Starting with Wool Applique - the basics 101
Choose a small project
Acquire wool at your local 2nd hand shop. Look for 100% wool sweaters, coats, scarves, hats and other wool items.
Don't worry about stitch perfection -- wool is often used in primitive projects -- and perfection is not the goal -- it's hand made!
Start with a cheaper and readily accessible cotton floss like DMC Pearle Cotton in size #8 or #12 (you can find this at Joann Fabric).
As you find yourself doing more and more wool work, upgrade to Valdani Pearle Cotton, Aurifil Lana Wool, Aurifil Cotton Floss, or Aurifil Mako Cotton 12Wt.
Needles are a personal choice but in the past I've used a Clover Gold Eye Chenille Needle (No 22 & 24). For embellishments such as bullion knot, a #1 darning needle/milliners needle works well. They are long enough to get several wraps to make the stitch.
Sue Spargo carries all the basic needles one could ever need, on her website, as a package for $25.00.
Tulip brand needles are the best needles made, that I have found so far - they are more expensive, but they are hand made and flawless. They are available on Amazon.
Scissor choice is important for cutting wool -- Choose a serrated edge scissor, the serrated edge scissors help grip (not push) the wool for accurate cutting
General Wool Applique Info:
To "full" also commonly referred to as "felting" your woven wool pieces, wash and agitate in hot water and dry on high heat.
Once woven wool is fulled properly it should cut without fraying - making fulled wool quick and easy to applique. No need to turn the edge under and you can get by without using glue or fusible products.
Cutting Wool Applique
To cut a design out of wool -- go to your kitchen drawer and grab the freezer paper!
Trace your design or template onto the dull (paper) side of your freezer paper (no need to reverse the design)
Press the freezer paper onto your wool (a few seconds of pressure using a medium heat dry iron). NOTE: most wool does not have a right or wrong side.
Cut through the wool and the freezer paper along the traced design using serrated edge scissors.
Gently peel the freezer paper away from the wool and save (it's reusable).
Attach To Background Fabric:
To attach a piece of wool to the background fabric (cotton, wool, flannel or any other type of background) use number 24 or 22 chenille needle.
Use small applique pins to hold the wool applique in place.
Some choose to use glue or fusible products but personally I try to avoid using glue or fusible products on my wool projects.
Ready to stitch ?
I flip flop between an overhand (whip) or a blanket stitch (see general stitching diagrams here).
If the wool edge shows any signs of fraying I opt to use a blanket stitch, as it reduces the chance that the wool will continue to fray. Otherwise, a simple overhand or whip stitch will work.
Can use Soft Fuse for attaching the wool pieces to the background. Also can try stapling them onto the background before stitching them dow
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