Applique can personalize and prettify just about any sewing project!
Applique is a foundational sewing skill, and one that will open up a whole new world of sewing for you. After you learn this quite easy technique, you’ll start to see uses for it everywhere. My favorite reason to applique is to personalize a sewing project, sometimes with just a monogram and sometimes with a full name. My second favorite reason to applique is to make a project holiday-themed–applique a patchwork ghost to a plain sweatshirt, and suddenly you have a Halloween sweatshirt!
Below are some of my favorite applique sewing projects. Some call for interfacing, but if you’re a patient and careful sewist, you can actually forgo it most of the time. Use these projects as inspiration for your own applique projects, or try for the exact same look–there simply cannot be too many patchwork ghost sweatshirts out in the world!
Applique School Hoodie
College merch is stupid expensive, and it’s often not very cute, either. Your favorite college student will feel much more festive, and will look much more original, wearing a hoodie customized with their school’s name in patchwork and applique. For extra detail, add their school logo, mascot, outline map of the state, etc.
Dragon Quilt
The special technique for this quilt is to quilt-as-you-go onto single-sided fusible interfacing, then pop it onto your background fabric! Take your favorite line drawing or stencil and print it large-scale to create the template. Go VERY wide on the zigzag stitching–I didn’t do mine wide enough the first time and found myself back at the sewing machine during my college student’s summer break, reinforcing allllll those seams.
Felt Mandala Ornament
Felt is so easy to work with! This project is perfect for hand-sewing while enjoying your favorite audiobook or podcast. Use embroidery floss for most of the embellishment, with some dimensional fabric paint for features that you want to pop. Beads and other embellishments let you get even more creative!
Greeting Card with Scrap Fabric Applique
Did you know that you can applique fabric onto paper and cardstock? I especially love this, because it adds the beauty and interest of fabric prints, but you don’t have to worry about wear and tear and unraveling seams.
Handprint Turkey Shirt
How adorable is this handprint turkey shirt made with the child’s actual handprint? This would be a fun custom shirt to make for the entire family for Thanksgiving. For Halloween, go with handprint spiders!
Monogrammed Hooded Towel
This is a project that feels like it ought to be high-end and fancy, but is actually quite easy to do. A hooded towel is super simple to sew, and although applique onto terrycloth is a bit tricky, it’s nothing that a confident beginner couldn’t tackle.
Necktie Embellished with Applique
This is a super cute project for anyone who works with children or in a highly themed environment. Because neckties aren’t subject to a lot of washing, you can be more creative with fabric choice and applique technique.
Personalized Easter Baskets
You can apply this same concept to any holiday sewing project–personalized Christmas stockings, Thanksgiving placemats, or Halloween hoodies!
Play Mat with Appliqued Details
A play mat lets a little kid engage in small-world play without having to buy them a billion accessories. Here, this road map play mat is embellished with applique details in a variety of fabrics to add sensory interest, as well. The tree trunks are sewn out of corduroy, and the beach is made of toweling!
Scrappy Mini Quilt
This project banks on the fact that an artistic mini quilt isn’t going to be washed often, if at all. If you want to use a quilt constructed via this method, use a double-sided fusible interfacing to iron the pieces to the quilt before quilting. You’ll still get the odd frayed thread, but overall the quilt should wash and wear well.
Solar System Mug Rug
A mug rug is a super handy gift for a college student, and tucks nicely into a care package. Your college student isn’t into astronomy? Bummer, but not a problem–I made a David Bowie mug rug for one of my own college students!
State Map Quilt
I LOVE how easy this project becomes when you use pre-cuts. Pick your favorite jelly roll set, print out a large-scale line map of your favorite state, and you’re halfway done! For extra fun, embroider extra details, like the location of your hometown or where you met your spouse, on top of the state.
P.S. Do YOU have a favorite applique project? Tell us about it in the Comments!
