Embellishing Onesies

[Mom of Six]

And NO Barb, to your idea. Go Blue!

I had to try!

[carman]

you need stabilizer no matter what you do, even cut away is not a bad idea

carman

[bridesmom]

I've appliqued woven cotton onto knits, you do loose some of the stretch factor but it works ok, you can hand sew them or machine sew them on with a small narrow zigzag, a blind hem stitch, a blanket stitch, any number of decorative stitches, but before you do, do a test on a piece of knit fabric with your chosen applique fabric, and stabilize!!!! I don't recommend a satin stitch on the onsie knits though, mine seems to go all wobbly and wavy which looks lousy. I have also ironed on a small piece of fusible knit interfacing on the inside of the embroidery or applique to cover up the stitches on the inside to protect baby's skin.

[temom]

Smilie, what size hoop do you need? Hubby bought me a bunch last year, and they are not "brother" but they do fit my brother. I can't remember off the top of my head where he got them, but I think they are fairly inexpensive.

[SmilieFace]

If I'm stabilizing, then, I'll need to use a hoop, I guess? The woman I asked (not on this forum, obviously), said she's never used a stabilizer when appliqueing on onesies.

I just need the medium, 4"x4" size. Please let me know where your husband got the hoops, temom. I actually only need the screw to hold the pieces together, so maybe I'll go to a hardware store this weekend.

[SmilieFace]

I came home with 5 products from JoAnns last night:

1) Heat n Bond Fusible Interfacing Lightweight
2) Heat n Bond Fusible Interfacing Mediumweight
3) Lite Steam-A-Seam2
4) Steam-A-Seam2 (Double Stick Fusible Web)
5) Steam-A-Seam (Sticky Back Fusible Web)

I went looking for Heat n Bond, but JoAnns only had the ultrahold (which says you can't sew it) in the red package, and the interfacing in the light purple package. Googling after I got back, it's not fusible interfacing I need, but just HeatnBond lite (which my JoAnns didn't have) in a dark purple package.

Which leaves me at the Steam A Seams. So many choices! I'm not sure which to pick. The pictures on all of the Steam A Seam packages show applique, so I guess it's just different weights. With the lightweight onesie, I probably need either the Lite Steam A Seam 2 which says it's for "sheer and lightweight fabrics" or the Steam A Seam 2, which mentions it can be used on fabric.

Your suggestions, please?

[DorothyL]

Smilie --I've always been a big Heat and Bond fan and have shied away from Pellon products because the interfacing is so bad. last time I was in JoAnn Fabricss looking for Heat and Bond all they had was the Pellon brand so I tried it. It's a lot softer but doesn't hold as well, it seems.

Dorothy

[sewingmom]

Smilie, I do not recommend the steama seam 2. I used it to attach some bias tape to the top edge of a pocket and it just did not look nice. It was stiff and "ironed on looking. I guess I didn't do something correctly but I was really dissapointed.
Try on a sample first. It sounds like something in your arsnel should work though if you test each one. I think just appliqueing it down would work. Use glue stick to glue it in place and let it dry before sewing.

[MartySews2]

The Steam-A-Seam double sided fusible should be what you need to hold the applique down but do sew around the edges. If you don't then it will peel off in the wash ... ask me how I know this one. Can't wait to see what you come up with for the applique.
Marty

[SmilieFace]

So, I returned all five products and ordered the Heat N Bond Lite. Whew!

So, one last question: I will also try the embroidery on the onesie. What needle do I use? Can I just use regular size 70 ballpoint needle? I'm guessing the standard embroidery needles aren't ballpoint and therefore won't work.