Fabric and/or bead applique tips?

[Singing Otter]

Hey yall,

I wanted to get a post started on fabric and bead applique techniques and tips. I'm just starting on both and figured with posting I'd get help for me and the others that might need help as well....

With that being said, any tips to share?


With some of my beadwork, I sand down the tips of the needles so that I don't split my thread.

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[n8tivechick]

ok.. if you happen to be sewing 2 peices (or more) of satin together what i do is put a peice of paper in between them and then sew. When you are all done rip the paper out of the seam. I had never had it mess my seams up... and it keeps the fabric from sliding. I have no other ones to share right now....
-Kelli

[Majii]

When I do applique' work, I draw my designs on paper and I trace over with a "Sulky" pen. It's a marker that creates iron on transfers.
All I have to do is transfer the designs by Ironing them onto the fabric and voila! the design is right on the area I want to work on. I use to draw the pattern On the pieces (messy when I make a mistake) or bead right trough fabric and paper(with the pattern on)and paper rips after working on it a while.
I found it a heck of a lot easier.

[Singing Otter]

Thanks guys!

In your opinion what's the best backing? I've heard of usin the thicker plastic (like in bacon packs), felt, that stuff they sell at NocBay (anybody use it? Is it any good), and paperbags. I haven't tried any of these yet. I'm a little afraid of using paper just because when it rains or if it were to get wet....

Khelli, that's pretty cool! I ran across this paper that helps you to form perfect triangles at Joann's Fabrics. It didn't cost much and you could do alot with them.

Majii, ya read my mind!! I've been workin on some designs and thought, "How da *#&[email protected]*#^(#*^%(#^ am I going to get that on there!!???". Thanks a lot for the tip

[Majii]

Singing Otter....you're quite welcome

For backing....that's a hard one. I use cardboard, I'm kind of fussy about the thickness, it has to be about a eighth of an inch thick. not too stiff, it has to give a little. If I can't find the right kind of cardboard,"cereal boxes" I just glue two pieces together for the right thickness. Then I glue the work on the cardboard, make sure it's flat, and sew the pieces together. I found that way works best for me.
I did try the plastic from meat packs, I found that the work stuck out too much,was too thick.

[Suzizila]

If anybody wants to use that starched felt in beading projects, check out Michaels craft stores. Michaels sells the exact same thing NocBay is selling as beading foundation
in larger sheets for under a dollar.

That stuff is perfect for beading on. For larger projects, you might consider doubling the layer to have a sturdier surface for beading. The only thing you can't do with this stuff is to iron it for a long time. I tried using a Xerox copy as a transfer, the design came out fuzzy, and the felt lost some of its stiffness. Other than that, that starched felt is great.

[Singing Otter]

Majii, Thanks again! I have a lot of boxes here. I think I'll try it. I'm going to practice first... I have alot of work to do. lol

Thanks Suzizila - I was thinking about using the transfer sheets cause I can't draw!

I think that Joann's fabrics is having a sale until the 27th of January. For you guys that like to shop there, if you fill out one of their cards, they'll send you coupons for up to 50% off one item (I use it for expensive stuff ).

[chemika]

I use some stuff called "Kid`s Craft Foam." You can get it in craft departments. It comes in packs of three large sheets. Its good to bead right on it. Not too thick and holds beads well. I know a lady that beaded her little girls legging design on it. try it. If you don`t like it , your kids will get creative with it

[yishdioh]

For rosettes we bead them on canvas and then cut circles from plastic yogurt cup lids to put behind them. I have a friend who does her beadwork on interfacing, the thicker sew-in type.

For fabric applique we have been using "Wonder Under." It's a lot like iron-on interfacing but it has the iron-on stuff on both sides. It's sometimes called fusible webbing or fusible backing. You draw your patterns backwards on the paper backing side and then iron the other side to the back of your fabric. Cut out your designs along the lines you drew and then peel the paper backing off so you can iron them onto your main piece of fabric. It's really popular as a modern quilting technique. You can do a satin stitch or zigzag stitch over the edges of the design pieces once they're ironed on so the edges won't fray.

[cricket]

I don't sew fancy regalia, but I make Oregon trail jackets, has alot of ribbon quilting and Native butterfly designs and pretty fringes. I premake the butterfly designs using strips of very small triangles of calico and sewing them on strips of muslin as reinforcement. Then use Wonder Under, ironed on the design back and then place design on the denim and iron again. Finish off with satin stich. I know that you ladies use mostly satin but the Wonder does really work.

There is also this stuff called Heatnbond its an iron on adhesive. I purchased it a Michaels. I don't think I would use it for satin without a test patch using scraps but for adhesion of bead work I think it would be great. Again, test patch first its much stickier than Wonder Under. Oh yeah, I don't think I'd use it if you wanted to keep bead work recycleable, like childrens regalia, the design won't come off. Its"much"stickier it might be cool to bead work on top of it and then a layer of canvas then heat the whole thing up. It could help threads hold beads on to pieces. I've not tried that it just came off the top of my head. Might be worth a try, I have some beads and some of this Heatnbond, what size bead do people use? I'll give it a test try if any one is interested. PM me with a size bead your using, I can possibly do a small string of beads and then say wash and dry to beat it up a little and see what happens.