My tips for successful machine appliqué

1. Always use a stabilizer on the back of the fabric. I use a disposable coffee filter that I have ironed flat as stabilizer. They are acid free and won't harm your fabric. The stabilizer will make your stitches smoother, prevents puckering of the background fabric and reduces the amount of fabric the machine pulls up into the decorative stitching. They are also easy to tear away after you are finished with the block.

Let's start from the beginning. Take a picture that you like or a pattern. I'm using a butterfly picture. If you're using a picture, turn it over and carefully outline the butterfly shape with a magic marker. If you're using a pattern, just lay the pattern out.	Pin the pattern to your ironing board and cover it with an applique pressing sheet. You should be able to see your design through the sheet.
Here you can see the applique pressing sheet lying over the pattern. I have placed the lower wings of the butterfly in place...fusible web side down.	Press with a hot iron. It will stick to the pressing sheet. That's ok! We want it to do that!
In this picture you can see the upper wings of the butterfly laid into place and ironed down.
In this picture I have laid the body piece in place...fusible side is always down.
Press all the pieces into place with a hot iron. Press, not iron! If you slide the iron, you may disturb the placement of your pieces.
After the design cools, you can easily peel it from the pressing sheet and it will stay in one piece.
Lay the design on your background. Fuse according to the instructions for the product you are using.
I use plain old disposable coffee filters for my stabilizer. I iron them flat. They're acid free so I don't worry about them harming my fabric. The best part is they're cheap!!!
In this picture, I have the block turned over and have placed an ironed disposable coffee filter over my stitching area.
The lower wings are the first area I want to satin stitch because it is #1 (meaning it is the layer covered up by the most other parts).	Notice the presser foot is an open toe foot. I used a regular zigzag foot for years and then discovered how much extra work I had been making for myself! The open toe allows you to more easily see where you are stitching and is more accurate for pivoting.
In this picture you can see that I have come all the way around the lower wing section and am to the point where the upper wing section overlaps. The upper wing section is #2 in our stitching order. It lies on top of the lower wings but is underneath the body. The body will be #3 in the stitch order.	Because you will be covering the end of this line of satin stitching, it is not necessary to back stitch here. There are however points where you will need to backstitch and I will try to point them out to you.
Here I am entering a curve. Note the position of the presser foot. With the needle down on the outside edge, lift the presser foot and very slightly pivot the fabric to align the edge for the next few stitches.
Take a few more stitches and as you reach the next curve, repeat the above step.	Always put your needle down on the outside when you are negotiating a curve.
I've completed both sets of wings and now I'm ready to start satin stitching the body. Always start stitching at the point where you want to end.
I'm using 0.4 stitch length and 2.5 stitch width on my Viking 500. The next series of pictures will show how I negotiate the curve.
Can you see that the presser foot position is slightly different than in the picture above?
I only took a few stitches here...put the needle down...repositioned the fabric
I'm almost around this curve. You can see that I've already changed the position of the fabric again. It seems like a lot of trouble but it's really not. This is what you have to do to get smooth curves.
Here I am at the bottom of the body. This is a much tighter curve to negotiate so I will take fewer stitches between changing the fabric position.
Try this yourself. It really works!
Another couple stitches and another fabric repositioning
Again
Again
Again! I'm almost completely out of this curve and will be headed up the straight side of the body.
I've completed the satin stitching around the body and am back at my beginning point.	At the end of my line of stitching, I change my stitch to straight stitch and take 2-3 forward stitches followed by 2-3 reverse stitches. It secures the satin stitching to prevent it from pulling loose.
This photo shows the completion of the body.
Do you want to see how I do the antennae? Just click on the picture to the right.
When I turn over the block you can see the coffee filter in place and the back side of the satin stitching.
Now you just tear away the stabilizer from the area that is completed. Notice how smooth it is. No puckers in the background fabric! That's what we want!







This is an example of a block that has been satin stitched without the use of a stabilizer on the back. See how puckered the background fabric is next to the satin stitch?	This satin stitching is also very uneven. This is a sad little block. :-(
This could so easily have been avoided by using a stabilizer on the back of the block. The stabilizer would also have improved the quality of the satin stitching.	Same block...different view....Notice the puckered background . Fabric is so expensive. Why would you want to spend all that money and not have a quality product when you get finished?

2. Practice with some scrap fabrics to find the stitch width you like best. The raw edge of the design should always be well covered with stitching. I use a Viking 500 machine and use different widths for my satin stitching. For small pieces I may use "2". The widest stitch I use is"3". Practice also with stitch length to find what works best for you. Computerized machines will set the stitch length for you but you can override it if a different length works better. I use anywhere from 4-6.

3. Look at your pattern and number it in the order in which you plan to stitch it. Find the undermost layer and mark it #1. Proceed up to the uppermost layer. This ensures a smooth looking design with no visible starts and stops.

4. If you find that you have to end a satin stitch where it will be unprotected by other stitching....switch to straight stitch and take 2-3 stitches to lock the satin stitching. Otherwise, it may unravel. Always put your machine in "needle down" mode if possible when doing machine appliqué.

5. When approaching curves, slow your speed down and turn your fabric smoothly to make nice rounded curves. If you need to stop and reposition....ALWAYS....stop the machine with the needle down on the OUTSIDE of the curve. Then you can reposition the fabric and not have any gaps in the satin stitching. If you stop on the inside of the curve to reposition your fabric, you will most assuredly have a very unattractive gap. Try it on some scrap fabric.

6. When approaching a corner or point, I always decrease my stitch width as I get close to that area. After I make the turn, I increase the stitch width back to the setting I was using. It makes a neater point or corner. With a computerized machine it's so easy to do that. With a manual machine, just turn your dial to a smaller setting.

8. Always start with a larger background piece than your finished size should be. Appliqué distorts the background. Trim the block after you complete the appliqué design. If I'm making 12.5" blocks, I will start with a 13.5" block and then trim it to 12.5" after I complete my design.

9. Practice, practice, practice until you are comfortable with satin stitching. You want nice, smooth lines and curves, sharp points and corners. As time permits, I will add some graphics of appliqué in progress.