I very recently went into handmade gift mode for my family Birthday gifts, and tried my hand at various appliques! This has been a first for me, and was surprising fun, easy and very effective - so much so that my friends and family should watch out, come birthday time...
My first try was in creating an owl cushion cover for my older sister. I went with a european size cover (65 x 65 cm) as the point was a reading pillow. The square shaped proved difficult for creating an owl look, but I discovered that for retro style owls, its all in the eyes/beak/wings combo, and almost any shape would probably do. I added a pair of peaked ears for good measure though :)
My second Applique Project was a gift for my 2 year old niece, who had, just recently, moved into her 'big girls room'. The inspiration began when her mother showed me some wall decals she'd bought featuring the babushka doll, and then during a shopping trip to trusty Spotlight, I found this gorgeous babushka print fabric! I just new I had to use it to make something for my niece! The fabric was a light, soft cotton muslin, and to make a sturdy cushion cover, it needed a cotton fabric backing. I then got to search for a suitable image to use as the outline, and play around with my vintage offcuts until I had the perfect combination! Using a zigzag stitch on the small parts was tricky (which is why I chose to draw on the eyes and mouth), but I'm loving the final piece!
This last project was the trickiest one, as it involved cutout sections in the fabric to be appliqued, and stitching it directly onto a stretch tee was not the best plan. If I were to applique tees again, I'd definitely use an interfacing to strengthen the fabric, and either baste or preferably fuse the applique piece to the tee before sewing, in order to minimise buckling!
But the end result was still terrific, and the recipient (my VW Van mad Brother in Law) was very taken with his handmade gift!
