Steam-A-Seam?

I'm doing some applique and other things that might be made easier with Steam-A-Seam Lite 2 according to my machine dealer. The price is darn high here in the US. My dealer charges 4.50 for a 3' x 1' piece and prices aren't that much lower online. Is there anything comparable--- a fusible web that you can peel & stick and then fuse after you have the object placed where you want it?

I've always had such bad luck with fusibles (distortion, shrinkage, bubbling, bearding, coming loose, etc.) that I've tended to avoid them almost completely. Has anyone actually used it or something comparable and, if so, what do you recommend? Thanks.

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine
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For really light weight applications, where you want the thing to stay in place while you stitch it but be all soft and drapy in use, I like quilter's spray baste. You just spray the thing you want to apply, slap it in place, peel and move if you need to, and it eventually evaporates away or you can wash it out... :)

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Phae,

The last few years, I've become pretty much addicted to Roxanne's Glue Baste-It for both hand and machine applique. It comes in a squeeze bottle with a long skinny metal tip that dispenses the glue in tiny dots exactly where you want them. The glue dries fast, doesn't noticeably stiffen, and washes out first time the item is washed. The small bottle is around $6-7, I think, but it lasts a long time. Wonderful stuff.

Doreen in Alabama

Reply to
Doreen

Thanks Doreen. I'm going to look for that! Tell me how you use it with applique, please. Do you use it instead of basting the edges under? Mostly I've done needle-turn applique or the kind where you draw your outline on a piece of sheer interfacing, sew that to the right side of the fabric, slash the interfacing and then turn it.

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

This is what I was thinking of doing since the Steam-A-Seam is sticky on both sides: draw the template on the paper side of the Steam-A-Seam 2, cut it out and then stick (not press) it on the wrong side of the fabric. Then cut out the fabric allowing 3/16" or whatever that gets turned under. Then peel away the backing on the SS2 (maybe one half at a time) and finger-press the edge over. Then you could fuse the whole thing to the quilt if you wanted or just finger-press it on and then stitch. So the spray baste was not quite what I had in mind. Woould I have to actually fuse it with the iron so it would not eventually come loose? Or, would it eventually pull loose anyway like so many other fusibles?

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

Phaedrine wrote:

Phae,

I tried to learn needleturn applique when all my quilter friends fell in love with it, but I just don't have the knack for it, so went back to my previous method, freezer paper and starch (Magic Sizing, actually). It requires more time in preparation for sewing than does needleturn but gives me smooth, sharply turned edges so that I can concentrate on stitch quality, and I'm happy with the results. I just sit at a table with a sleeve board and my travel iron--small is easier--and take my time getting the pieces ready to sew.

Some people say that it isn't a good method to use for small or intricately shapes, but I haven't found that to be true. This kitty, for instance, is just over 3 inches tall, so you can imagine the size of its nose:

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you just trace shapes, without seam allowances, onto freezer paper; iron the fp, shiny side down, to the wrong side of your fabric; cut around the shapes leaving a seam allowance of between 1/8 to 3/16 inch; moisten the edges with a q-tip dipped in starch; turn them over the edge of the fp and iron dry. It helps to have a small container of plain water and another q-tip for moistening any places that don't turn as smoothly as you want; this is better than applying more starch to make a correction. A toothpick is helpful in turning edges and keeps your fingers away from the hot iron. It's also good to put a couple of layers of waste fabric on your sleeve board, because the continued pressing of starched edges leaves some scorching. Much better to wash or discard the waste fabric than to ruin your sleeve board cover! I apply dots of Roxanne's Glue Baste-It to the turned-under seam allowances, about a half inch apart and a little in from the edges, so I won't be stitching through it after it dries. I leave a small section unglued, and after the rest of the shape is stitched down, reach in with a hemostat to loosen the fp and pull it out before stitching the remainder of the edge. To me, this seems better than stitching all the way around and then having to cut into the backing to remove the fp.

This pretty much is my procedure with both hand and machine applique. I rarely ever have done any raw edge applique.

Doreen in Alabama

Reply to
Doreen

It'll be loose in the middle, held down at the edges by the stitching.

