1 00:00:00,815 --> 00:00:03,024 - Now that our foundation includes this stem 2 00:00:03,024 --> 00:00:04,764 in the center of it, we can begin positioning 3 00:00:04,764 --> 00:00:08,932 the circular template, which is basically our flower head, 4 00:00:10,029 --> 00:00:11,288 and the leaf template. 5 00:00:11,288 --> 00:00:12,612 And we're gonna trace those right 6 00:00:12,612 --> 00:00:15,195 onto the fabric using a pencil. 7 00:00:15,246 --> 00:00:17,897 As far as where the flower head goes, 8 00:00:17,897 --> 00:00:19,821 I really just try and center it on the stem. 9 00:00:19,821 --> 00:00:21,742 If it helps you to fold the fabric in half 10 00:00:21,742 --> 00:00:23,992 and mark the halfway mark so that you can line that up 11 00:00:23,992 --> 00:00:26,239 in the center of the stem, go ahead and do that. 12 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,265 But I'm just gonna sort of eyeball it, 13 00:00:28,265 --> 00:00:31,579 and use a light pencil line to trace around. 14 00:00:31,579 --> 00:00:33,320 If you'd rather use a fabric marker 15 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,048 or water-soluble marker or something like that, go ahead, 16 00:00:37,048 --> 00:00:38,756 but really this pencil line is gonna get 17 00:00:38,756 --> 00:00:41,384 sort of hidden when we fold the fabric under. 18 00:00:41,384 --> 00:00:44,412 Now keep in mind as well that you don't want this way far up 19 00:00:44,412 --> 00:00:48,222 here because we're gonna lose a seam allowance edge as well. 20 00:00:48,222 --> 00:00:51,630 So I've kept it kind of safely about an inch or more away. 21 00:00:51,630 --> 00:00:54,857 And then for the leaf it's pretty much the same thing. 22 00:00:54,857 --> 00:00:57,524 You just position it as desired, 23 00:00:57,531 --> 00:00:59,289 and then I'm gonna flip it over, 24 00:00:59,289 --> 00:01:02,609 just making sure that looks pretty symmetrical. 25 00:01:02,609 --> 00:01:05,751 You wouldn't have to do it symmetrically if you don't want. 26 00:01:05,751 --> 00:01:07,894 With your templates pencil-sketched in, 27 00:01:07,894 --> 00:01:10,361 you can now cut out the center of those shapes. 28 00:01:10,361 --> 00:01:12,629 But you only wanna cut to about a quarter inch 29 00:01:12,629 --> 00:01:14,796 on the inside of the line. 30 00:01:14,882 --> 00:01:18,204 So I'm gonna begin with a little snip here 31 00:01:18,204 --> 00:01:20,861 so that I can get on the inside. 32 00:01:20,861 --> 00:01:25,028 And carefully cut, stopping about a quarter inch of the way. 33 00:01:28,811 --> 00:01:31,477 And then I'm just gonna trim out 34 00:01:33,308 --> 00:01:37,474 the inside, following along with the shape of the pencil. 35 00:01:39,917 --> 00:01:44,084 Definitely don't wanna use a rotary cutter for this task. 36 00:01:44,951 --> 00:01:47,841 Once you have the main portion of the shape cut out, 37 00:01:47,841 --> 00:01:52,009 you're gonna make little snips all the way around. 38 00:01:52,225 --> 00:01:54,975 You can go just about right up to 39 00:01:57,799 --> 00:01:59,203 the pencil line, but you definitely 40 00:01:59,203 --> 00:02:01,370 don't wanna go through it. 41 00:02:01,879 --> 00:02:04,769 On the straight passes you don't need lots of snips, 42 00:02:04,769 --> 00:02:08,187 but these little cuts in the curved areas 43 00:02:09,825 --> 00:02:13,992 are gonna be what helps you fold out and under smoothly 44 00:02:14,441 --> 00:02:16,358 when we go to applique. 