Tips to Reduce Puckering Around Hand Applique

Use these techniques to combat problems with background fabric puckering and wrinkling around hand applique:

• Don't pull stitches too tightly when hand stitching. Stitching should be taut but not so tight that it causes the background fabric to pucker.
• Try using a paper foundation instead of traditional needle turn applique.
• Press the applique motif face down on a thick towel to avoid pressing in creases and wrinkles.
• When it comes to trimming away the background fabric in applique, there is no right or wrong answer. One way is to leave the backing on smaller or narrower designs and remove it for larger designs. If planning to hand quilt the design, cut away the backing fabric to alleviate the bulk.