WOOL APPLIQUE

By Betty Winslow for Superior Threads

Wool Applique with Sew Sassy

I have always loved sewing, quilting, and embroidery. My love for needle arts started when I was a young child, learning from my grandmothers, aunt, and mother. There's something magical about creating tangible art with your hands. I've been blessed to learn many different needlework skills including: sewing, handwork, crochet, knitting, embroidery, hardanger (whitework embroidery), cross-stitch, and applique. My career was in teaching and I had the privilege of providing adults and children the opportunity to learn and enjoy many needlework applications.

Throughout my life, I have continued to learn and develop my sewing and needlework skills. In the past few years, I've focused on growing my skills in embellishments with an emphasis on applique. There seems to be an unlimited number of techniques and designs available. I particularly find the challenges of applique, beading, embroidery and free-motion quilting inspiring.

When asked to create a sample piece for Superior Threads using Sew Sassy, I wanted to incorporate several different needlework applications into a single project. I wanted to combine wool applique, embroidery and quilting and this was a great opportunity to do that. I love using wool and wool-felt applique shapes because it enhances the existing design by adding dimension. This was the first time I stitched with Superior Threads' Sew Sassy, a 12 wt. 3-ply polyester thread. I like the color selection, thickness and texture of Sew Sassy.

I chose to make two different designs and combine them into one (it's a zippered pouch with two sides). I found the tutorial for this fun idea on Fat Quarter Shop. I liked how one side of the pouch is quilted before adding the applique and the opposite side is embellished on pieced fabrics. The inspiration for the butterfly and bird patterns came from images I found on Pinterest and a collection of already purchased patterns, which I resized. The embroidery stitches and other aspects were my design. I really like how there are both contrasting colors and blending colors between the fabric, wool shapes and threads.

Several tidbits on the processes and techniques used to create both designs:

- I added Swarovski heat-n-bond crystals for pizazz.

- I used Superior Metallics on the bird design to add a bit more depth and dimension to the piece.

- The French knots have two different colored strands of Sew Sassy thread for special effect. I learned that when stitching short, small stitches, the color changes need to be in fairly short increments to achieve the desired effect.

- I cut the strands of thread into 18" long segments so I could control the texture and keep the stitches even.

Not having stitched with Sew Sassy prior to this project, I wasn't sure how the experience would be. I'm grateful to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed working with Sew Sassy for this wool felt applique and embroidery project.

I hope you become inspired to use wool felt and Sew Sassy in an upcoming project!