45 00:02:22,019 --> 00:02:26,186 And in the corner here, you wanna cut in the point 46 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,813 as well as right next to it. 47 00:02:32,091 --> 00:02:34,683 You can continue the two-part cutting process 48 00:02:34,683 --> 00:02:36,016 with each shape. 49 00:02:36,117 --> 00:02:38,449 Don't be scared to cut through that seam. 50 00:02:38,449 --> 00:02:40,068 In fact, if you cut neatly and carefully, 51 00:02:40,068 --> 00:02:42,009 these shapes that you're cutting out are big enough 52 00:02:42,009 --> 00:02:44,900 that you could actually use for an applique project. 53 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:46,061 Now that you have the shapes cut out, 54 00:02:46,061 --> 00:02:47,959 you can sort of audition your fabrics 55 00:02:47,959 --> 00:02:50,626 to see how it's gonna look underneath. 56 00:02:50,626 --> 00:02:51,893 With the leaf, for the most part, 57 00:02:51,893 --> 00:02:54,001 we know how it's gonna look, but maybe this is 58 00:02:54,001 --> 00:02:56,562 a good chance to figure out whether you want the blue 59 00:02:56,562 --> 00:02:59,072 to be on the underside of the leaf here, 60 00:02:59,072 --> 00:03:01,572 or have a look at it this way. 61 00:03:02,227 --> 00:03:05,026 Trim out the length of pieced leaf 62 00:03:05,026 --> 00:03:07,288 that you're gonna need underneath here. 63 00:03:07,288 --> 00:03:09,936 You're gonna wanna leave about a quarter inch 64 00:03:09,936 --> 00:03:13,936 all the way around, or maybe even a little more. 65 00:03:15,423 --> 00:03:17,181 And then once we have one cut, 66 00:03:17,181 --> 00:03:20,431 we can cut a second to get those ready. 67 00:03:20,856 --> 00:03:22,373 And there's no reason to specifically cut 68 00:03:22,373 --> 00:03:23,890 these leaves out yet. 69 00:03:23,890 --> 00:03:26,864 We'll save that after they've been appliqued in place. 70 00:03:26,864 --> 00:03:29,348 And then comes my favorite part 71 00:03:29,348 --> 00:03:31,931 of auditioning a flower fabric. 72 00:03:33,424 --> 00:03:35,205 That's really cute, but it kinda makes 73 00:03:35,205 --> 00:03:37,192 this whole flower shrink a little bit 74 00:03:37,192 --> 00:03:39,527 because of that shape of that one. 75 00:03:39,527 --> 00:03:42,350 So maybe something that feels like it's 76 00:03:42,350 --> 00:03:45,211 sort of exploding behind would be pretty. 77 00:03:45,211 --> 00:03:46,681 That's pretty cool. 78 00:03:46,681 --> 00:03:48,909 I love how cropped and simple that makes it. 79 00:03:48,909 --> 00:03:51,015 And keep in mind it is gonna be a little bigger, 80 00:03:51,015 --> 00:03:54,682 'cause we're gonna turn on that pencil line. 81 00:03:54,931 --> 00:03:57,486 But I'm thinking something a little more folky 82 00:03:57,486 --> 00:03:58,673 would look pretty with the fabrics 83 00:03:58,673 --> 00:04:00,687 that I have chosen already. 84 00:04:00,687 --> 00:04:02,691 Yes, I like how it's sort of a bouquet 85 00:04:02,691 --> 00:04:05,080 but also a flower at the same time. 86 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,080 I'm just gonna roughly cut this out, 87 00:04:08,347 --> 00:04:10,902 making it more simple when I put it all together. 88 00:04:10,902 --> 00:04:12,891 And I could do some specific positioning 89 00:04:12,891 --> 00:04:15,376 once I've got my edges turned under. 90 00:04:15,376 --> 00:04:16,831 And that's what we need to do next 91 00:04:16,831 --> 00:04:20,110 is to go to the iron and press all these edges under. 