mmmmmmmm, cupcakes

i love the look and feel of tea towels; so decorative and yet so very practical. on a trip through my favorite shopping mecca, @home, i spotted a set of lovely stripped tea towels. however lovely they were i just couldn't leave well enough alone.
i love cupcakes, i love them so much that when i celebrate my 30th birthday i will have a cupcake cake towering in pastel glory, and it will be beautiful. cupcakes go well with tea, tea is in the name, this added to the pastel stripes = cupcake appliqué.

here's a quick and dirty breakdown of how to applique:

gather:
freezer paper
line drawing of desired subject matter
pencil
scissors (paper and fabric)
fabric of choice
iron
dritz fray check
needle
thread

step one: trace image onto paper side of freezer paper, trim to edge. iron onto fabric, shiny side against reverse of fabric.

step two: trim fabric to within 1/4" of paper edge. notch 3/8" segments in fabric edge perpendicular to paper line. iron edges over paper, so that front of fabric is desired shape. if you are going to stitch a decorative edge around a shape you can fray check the edge first rather than notching and folding (like the cupcake wrapper below).

step three: remove paper gently from fabric. place image front side up against desired area. tuck all notches under and pin.

step four: slip-stitch around edges connecting appliqué to background fabric. i usually use the same color thread as background.

step five: pin down overlapping appliqués and attach either with a slip stitch for hidden, or cross-stitch for exposed textural elements. iron to smooth any puffing or wrinkles.

step six: add garnishes such as beads, sequins, buttons, ribbon, embroidery, etc. finito!

to look at more photos visit my flickr account.