How to applique sequin fabric
What are Appliques? Simply stated, appliques are embroidery or fabric pieces that can be further attached to any accessory or clothing to enhance their appearance. Many people prefer to create appliques instead of sewing sequins directly to the fabric.
You see the former part is much easier and offers a clean look as well. By this, you can prevent your dress from any kind of exposed stitches plus you will have perfectly flat appliques. Follow these simple steps to achieve the perfect applique for your sequin fabrics.
Choose your Fabric
First of all, it is essential to pick a sequin fabric that does not stretch too much and can lay naturally straight while stitching. The point here is that a fabric that doesn’t allow the sequin to lay flat naturally won’t do justice with the dress.
Also, avoid any experimentation with hot iron. You might end up breaking, burning or bending the sequins.
Fusible Web
Heard about the fusible web? As the name suggests, fusible fiber is a manmade fiber that tends to melt on heating. In other words, if you place a piece of fusible web between two different fabrics and heat it, it will melt and make that fabric stick to each other.
There is no need to knit or weave this material. Coming back to our sequin applique, place the sequin design on the fusible web and take measurement of the section. You now need to cut it carefully with the design facing up on the web.
Heating it up!
Make sure you are ready with a hot iron, a piece of cloth to press upon, sequin design, fusible web with main portion facing upwards, and an ironing table.Here is a safety warning; the iron has to be really very hot. So make sure you keep your hands away from it and have a med-kit handy as well.
Since the iron is super-hot, you need to make fast hand movements as it can also burn the press cloth otherwise. You ought to be really fast with this!
Check the Pattern
It will hardly take 1 minute to set the sequin design in the fusible web. Keep the iron aside and let the ingredients cool down completely. Avoid hasty movements as this can damage your applique quality.
Now you can check by peeling a part of the sequin from a corner. If you find an appropriate amount of webbing attached to it, your task is done, and you are ready to go to the next step. In case, the fusible web doesn’t come along the sequin, repeat step number 3.
It’s time for some Designing!
That since your applique is ready;it’snow time for some creativity. You can now easily cut it into your desired shape or design. Use a stencil to get the perfect shape.
Make sure your applique is flexible and clean. You must also ensure that two different pieces of webbings don’t touch each other. They might stick to each other just like double-sided tape.
Here comes the Final Piece!
Once you are done with cutting and shaping, it’s time to put the appliques on the final dress. This can be a tricky task as the slightest mistake can ruin your dress. But it’s not that difficult too! Place all the appliques according to the design pattern of your dress.It’s best to place the applique according to the marking on the dress.
Now place the press cloth on it and apply a hot iron to glue it completely on the dress. But the story doesn’t end here! Place the iron aside and let the applique cool down completely within a minute. You can now remove the press cloth and check if the applique is properly sticking on the fabric or not.
Your task is done now! Though applying sequin applique to your fabric is not rocket science, but you need to be extra vigilant with it. Having the perfect sequin applique on your dress can enhance its looks and elegance manifolds. So what are you waiting for? Give your dress a touch of shine now!