92 00:04:20,110 --> 00:04:24,278 Turn it under almost just about on that pencil line 93 00:04:25,379 --> 00:04:28,290 or just enough to hide the pencil line, 94 00:04:28,290 --> 00:04:30,124 and press it in place. 95 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:35,247 I choose not to use steam because you can burn your fingers 96 00:04:35,247 --> 00:04:39,415 with steam, even if your hand is not too close to the iron. 97 00:04:41,899 --> 00:04:43,372 I think you'll be really surprised 98 00:04:43,372 --> 00:04:46,175 if you've never done this before, how easy it is 99 00:04:46,175 --> 00:04:50,341 to manipulate the fabric into these pretty, subtle curves. 100 00:04:52,257 --> 00:04:53,339 Look at that. 101 00:04:53,971 --> 00:04:58,139 There are also reverse applique processes of using wax paper 102 00:04:58,850 --> 00:05:02,252 on the back of the fabric to help hold the crease, 103 00:05:02,252 --> 00:05:05,605 but I really find with pretty subtle curves and shapes 104 00:05:05,605 --> 00:05:09,718 that it's simple to do it by just folding and pressing. 105 00:05:09,718 --> 00:05:12,250 And on the corner here, you are gonna have a raw edge 106 00:05:12,250 --> 00:05:16,418 right up in the very sort of crook of that corner, 107 00:05:17,939 --> 00:05:19,617 but the type of stitch that we're gonna use 108 00:05:19,617 --> 00:05:23,016 on the machine is gonna keep all the edges so secure 109 00:05:23,016 --> 00:05:25,766 that it's gonna be safe and tidy. 110 00:05:26,321 --> 00:05:29,665 So you can continue folding and pressing all the way around 111 00:05:29,665 --> 00:05:31,502 each of the shapes, and then we'll move on 112 00:05:31,502 --> 00:05:35,009 to layering those pretty fabrics underneath, 113 00:05:35,009 --> 00:05:37,439 pinning them together, and sewing. 114 00:05:37,439 --> 00:05:41,540 Set the final position of where you want your floral fabric. 115 00:05:41,540 --> 00:05:42,959 You want to make sure that when you're pinning 116 00:05:42,959 --> 00:05:45,112 you don't distort the shape at all, 117 00:05:45,112 --> 00:05:47,081 but try and sort of let the fabric relax 118 00:05:47,081 --> 00:05:48,966 and sit the way it wants to. 119 00:05:48,966 --> 00:05:52,550 For the pinning, I point towards the shape. 120 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,074 And you do want to, on that second push through, 121 00:05:56,074 --> 00:05:58,744 try and catch the fold-under fabric. 122 00:05:58,744 --> 00:06:00,036 In fact I'm gonna go ahead and go over 123 00:06:00,036 --> 00:06:02,869 to the opposite side here and pin, 124 00:06:06,201 --> 00:06:09,353 and kind of keep working from opposites so that 125 00:06:09,353 --> 00:06:12,399 again you don't distort as you go around. 126 00:06:12,399 --> 00:06:14,435 While this is a pretty tedious process, 127 00:06:14,435 --> 00:06:16,754 doing the stitching on the machine is gonna save 128 00:06:16,754 --> 00:06:20,336 a ton of time compared to doing it by hand. 129 00:06:20,673 --> 00:06:22,310 I like to pin pretty heavily. 130 00:06:22,310 --> 00:06:24,713 Having that whole big piece underneath 131 00:06:24,713 --> 00:06:28,211 instead of a cut circle that's just barely bigger underneath 132 00:06:28,211 --> 00:06:30,552 keeps everything a little bit more stable 133 00:06:30,552 --> 00:06:32,644 when you go to the machine to sew it together. 134 00:06:32,644 --> 00:06:35,737 I also like to just pin one shape at a time 135 00:06:35,737 --> 00:06:37,779 and then go to sew it, and then come back 136 00:06:37,779 --> 00:06:39,798 and do the next one instead of going to the machine 137 00:06:39,798 --> 00:06:42,309 with lots of different pins sticking out in all directions. 