How to Attach Beaded Applique to Fabric (Sew or Iron On)
What makes sewing so interesting is that the number of creative options you have is limitless. There is always something new, risque, or innovative you can try. That makes sewing fun as well especially when you are working with beaded appliques.
How to attach beaded applique to fabric: When trying to decide between a sew-on and an iron bead applique, the sew-on style is more secure. All it takes is to make the mesh part of your seam allowance and keeping the right sides together.
To get more information on how to attach beaded appliques to your garments just continue to read our article. It only takes a few minutes to get the information you need to do the job right.
Attaching Beaded Applique to Fabric 101
Ways to Attach Beaded Applique to Fabric
Part of being a very good creative outlet, sewing provides you with a variety of ways to attach different fashion accents. One is not always better than another and you can choose the easiest method for your skill level and project.
Attaching beaded appliques is no exception to this rule. There is more than one way to attach those fashion highlights that make your old clothes look like they just came from the designer.
The first way is to sew them on. This is one of the more secure methods of making sure your beaded applique stays where you put it. Then if the beaded applique is not sewing friendly you can get self-adhesive Velcro strips to attach the accent to your dress or blouse and so on.
On top of those options, you can always use a nice pin or snaps. These options stay out of sight and do an effective job for you. Finally, there is fabric glue, craft glue and even hot glue that would make the application permanent.
How to Sew On a Beaded Applique
Attaching a beaded applique to your garment is not that difficult to do. Probably the hardest decision would be choosing which one you want to use and the color. Once you have made your decisions there is a simple process to follow to sew the applique on to your blouse, etc.:
- Step 1. In choosing your applique, make sure to match the color with the garment you are attaching it to. Keep the same tones and colors which is not going to be that difficult because the mesh is already the same color as the applique.
- Step 2. Lay out your garment and take a few moments to get rid of any wrinkles. Next place the applique on the garment rearranging it till you find the right spot for it and pin the area so you do not forget where it is.
- Step 3. turn the applique over and apply a little adhesive to key areas. This will help keep the accessory attached to the garment when it goes through cleaning. Turn the applique over and place it in your marked area, pressing gently to help the adhesive attach to the fabric. Let it set before doing anything more.
- Step 4. Thread your needle with invisible thread. Then come up from underneath the fabric & applique. Continue to sew placing anchor stitches about 1/2 in apart throughout the sewing process. You can add more anchor spots to larger appliques if you want.
That is all there is to it. It is a simple process that just takes a good eye to get done successfully.
How to Sew Applique On Mesh
This process may get a little detailed but each step is important for your applique to be attached to the mesh correctly.
- Step 1. Pick out the template you want to use when creating your applique. Or you can make your own.
- Step 2. Pick out the fabric you want to join the applique to. Be careful as some fabrics fray more than others.
- Step 3. Cut your fusible web or mesh making it big enough to hole your entire design without any hassles. Then fuse it to the wrong side of your fabric.
- Step 4. Placing the right side of your template face down trace the design onto the mesh backing.
- Step 5. cut these pieces out and iron then to your garment. The key here is not to drag your iron over the design but lift it and place it down each time you want to do a new area. This prevents your applique from changing positions.
- Step 6. Now pin some tear-away stabilizer to the indie of your garment. Make sure it is directly behind the applique design. The stabilizer helps keep puckering away as you work.
- Step 7. Now stitch your design into its place. There are at least three stitch styles you can use, satin, zig-zag and a straight stitch. For the thread, you should use a good rayon thread that matches the color of your materials.
- Step 8. At this point, you can tear away your stabilizer.
- Step 9. Add any embellishments you want to the applique.
How to Iron on Beaded Applique
Like other aspects of sewing, applying the iron beaded applique is not going to be difficult to do. The first step is to decide which beaded applique you want on your garment.
The second step will be to decide its location. Once you have both those decisions made, you simply lay the applique where you want it. Next, put a piece of cloth over the applique to protect it from the hot iron.
Now you lay your iron on top of the applique but do not move the iron. Let it sit where you put it for about a minute as the glue needs to melt and adhere to the fabric. You will need high iron heat but no steam to get this task done right.
