London, Baby! Tips for Appliqué with Bondaweb

For my turn on the British Sew a Row quilt along, I will be sharing with you my tips for how to appliqué with bondaweb. These are great techniques to know for those times when you don’t want to do needle-turn appliqué, apply intricate shapes or add text to projects.

What is the British Sew a Row?

To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, I teamed up with four fabulous British designers to create a quilt that celebrates all things British;

All the blocks cover a variety of techniques such as needle-turn appliqué, raw edge appliqué, traditional piecing, foundation paper piecing and even a couple of curves! You can chose your favourite row to make smaller projects such as cushions and table runners or buy all rows to make the quilt.

London, Baby! Quilt Blocks

For my row, I focused on famous London Landmarks – they are a modern interpretation, focusing on key features and the outline, but there is a lot of room for embellishment! You can add in all the extra detail that you like with stitching, or keep it minimalist if you prefer.

The blocks use a combination of techniques such as bondaweb, and foundation paper piecing and are suited for Confident Beginners.

Tips for Sewing and Using Bondaweb for Appliqué

If you are new to using Bondaweb, it is a fusible sheet that you can use to stick fabric together: you trace the design you want to make, apply it to your feature fabric, remove the backing paper and then fuse it to your background fabric and secure with stitching around the edge of your design.

It is most often used for layering pieces, text, or creating ‘pictures’ such as the flower block I made using Yasmeen’s pattern;

How to use Bondaweb for Raw Edge Appliqué

NOTE: if making your own design, remember to reverse your image (especially with text!) so that you get the design you were hoping for!

1. One side will feel smooth (this is the backing paper) and the other feels slightly rough (this is the fusible side).
   
2. Place the bondaweb rough side down on your design and trace the outline on the paper side.
   • I like to use a pencil for tracing: I have used pen before but found that the heat from the iron can transfer ink to the iron plate and then mark the fabric!
   • For layered designs – such as the flower pictured above – you will need to trace each of the pieces separately.
   • For continuous lines such as the curve of the London Eye, I find it easiest and quickest to use dotted lines to trace the design. The line can be smoothed out when cutting out.

3. Cut around each of your design pieces leaving a 1/4″ border: this is so that the bondaweb is fused all the way to edge of your design.
   
4. Place the bondaweb Wrong Side Down on the back (Wrong Side) of your fabric and press to fuse the layers together.
   • If you are cutting out narrow pieces such as the London Eye/ropes of Tower Bridge, be careful not to mis-shape the bondaweb when fusing to your fabric. Leaving a border around the shape helps to add some stability and pressing gently around the shape helps to prevent any issues.
     
5. Once the fabric has cooled, trim the design elements to size.
   
6. Prep your background pieces as necessary.
   • If you are creating a picture (like the flower block above) draw/mark the design on the background fabric so that you know where to place the pieces. As I was using a light background, I placed the design template underneath the paper and used this as a guide for placement.
     
7. Remove the backing paper from the bondaweb. The backing paper is meant to peel away, but I don’t always find this is the case. And especially when working with small/narrow pieces, I don’t want to pull the piece around too much and encourage frayed edges.
   • My favourite method is using a pin to scratch the backing paper, creating a tear so that I can use the pin to lift the paper off the fabric.
     
8. Place your piece on to the backing fabric and press into position.
   
9. Once you have finished your design, you can stitch to secure the edges (or leave this until you are ready to quilt the project). There are a couple of different methods you can try;
   • Use a zig-zag, blanket stitch or satin stitch on your machine to cover the raw-edges of your appliqué and help prevent any future fraying
   • Free-motion quilt just inside the edge of the appliqué – over time the very edges of the fabric might fray but depending on what you’re making this can add to the finished look.

Don’t forget to grab the London, Baby! Quilt Block Patterns here and if you have any questions then do drop me a line!

Sx

Today’s Sky::: blue skies and very hot. Not the best day for ironing!