once cooled, cut closely around the pattern.  Remove the paper backing.  Iron this applique to the item being embellished with it.

Last step, add a piece of stabilizer underneath, free motion sew the outer outlines and voila! You’ve completed your first Free Motion Applique…well at least I just did, and shall do more! Woohoo!

Free Motion Applique is great when you have left-over fabrics from your other projects, The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art has many cute and whimsical patterns for both boys & girls, and some are gender neutral.  What I like most about her patterns is that the shapes are inter-changeable; her instructions are easy to follow, her tips are just invaluable especially for beginners. You can find more of Stitch Art patterns on:

• Facebook: Stitch Art
• Etsy: The Crafting Fiend

This is the kind of sewing where perfect, straight, even length stitching are just purely not applicable.  I hope you’ll visit Stitch Art and try a few of her patterns they are simply adorable! Enjoy!

NickyK

Ooh…almost forgot…Reece organized a giveaway with some sew delicious prizes as well as wonderful discounts.  To find out more on the prizes and discounts visit Reece at Happy Okapi

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway  by clicking the link below…

Oh Nicky, thank you! I’ve got this sudden urge to try Free-Motion Appliqué (FMA). I had no idea it would be so simple. I sure hope you’ll honour me by coming back to guest post again soon. And coffee, yeah?

Readers, I’ll be back in a couple of days with a feature post from King Arthur’s court. I hope the jetlag won’t be too bad, and if Lancelot is really cute, I’ll bring him back at swordpoint.

* It all depends on how you define stalking. It really was more like, “Please, please, please be my sewing buddy. I can’t find any other sewists in Montreal. Please, pretty please. And your dogs are so cuuuuuute… ”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prize Pack A: 1 pattern from Jalie, 2 patterns from Blue Calla, 1 pattern from Carla’s Creations, and $25 CAD store credit from Tangled Blossoms Design

Prize Pack B: 1 pattern from Stitch Art, 1 pattern from Pollywoggles, 1 fat quarter bundle from Camelot Fabrics, and $25 CAD store credit from Emmaline Bags

Prize Pack C: Rebel Quilt pattern from Libs Elliott, Bundle of 3 patterns from Thread Riding Hood, 1 pattern from On The Cutting Floor, $20 voucher from Flare Fabrics

Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop Schedule

Be sure to visit each of these brilliant blogs this week for more on our
outstanding Canadian designers and suppliers:

And, of course, to enter our giveaway for some sweet-like-maple-syrup prizes.

June 24: The Tour Starts HERE at Happy Okapi

June 25: Celine guest posts on Happy Okapi; Marsha @ Seam of my Pants

June 26: Fiona @ Tangled Blossoms Designs; Carla @ Half Dozen Daily

June 27: Sherry @ Thread Riding Hood; Reece @ Happy Okapi

June 28: Nicky guest posts on Seam of my Pants

June 29: Daniela @ On the Cutting Floor; Reece @ Happy Okapi

June 30: Michelle @ Michelle’s Creations

Canada Day–June 31*: Ula @ Lulu & Celeste

July 2: Marsha @ Seam of my Pants

July 3: Keshia @ Sand Dollar Design Studio

July 4: Wrap Up @ Happy Okapi

July 6: Giveaway winners announced

* Yes, we know!