Fabric Appliques

Applique (or appliqué) is a technique in which pieces of fabric are sewn onto a foundation piece of fabric to create designs. It is particularly suitable for work which is to be seen from a distance, for example, Banner-making. more...

A famous example of applique is the Hastings Embroidery whose designs are appliqued onto the backing fabric using a variety of embroidery stitches.

Applique is also used extensively in quilting. "Dresden Plate" and "Sunbonnet Sue" are just two examples of well-known quilt blocks that use both patchwork and applique to construct.

Battimore album quilts and Amish are famous examples of applique quilts due to the quality of their designs.

Types of applique include:

• Broderie perse
• San Blas applique, the mola

Decorating using appliqués

The basic idea of appliqué seems easy, cutting a shape out of one fabric and sewing that shape onto another fabric.

Appliqué is a simple and effective method of decorating fabric whether you are using hand appliqué or machine appliqué. Hand appliqué means you sew it yourself, so you have to know at least one type of stitch such as the slipstitch. Machine appliqué is of course done mostly on sewing machines. Appliqué doesn't just use fabric; it can also be used with other materials such as beads, sequins, etc. It is often combined with other types of needlework such as embroidery to create the desired effect.

Read more at Wikipedia.org