Machine embroidery appliqué for beginners: placement, tackdown, trim, satin

An appliqué design stitches a placement line on your hooped base fabric, then a tackdown line after you lay the appliqué fabric over it. You trim the extra fabric close to the tackdown without unhooping, and the machine finishes with a satin (or zigzag) stitch that covers the raw edge. Brother’s manual also describes a pre-cut method where you cut the shape first and glue it inside the placement line. Appliqué is the easiest way to make a big, bold design on a small machine. Instead of filling a shape with thousands of stitches, the machine outlines a piece of fabric and covers its edge, so you get large color areas with far fewer stitches and less stiffness.

It looks fiddly, but it is a repeatable four-step routine. This guide walks through the in-hoop method most appliqué designs use, the pre-cut method from Brother’s manual, what fabric and stabilizer to use, and how to trim cleanly. If you haven’t run a regular design yet, start with how to use an embroidery machine.

What are the steps in machine appliqué?

Ink/Stitch’s appliqué tutorial breaks every appliqué into four stages:

Embroidery Library’s in-the-hoop patch tutorial follows the same order: a dieline to mark the fabric area, a tack-down, the interior details and a satin border. Most appliqué designs you buy stop the machine after each stage and show it as a separate color step. On Brother machines, the color list shows appliqué steps with labels such as “APPLIQUE MATERIAL,” “APPLIQUE POSITION” and “APPLIQUE.” Brother’s PE900 manual notes that real thread names won’t appear for these steps, so you choose the colors yourself.

What do you need?

• Base fabric hooped with the right stabilizer for that fabric.
• Appliqué fabric, cut a little larger than the shape.
• Stabilizer: tear-away under stable wovens, cut-away under knits. OESD and Madeira both make this split. See cut-away vs tear-away.
• Temporary spray adhesive or fabric glue. Brother’s manual lists either one in its required materials, and Ink/Stitch says a light adhesive spray helps hold the appliqué fabric in place.
• Small curved appliqué scissors. Ink/Stitch notes appliqué scissors help with trimming.
• Thread for the cover stitch. Ink/Stitch suggests matching thread for a subtle edge or contrasting thread so the stitches become part of the design.

Method 1: Place, tack down and trim in the hoop

This is the method used by most purchased appliqué designs and by Ink/Stitch’s tutorial.

1. Hoop the base fabric with stabilizer, taut but not stretched. The hooping guide covers the details.
2. Stitch the placement line. The machine stitches the outline and stops.
3. Cover the outline with appliqué fabric. Cut a piece that covers the outline with margin to spare on every side. Mist the back lightly with temporary spray adhesive (away from the machine) and smooth it over the outline.
4. Stitch the tackdown. The machine stitches through the appliqué fabric along the shape and stops.
5. Trim. Remove the frame from the machine if that makes trimming easier, but leave the fabric in the hoop. Ink/Stitch says to carefully trim the excess appliqué fabric close to the tackdown stitches, cutting right up to the stitch line without cutting the stitches or the base fabric.
6. Reattach the frame and stitch the cover stitch. The satin or zigzag stitch wraps the raw edge.
7. Finish the remaining colors, such as details stitched on top of the appliqué.
8. Unhoop and remove the stabilizer as usual.

Method 2: Pre-cut the shape (Brother’s method)

Brother’s operation manual describes a different approach for its built-in appliqué patterns: you stitch the cutting line on a separate piece of fabric, cut the shape out, then glue it inside a placement line on the base fabric.

1. Make the appliqué piece. Attach stabilizer to the wrong side of the appliqué fabric, hoop it, and stitch the cutting line. Remove it from the frame and cut carefully along the stitched line.
2. Cut on the line, not inside it. Brother warns that if you cut inside the cutting line, the piece may not attach correctly. Pick out any remaining threads after cutting.
3. Stitch the position outline on the base fabric. Hoop the stabilized base fabric and stitch the appliqué position.
4. Leave the base fabric hooped. Remove the frame from the embroidery unit, but Brother says not to remove the base fabric from the frame until all embroidery is finished.
5. Attach the piece. Lightly apply fabric glue or temporary spray adhesive to the back and place it inside the outline. If it won’t stay with glue, Brother says to baste it. For thin fabric, it suggests reinforcing the piece with an iron-on adhesive sheet, which you can then press in place.
6. Reattach the frame and stitch the appliqué and the rest of the pattern.
7. Clean off any glue after finishing, as the Brother manual instructs.

The PE900 manual also explains how to make appliqué from two matching built-in frame shapes: stitch a straight-stitch frame on the base, lay fabric over it, stitch the same frame again, cut around it, then stitch a satin-stitch frame of the same size over the edge. It is a good way to practice before you buy appliqué designs.

Which method should you use?

• Choose the in-hoop trim method if you are using a purchased appliqué design with placement and tackdown steps, or you want to skip a second hooping.
• Choose the pre-cut method if you are using Brother’s built-in appliqué patterns, you want very precise shapes, or you are making many copies of the same piece.

Both methods end the same way: a cover stitch over a raw edge. The difference is whether you cut before or after the fabric is on the base.

What fabric works best for appliqué?

Start with stable woven cotton (quilting cotton) for both the base and the appliqué. It cuts cleanly, doesn’t stretch and suits tear-away stabilizer.

Match the stabilizer to the base fabric. A T-shirt with a cotton appliqué still needs cut-away underneath, because the shirt stretches. Madeira also lists washaway mesh for appliqué work where you want no backing left behind, and OESD lists wash-away stabilizers for reverse appliqué; see embroidery stabilizer types.

Trimming tips for clean edges

1. Trim close. The satin stitch can only cover a raw edge that sits under it. Ink/Stitch says to cut right up to the stitch line.
2. Keep the scissors flat. Rest the blade against the hoop surface and slide it along the tackdown, lifting the excess fabric with your other hand.
3. Take small cuts on curves. Long cuts drift away from the line.
4. Protect the base fabric. Lift the appliqué fabric slightly away from the base before each cut so you don’t nick the fabric underneath.
5. Never unhoop to trim. If the base fabric shifts even slightly, the cover stitch won’t line up with the tackdown.
6. Check before restarting. Look for whiskers of fabric poking past the line and snip them before the satin stitch runs.

Our list of what you can make with an embroidery machine shows which items suit appliqué on a 4 × 4 or 5 × 7 hoop.

What goes wrong most often?

Where do you get appliqué designs?

Only designs digitized for appliqué include the placement and tackdown steps. Brother machines such as the PE900 include some appliqué patterns, and many design shops sell more; check the free embroidery designs guide for practice files. To make your own, Ink/Stitch has appliqué tools; start with our Ink/Stitch digitizing guide.

What to buy

The supplies this guide calls for, with what to check before buying. Prices change often — confirm with the seller.

• Curved embroidery or appliqué scissors — Trim jump stitches and appliqué fabric close to stitches without lifting the hoop off the machine.
• Tear-away stabilizer — Temporary support for stable wovens such as canvas, denim, twill and quilting cotton.
• Cut-away stabilizer — Permanent support for knits, T-shirts, sweatshirts and anything that stretches.
• Temporary spray adhesive — Bonds fabric to stabilizer to reduce shifting when floating or hooping slippery fabric.