Revisiting Reverse Applique

"Little Bug" mola

A few weeks ago (April 11, 2016), I wrote a post about reverse applique, inspired by the molas made by the Kuna Indian women of Panama. I promised you another, more advanced, project. But first, I want to show you a few more molas from my collection. The one at the top of this page is a small one of the type used to decorate the short sleeves of traditional blouses, while the larger ones were used on the fronts and backs of those blouses. Their costumes have changed considerably over the intervening decades. Now they wear blouses with almost elbow-length, bell-shaped sleeves, which do not appear to have any appliqued decoration. I don't know if the small sleeve molas are even made any more. I have always thought of this creature as some kind of bug, but I don't know what it really represents.

"Capricorn" mola

Many of the designs relate to Cuna folklore. Others, however, derive from things their makers have seen in the urban centers of Panama. Some were faithfully executed product containers so exquisitely done that they rivaled Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup can. Sometimes the objects in the design are taken out of context. I've wondered if this little fellow was the maker's version of the zodiac sign for Capricorn.

"Unicorn" mola

The next full-sized applique might be an impression of a unicorn. The artist has added her own special interpretation to the design. Notice the large and small patches of color made by the pieces of cloth inserted between the cut-out outlines and the backing fabric, and then sewn in place from the top.

"Chicken" mola

Finally, here is one artist's depiction of some (to her) familiar birds. I'm not sure what bird the figure on the lower right represents, but the chicken is obvious. The black bird on the left is one of the hundreds of grackles that live in huge flocks around the isthmus. Our children called them “zeeps” because that is what their shrill call sounds like.

Our first reverse applique consisted of a black felt silhouette, a solid colored background, and scraps of two other colors of felt. I added small commercial appliques, metallic thread and small metal fasteners (snaps) to my version. For the directions to prepare the finished piece as the small wall hanging shown here, see the post for April 11, 2016. For our new project, you will need another piece of felt, a back panel, small sharp-pointed scissors (or an X-acto® knife or safety razor blade), a needle, black thread and scraps of fabric with interesting colors and textures. Think about satin, brocade, velvet, lace, ribbon, etc. Look for that silk scarf you never wear or a man's tie that has gone out of style. Collect all those small trimmings you couldn't bring yourself to throw away. If you don't have access to these fabrics, substitute brightly patterned cotton remnants. The colors do not need to be realistic. Let your imagination fly free!

Here are the steps to take in making the “TROPICAL FISH” project:

1. Assemble your materials. Press any pieces of fabrics that are wrinkled.

2. Download and print out the silhouette pattern. I suggest you make at least two copies, since you will be cutting up one of them.

Click here to download pattern

3. There are two basic ways to cut out the silhouette. In both cases, you will need to pin the pattern securely to a rectangle of black felt, pinning the interiors of strips as well as the outer edges. In the first case, you will make a slit in the center of each white section inside the black outline and ― using small, very sharp scissors — cut along the insides of the black lines. This will destroy the white paper sections, so that is why you need the second pattern. While the pattern is still pinned in place, cut around the outside of the entire fish without separating any of the sections.

Some things you may need

In the second case, you would place the pattern on a hard surface that cannot be scratched by a sharp knife: a marble counter top, ceramic tile, smooth metal, etc. Cut out the interior parts of the silhouette with an X-acto® knife or a single-edged razor blade, saving the white sections to use as patterns. (I use a ceramic tile left over from my bathroom floor.) Cut the outer outline of the fish with scissors, separating it from the “frame” where it touches it at the top of the top fin and the bottom tip of the tail fin. Now that the fish is separated from the “frame”, set the “frame” aside to be added to the surface as the last step.

Various fabrics and trim you might use

4. Lay out the fabrics you think you might want to use for your fish. After placing the silhouette over several fabrics, I selected a long silk scarf with markings that reminded me of water for the background. I chose a large, square nylon scarf for the fins and a man's wide satin tie with a pattern for the scaly body of the fish. I also collected a variety of small trimmings for details and a button for the fish's eye.

5. Sew or glue the fabric you chose to represent the water to the background fabric for the entire piece. Sew as closely as possible to the edge so that these stitches will be covered by the “frame.”

6. Since I wanted all of the fish's flowing fins in the same color, I placed the fish silhouette on the nylon square and pinned it in place. I cut around the outline of the silhouette. (If you want fins of different colors, use the white paper pieces as patterns and cut about a quarter of an inch or 1.5 cm. outside the edges of the paper.) Using a bright-colored thread that would be easy to remove later, I basted the silhouette to the nylon material. With a permanent marker in a darker shade, I drew in details of the fins. This is optional.

7. Place the fish silhouette with its inserted fins on your background fabric. Check its position with the black “frame”. Using black thread, stitch along both the outside and the inside of the black strips on all of the fins except the small one just behind the head. Do not stitch around the head or the scaly body. Stitch through the black outline, the inserted fabric, and the background fabric all at the same time. I hand-stitched these pieces, but you could machine- stitch them if you like, or even use fabric glue. Remove the basting thread.