If you want something to stay attached in the middle forever, you'll probably have to stitch it somehow, like quilting.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

In article , Doreen wrote:

Thank you so much! Doreen, you are a champ for typing all that out for me! Actually, that is the best, most comprehensive description of the freezer paper method I have ever seen. I never really understood exactly how it was done before until I read your narrative. And I just love your method of using the hemostat to pull out the paper before you finish sewing the edge. I just happen to have one I use when I need a third hand. But one more question if you will indulge me. Why can't you take the freezer paper out before you sew the applique on the block or quilt?

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

What I was getting at was that most fusibles are not woven and I've seen many of them shred, pill or roll up on the inside so that they are visible from the outside. I'm just extremely wary of using a fusible on something that takes as much work as a quilt.

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

Phae,

You're very welcome. And your question is logical. Sometimes I do take the freezer paper out before fastening the applique down. But most of the time I don't (for reasons that might not be valid for every appliquer).

Probably the foremost reason is that in pulling the fp away, the applique piece can stretch a little. Fp sticks more tenaciously to some fabrics than others...this may have to do with the length of time it's pressed down, fabric finish or weave, or some other factor I haven't thought of. Leaving the fp in while sewing ensures that the edges aren't stretched at all.

Also, many times on inside corners I don't clip all the way in and press them. When the angle is narrow and there isn't much fabric on either edge approaching the inside point, there's less fraying and my results are better if I just turn the unstarched edges under with a wet toothpick as I sew them. Having the fp still in place tells me just where the inside point is supposed to be.

The other thing, and this is one reason my needleturn wasn't good, is that without the fp there, my applique tends to 'bubble' a little in the middle, as if I've tried to hide my stitches by pulling them under too far, perhaps. With fp in place, everything stays flat and smooth.

Something I didn't mention, but you undoubtedly don't need to be told, is that with this method you need to reverse designs before tracing them or trace them on the shiny side of the fp. To do the latter, I trace with a mechanical pencil. This doesn't leave much of a black line but there is an indentation, which is easy enough to see and cut when held at an angle in the light.

Doreen in Alabama

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Reply to
Doreen

Steam-a-Seam and Bondaweb are GLUE ONLY, and don't do this the way fusible interfacing can, as there's nowt to pill. If the bond on Bondaweb fails, the glue itself disintegrates to a powder and washes out.

The hearts on my Cracked Ice quilt (in my Quilt gallery) are bondawebbed then hand stitched down. That quilt lives on the sofa, the floor, under the cats... gets used every day and washed regularly, and so far the hearts have softened (Bondaweb can make things a bit stiff), but there's no pilling or lumps behind them.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Thanks again Doreen!! Now I get it! And, I'm definitely going to try it on at least one of the two crib quilts I need to make real soon. :)

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

Thanks Kate. Now I get it. :)

Reply to
Phaedrine

Doreen wrote:

I am saving this post Doreen. Awesome instructions - thanks!!!!

Reply to
Angrie.Woman

You're most welcome. :)

Doreen in Alabama

Reply to
Doreen

Spray baste is NOT permanent: it last days. It's supposed to tack things down while you stitch them

Bondaweb and Steam-a-Seam are supposed to be permanent, but it does depend on use... For something that isn't going to get much washing, they are OK, but for something that will be used, abused, washed, and generally have a useful rather than just decorative life, I'd go for stitching every time. It also depends on the fabrics being bonded: some (like cotton) bond like to like pretty well, other reject the bond no matter what you threaten them with! I've successfully bonded cotton to vinyl coated denim, but had no luck bonding poly satin to polycotton twill, for example.

You can do raw edge appliqué: you just use and edge-covering stitch like blanket stitch or buttonhole stitch, or a satin stitch over the raw edge once its bonded in place.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Once again, I failed to make myself clear. Sorry, I must be going thru a brainless phase. I am going to blanket-stitch it all down. Thanks for revisiting the topic, Kate. What I really want is to find a cheaper web that performs the same as Steam-A-Seam Lite 2--- that is tacky on both sides and may or may not be fused. They charge and arm and a leg for it here.

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

They do here too - but I've never found anything that does the same job. I use the 1/4" stuff for 'hemming' certain jobs where you do NOT want stitches showing on the outside (like the silver pop-tart dress made of foil print silver). I've never used the sheets for appliqué... I think it's a bit stiffer than Bondaweb once you iron it.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

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