No Sew Fabric Applique with HTV Edging

Hello, Nadine here with a tutorial for no sew appliqué with simple Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) edging. I'm so excited to share this tutorial and if you're anything like me, you'll adore all the beautiful fabric patterns for sale at the moment and you may well have an already burgeoning stash.  My friend casually asked if I knew about the fabric competition, but I didn't know what she was meaning.  She chuckled and told me - the one who dies with the most fabric wins!

What you’ll need: 

• Silhouette CAMEO
• Silhouette Clean Cut Fusible Stablizer 
• Heat Transfer Vinyl
• Fabric 
• Garment (baby vest) 

 

STEP ONE: Prepare the fabric and garment

I know it's a drag, but pre-washing your fabric and garment will ensure a great finish with no shrinking or warping.  To prevent the fabric from fraying, I used pinking shears, but a quick zigzag stitch will work well too.

The fusible fabric stabilizer is applied to the 'wrong' or reverse  side of the fabric.  Iron the backing paper firmly for just a couple of seconds.

When you peel back the backing paper, you'll see the stabilizer gives a glossy finish.  Mount this glossy side facing down onto the Silhouette mat as you will be cutting on the 'right' side of the fabric.

STEP TWO: Size and Cut Your Design

I used the bottom left bunny from Lori Whitlock's Design ID 76573, sized to 10cm wide. I also used the letter E in Times New Roman, sized to 8cm wide.

Just as it's recommended to have separate scissors for paper and fabric, the same hold true for your Silhouette blade.  The fabric blade is the same as the regular blade, but the blue casing is just to help you keep them separate. 

Tip: When cutting the fabric is to use your stickiest mat.  I found my fabric moved a little with my old mat which has a very light hold.  It was totally fine when I swapped to my new stickier one.

STEP THREE: HTV Edging

 

With Heat Transfer Vinyl, there is a heat protective shiny top sheet, as the HTV would melt if an iron or heat press were applied directly to it. As this top sheet shouldn't be cut, we cut on the reverse side and then flip before applying.  This means we always mirror the design when working with HTV.   This is why you'll notice that bunny in the screenshot below has been flipped to face the opposite direction.

To make the HTV edging, you can use the Internal and External Offset tool should you wish, but I find the easiest method is to simply set the line to the desired thickenss (I used 5pt) and use the 'Cut Edge' setting.

For my letter E, I decided to use the simple faux stitching effect, by selecting a dashed line and 3.4pt thickness.

STEP FOUR: Add Name in HTV

Underneath my appliqué, I added my niece's name in HTV.  I used Times New Roman to match the letter E and a font from the Silhouette Design Store called LW Spring to go underneath the bunny.  Again, as this is HTV, I then clicked 'Flip Horizontally' to mirror.

STEP FIVE: *Crucial Step* Select the Cut Edge Setting for HTV Edging

To make the HTV cut a frame rather than a single line, select 'Cut Edge' within the cut settings window.  Please refer to my last tutorial on Faux HTV Stitching if you are interested in how this differs from the standard 'Cut' setting for thick lines.

STEP SIX: Apply to Garment

I tried applying the fabric and HTV together and but got better alignment if I applied the fabric first , pressed for just a couple of seconds, then lined up and applied the HTV. My fabric was very thin, so some of the adhesive from the stabilizer came through. To stop this sticking to your iron or heat press, I recommend using a teflon sheet,tea towel, or simply the backing sheet that you peeled off from the stabilizer.

Tip: When using flocked HTV, trim the carrier sheet close to your design after weeding. This helps prevent any lines or marking occurring on your garment.

I was nervous about how well these would hold up in the wash, so I washed them a few times before gifting them.  I'm pleased to say that they washed well and since then they have been through the wash several times more and all is well :)

The Finished Product

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