Place a contrasting fabric at the bottom
of your design, secure both layers with pins. The bottom fabric
should have at least 1/2″ allowance from the outline of the drawn
design.
2. With thread/embroidery floss and needle, sew both layers
with the type of stitches you want, I sewed with
running stitch for this instance. If your design is big with less
curvy outlines, you might want to consider using sewing machine to
do the job since it helps you to accomplish the project faster
:lol: Either straight line or zigzag stitch will
be a good idea for reverse-applique by sewing machine.
3. After you have finished with the sewing, use a sharp point
scissor to cut out ONLY the top fabric. You have to do this
carefully and precisely, about 1mm-2mm from the edge of the
stitching line. I used my favorite DMC scissor for this job as I
don’t want to risk my work by accidentally cut the stitches or the
bottom fabric by mistake. As always, in order to have a nice piece
of handmade, I emphasized on
using the right tool
for the right job.
4. This is how a reverse-applique looks
after removing the top fabric. You are not confined to only 2
layers of fabric in reverse-applique, you can add as many layers as
you want depending on your design, but be sensible otherwise your
project will be too thick. Notice the different between the top and
bottom pictures of both “P” I have made? Look carefully at the
center cavity of the alphabet!!!
5. This is the example 3-layer
reverse-applique where the cavity is another layer of white fabric
at the bottom of the brown fabric.
As you know, woven fabric will fray a bit at the edge. If you
are making it for everyday-use project, like garment and bag
where washing is needed for example, I would
suggest that you use back-stitch (hand sewn) or zig-zag (machine
sewn) as this will let your work last longer.