After a minute, your beaded applique should be attached with no trouble. Let the applique and fabric cool and you are done.
How to Make Beaded Appliques
For those people who like to design their appliques, making a beaded one should not be any trouble at all. It just takes a few quick steps and the applique should be ready to attach to your garment.
- Step 1. Pick the fabric you want to use and draw your design onto it. Keep the outline nice and clean to ensure professional-looking results.
- Step 2. Next, mark your key points. If you are using special beads you want to have it stand out, mark the spot where they are supposed to go.
- Step 3. Once the markings are done, frame your applique. In other words, arrange those beads that are going to be your outer boundary. A little fishing line will hold the beads together and stay on your outline. Sew the fish line through the fabric as you go doing each bead individually.
- Step 4. Place your larger beads on the marks you previously made and then fill in around those larger stones with the rest of your bead design. Sewing each one into place with invisible thread
- Step 5. finally cut around your boundary edge and your applique is done.
Beaded Applique DIY
There are a lot of DIY ideas on how to make your own beaded applique. The good thing is that they all follow the same instructions as given immediately above.
Deciding on which design you want and which beads you are going to use will be the toughest part of the process. Once you have that decision made, make sure you get enough beads to complete the task without interruption.
Affixing the beads onto your design will be up to you. Sewing them in place with a strong invisible thread will take a lot of time but it is the most secure method you can choose.
You have a lot of flexibility in how you put your beads onto your fabric, but make sure to keep to the lines you have drawn. That is going to be the difference between a professional-looking applique and an amateur looking one.
The big key in making your own is blocking out enough time to get the job done right. You do not want to hurry as there are a lot of minute details to be addressed. You can use glue if you want but that may get messy and also ruin your design.
Beaded Applique Fabric
Some of the more popular fabrics to use in making appliques are felt and lace. The latter fabric is good as it usually comes with a design already woven into the fabric. All you have to do is just fill in those designs with the beads that you want to use.
For other fabrics, and there seems to be no limitation on which one you can use, you will need to draw your design, fill it in and then cut it out before applying it to your garment.
You can also use fusible webbing as your fabric of choice and this makes attaching the finished design a lot easier. Which fabric you use will depend on the project you are doing and the type of design you want.
Not all fabrics will hold up with all the designs so you may have to do a little trial and error to get to the right one that works the best.
Beaded Applique Patches
What is good about this part of beaded appliques is that you have a lot of designs to choose from. You may not have to design your own as there is a very wide selection of these beaded applique patches all over the internet.
Which one you choose will be up to who is going to wear the garment, what the purpose of the garment is, and how creative you want to get. If you want to design your own, then it will not be hard to get your inspiration as the examples shown for sale cover just about every subject under the sun.
Again, when making your own, be patient, take your time and block out a large amount of time to make sure you can get it done before you have other duties to attend to.
This is not a project that you want to race through.
Where to Buy Beaded Appliques
There is no limit on where to buy beaded appliques. One of the internet shops, called Mood Designer Fabric has quite a few selections you can choose from. Their website is located here.
Another internet outlet is Joyce Trimming Inc., and you will find their large selection by clicking on this button. A third option will be M & J Trimmings and the final one is Glitz Online.
We can’t leave out that old convenient stand by Amazon. Their selection starts with this web page and continues. That is just the tip of the iceberg for online outlets and it is possible to find beaded appliques at your local sewing and fabric supply stores.
One thing is for sure, you won’t run out of supply options any time soon.
Some Final Words
Beaded appliques add a beautiful decorative touch to just about any garment you attach them to. This is another aspect of sewing that makes that hobby so interesting. There seems to be no limit on what you can upgrade just by adding an applique or two.
The application process is not that difficult to do and it should only take you a few minutes if you are not starting from scratch. The hardest part is making the decision on which one to use and where to place it on your garment.
If you are making your own, expect to take a lot more time as there are lots of details to attend to. Just make sure to follow your lines to get that professional look you want. Once you do that it won’t be long before that garment looks modern again.