138 00:06:42,309 --> 00:06:43,591 So I think this is ready to go. 139 00:06:43,591 --> 00:06:47,132 You could use a zigzag stitch for this step 140 00:06:47,132 --> 00:06:49,362 to trap down this folded edge. 141 00:06:49,362 --> 00:06:51,968 This Janome has a nice little blanket-style stitch 142 00:06:51,968 --> 00:06:54,338 that's perfect for applique that I'm gonna use. 143 00:06:54,338 --> 00:06:56,004 And just take your time. 144 00:06:56,004 --> 00:06:59,838 Slow and steady wins the race on these curves. 145 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,411 Where you position the fold underneath the presser foot 146 00:07:14,411 --> 00:07:17,040 all depends on the width of your particular stitch. 147 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,237 I like for the needle to be falling down on the right 148 00:07:19,237 --> 00:07:22,403 just on the inside of my folded shape. 149 00:07:39,182 --> 00:07:41,088 Sometimes I also lift the presser foot 150 00:07:41,088 --> 00:07:44,338 just a little bit to get a better turn. 151 00:07:57,899 --> 00:07:59,221 Once you've finished your stitching, 152 00:07:59,221 --> 00:08:01,923 a nice pressing will get this really smooth and flat, 153 00:08:01,923 --> 00:08:03,423 and then you can carefully go back 154 00:08:03,423 --> 00:08:06,970 behind and cut away all that excess fabric. 155 00:08:06,970 --> 00:08:08,192 And basically you're gonna be cutting it 156 00:08:08,192 --> 00:08:11,230 to be in line with that folded-under seam allowance. 157 00:08:11,230 --> 00:08:13,360 And then you can continue the same process 158 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,403 for the leaves underneath these openings here 159 00:08:16,403 --> 00:08:19,108 by pinning and carefully stitching around. 160 00:08:19,108 --> 00:08:22,206 I'm gonna carefully trim out all this excess. 161 00:08:22,206 --> 00:08:25,488 I think it's safest to leave your foundation flat 162 00:08:25,488 --> 00:08:27,709 against a table when you do this, 163 00:08:27,709 --> 00:08:30,127 and just raise up the excess. 164 00:08:32,436 --> 00:08:35,357 Okay, now you can do just the same thing with the leaves. 165 00:08:35,357 --> 00:08:39,274 We can give this pretty block a final pressing. 166 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,831 Now the only thing left is to use that 12 1/2 inch grid 167 00:08:46,831 --> 00:08:49,581 again and trim off those corners. 168 00:08:51,917 --> 00:08:54,275 Reverse applique is a very traditional technique, 169 00:08:54,275 --> 00:08:56,491 but I like this very simple, modern shape, 170 00:08:56,491 --> 00:08:58,817 and doing it on the machine certainly saves time. 171 00:08:58,817 --> 00:09:00,817 Now that you know how to do it, you could play with 172 00:09:00,817 --> 00:09:03,861 your own shapes, add extra leaves, add petals. 173 00:09:03,861 --> 00:09:06,421 With the block design itself, once you've made multiples, 174 00:09:06,421 --> 00:09:08,633 you can combine them in lots of interesting ways. 175 00:09:08,633 --> 00:09:10,775 In this sampler, I've sort of tilted them out 176 00:09:10,775 --> 00:09:12,628 in this little diagonal shape. 177 00:09:12,628 --> 00:09:14,866 And the way the stems connect is really cool. 178 00:09:14,866 --> 00:09:16,606 In fact, I think it'd be very pretty 179 00:09:16,606 --> 00:09:19,172 to set them on point and grow a whole vertical stem 180 00:09:19,172 --> 00:09:21,172 of folk flowers as well.