Making Templates

Today I’m back to talk about making templates.

Hopefully, you got your pattern printed out and taped together from yesterday, because you’ll be needing it to make your templates from today.

And before I forget, I meant to remind you:

If at any time during all this, you have any questions, or need me to clarify something, just leave me a comment (not a no-reply one) and I’ll get back to you. I read every comment, even if I don’t have time to respond to every single one, so I’ll be sure and see it. Or you can always just email me directly, too. I don’t want anyone getting “stuck”.

And also, I’d like to add:

What I’m teaching you here in these tutorials is only MY way of doing things. If you know of a better way that you’d prefer to use, you just go right ahead with that. Mildred used to always say: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat”! So you just go ahead and skin your cat however you choose, and take what I’m telling you here with a grain of salt. My way is not the end-all-be-all . . .

Oh, and I also recommend that you read through this entire post before beginning, so you can absorb and then apply what I’m telling you in the way that is best for you.

So, with that out of the way, let’s make some templates.

I’m talking about the hand needle-turn method first, then on below that, I’ll discuss using fusible webbing; so read both and then decide what you’d like to do.

Generally, for applique, each piece in a block is different. If I’m only making one block, then I don’t need to waste time making plastic templates that I’m only going to use once.

However, if it’s a block I’m going to be repeating a lot, or has a lot of shapes all the same, then I do use plastic to make my templates, so they’ll hold up under all the tracing.

For “Bouquets for Hazel”, we’re only making each block once, and each piece (except for the berries, which we’ll discuss later) in each block is different. No two alike. That means you’ll only be using your template one time. Just once, then you’re done with it. So no need to waste the plastic, right?

That’s why I put “freezer paper” on the supply list . . .

And we’ll be using it now, so go ahead and cut a piece of freezer paper at least as large as your paper pattern.

Lay it on top of your paper pattern, and commence to tracing the pieces. I like to trace them in numerical order, that way I make sure I got them all. BUT . . . you don’t have to trace the berries (the little round circles) because we’ll be doing those a different way that I’ll discuss later.

Here you can see how I did my stems . . .

And here are all my pieces. Note that I traced each leaf and flower as one unit. I did not separate the pieces out to trace them. That’s because we’ll be cutting them apart directly on the lines, so that way I can keep them together and not lose track of what goes where for now. Also, I write the template number on each piece, just as an aid for later on.

Once you have everything traced, just commit to working with a few pieces at a time. I’m starting with pieces 1, 2, and 3.

Cut them out of the freezer paper, directly on the drawn lines. Here are mine . . . they curl up a bit, but don’t worry. We have ways of taming them down . . . later. And don’t let your kids see you using the good scissors for this. I recommend using your paper scissors, just to keep yourself out of trouble.

Leave the rest as one big sheet so you don’t lose track of them. We’ll just cut them out as we need them, and I’ll discuss them each in turn in later posts.

And that is all you have to do today!

If you’d prefer to make your applique blocks using the fusible method, then read on . . .

For doing applique using fusible webbing, I use Heat ‘n’ Bond Lite. I’ve tried others. Steam-a-Seam works well, but I had trouble with TransWeb. Heat ‘n’ Bond Lite is just what I keep on hand and can get easily in my area, so that’s what I use. If you already have a favorite, then you’re all set.

To use the fusible web, the templates need to be reversed from the original pattern, and as we go, you’ll see why. If you don’t reverse them before tracing them onto the fusible web, your design will come out backwards. While not disastrous on a block such as the one we’re making, it would be if you had letters or an object that needs to be facing a certain direction.

Some patterns tell you if they are already reversed for fusible, but if they are not, you’ll need to do this part yourself. To do this, I simply turn my paper pattern over, and trace over it on the back side. I write the template numbers on, too, just to be on the safe side.

Note that I did not do the little “berries” because . . . you guessed it . . . we’re doing those differently a bit later. And I don’t do any work I don’t have to. My Cowboy calls it “working smart, not hard.”

Once you have the pattern reversed, you’re ready to trace the pieces onto the paper side of the fusible webbing.

For fusible, you do indeed have to separate out each individual piece, since these will not be cut out directly on the lines. So note that I separated the pieces of my leaves, and each piece of each flower. Be sure to leave space between the pieces for cutting them out. And write the template numbers on them. And be sure to smear ink everywhere, like I did.

For piece #12, I traced the piece that will go on top of it with a dotted line, to use as placement, and when we get to that piece in the actual applique process, it will become clear why that is a good thing to do.

You may also notice little tiny “x”s on some of the edges of my templates. I’ve made these marks to indicate where an edge of one piece gets overlapped by another. Then when I’m ready to cut them out, I can leave a bit of a seam allowance so it will get caught underneath the piece that overlaps it properly. You’ll see more about that in a later post as well.

When you’re all done tracing the pieces onto the fusible webbing, only cut out a few at a time to work with. I’m starting with pieces 1, 2, and 3 here. Cut them out roughly, leaving paper around the edges. DO NOT cut them out directly on the line.

And that’s all you have to do today.

I’ll be back tomorrow with information on the next steps. You’ll be sewing by the end of the week! How about that?