Making Appliqué Stems

Appliqué stems are easier than I anticipated.  This is how I do mine...

First, fold and iron the fabric on the bias and cut a folded strip.  Decide how wide the stem is to be and add approximately an eighth of an inch for the seam allowance.

Pin the strip to the background fabric.  I use tacking stitches to plot the position of the stems, but the stems themselves are kept in position just with pins. Lay the pins over, not through the strip.  Because the strip is cut on the bias you can lay it in a gentle curve and the material will ease itself along under the pins.

Machine stitch an eighth of an inch from the raw edges.

When you have done that, all you need to do is iron it over and sew down the folded edge by hand.

Hello to Jo Waterhouse - thank you for following!