Talking about wool applique!
Alaska bound!

There's more than one way to stitch a leaf!

Leaves 5

If you do any kind of wool applique, it's almost impossible to get away from stitching down leaves. Lots of people feel they have to blanket stitch down every shape but with leaves, sometimes they're too small to do that. Here are ways I like to stitch them ... keeping in mind that I consider these as projects that won't be worn or laundered. If they were going to be touched a lot, I'd stitch them down tight! I tend to stitch with one or two strands of floss. If I want to stitch down all of the edges, I prefer a whip stitch to a blanket stitch. I often stitch down the center of the leaf with a back stitch, tugging the stitches a tiny bit to make them gather.


Leaves 11

X stitches are another favorite. They give some texture while holding the leaf in place.

Leaves 10

Leaves 4

Leaves 2

Long stitches angled from each side anchor the leaves and give dimension. Or you can add angled long stitches to either side of a back stitch.

Leaves 8

Leaves 7

I love finding unusual ways to stitch the leaves too ... just for fun. This leaf is found on my Wool and Whimsy pincushion at American Patchwork and Quilting.

Leaves 9

Sometimes I'll use two different stitches on one leaf set. I'll whip stitch the bottom leaf down and then do something different on the top leaf. An X stitch works great. So does a chain stitch.

Each leaf  speaks to me and helps me decide from project to project which is the best technique. That's the beauty of wool applique ... there are so many ways to stamp yourself on each project you make. Enjoy it!

btw ... if you love wool ... make sure you join our Wool Workers group on Facebook!

Leaves 1

Comments