8. At this point, I went back to my extra pattern and traced the head and scaly body of the fish, all in one piece, on tracing paper. I cut the seam of the tie and opened the fabric flat. I moved the traced shape around over the fabric until I found a design that really suited the fish shape. I pinned the pattern in place on the tie and cut it out about a quarter of an inch (or 1.5 cm.) larger than the pattern. Working one section at a time, I gently pushed the edges of the fabric underneath the edge of the felt outline until it lay flat. I pinned it in place. Then I sewed down the remaining felt edges with black thread, leaving the outline of the smallest fin free. A scrap of the red fabric filled in the small fin and was sewn down.

9. Continue until all the inserts have been sewn down. Add any additional trimmings, sequins, buttons, surface embroidery or other decorations that you desire. I used a button for the fish's eye and some narrow trim to suggest the fish's mouth.

10. Add the “frame”, sewing through all layers.

I have shown you how I constructed my sample project. (We will show you the finished applique in a future post.) Now you are free to do yours in any way that you want.. Or make a flower, parrot, or colorful landscape. I'm happiest when no two of the projects I suggest look alike. I hope each of you will express your own individuality, and that you will be pleased with the result.

Enjoy,

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Spring Questions and Answers 2016

Once again, Annake answers questions about recent posts...and don't miss the Free Download of the new Butterfly needle arts pattern at the end of this post!

Some old-fashioned poppies in the Garden

My question is for J.D. What are you growing in the straw bales?

Oh, good: an easy one! The straw bales are being planted with aromatic herbs (like basil, oregano, and marjoram) and pungent salad greens (like arugula and cress); basically, things the deer won’t like. We may try some other things later in the season, but that’s the plan right now.

(J.D., Annake’s Garden Gnome)

I received several questions about Swedish weaving patterns. I've shortened the questions for reasons of space, but added color descriptions so that you can easily find the examples the questions were about.

I have a question about a pattern from Part I (March 11, 2016). On the lower sample sheet, the fifth pattern from the top (red, black, and light green). In what order did you do the stitching? I can't tell from the enlarged photo.

First of all, thank you for looking at the enlarged sample. We use that feature (Lightbox) so you can study the patterns more easily. I hope all of you will take advantage of it. I've shown the design on plastic canvas to enlarge it even more. I did the red pattern row first, working from right to left. Next, I did the black pattern row, working from left to right. and paying close attention to the places where the two threads crossed. But I don't think it matters which one you do first because both colors pass under the two center threads. The first color sets the pattern. The second color — black in this case — passes under the first color at each crossing. To make the pattern more decorative, you might sew a tiny seed bead at each of the crossings. Finally, I put in the green row, again working from right to left. In this version, the green thread passes under the crossed stitches each time. To change the pattern slightly, make the green thread pass over the pairs of threads that the red and black threads pass under, and under the pairs that they cross over. This will make the green thread pass over the crossing threads.

Swedish weaving sample 1

On the top pattern sample sheet (on the same post), I have a question about the top pattern (purple, lavender and pink). Are the long parallel stitches that look like ‘11’ part of the outside rows top and bottom, or are they from the next rows inside?

They are from the inner rows. They skip the top row and go under the two threads one row further out than the “points” on the top and bottom rows. This pattern is stitched from the two outside rows inward, ending with the pink center row. Here the stitches are on plastic canvas.

Swedish weaving sample 2

I have a question from Part II (March 21, 2016) about the rows of (orange) diamonds at the bottom of the top sample chart. It looks to me like the two top rows of diamonds are made at the same time, while the last row is just a single one. Why isn't it a double row, too?

You are making this pattern much more difficult than it really is. No two diamonds are made at the same time. In fact, each diamond is made one half — either the top half or the bottom half — at a time. Each row is a line of simple “peaks and valleys”. They go together in a way that creates an optical illusion. I began at the right-hand side and made the first row with a stitch slanting upward. I then ran my needle under the two threads, made a corresponding stitch downward, ran my needle under the next pair of threads, and continued to the end of the row. The next row was worked from left to right and made the bottom halves of the diamonds. The two halves were held together at each side by running the needle under the same threads it went under on the row above. I've shown the diamonds on plastic canvas, but I used one bar on the canvas to represent the pair of threads on the huck fabric. When I tried that using two bars of canvas, the diamonds were distorted by the spacing and no longer looked very much like diamonds. The pattern is really quite easy and covers the cloth rapidly, as you will find if you practice it.

Swedish weaving sample 3

  
Are you going to show us more of the “mola” applique designs?

Small Cuna mola

Yes. I have several more of the authentic Cuna Indian molas from my collection that I want to show you. In addition, I will be doing another reverse applique pattern with felt, but this time I will be inserting other kinds of fabric into the felt framework to add textures like satin and velvet to the finished design. I think you will enjoy this new activity.

Why will a six-way bargello pattern be more difficult than the eight-way design was?

Four-way bargello "Green Envy"

Good question. The answer is in the angles. We won't be working in a square any more. The four-way bargello projects were based on 90 degree angles (0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees, 360 degrees), and depended on the horizontal and vertical center lines on the canvas.

Eight-way bargello

The eight-way design was based on 45 degrees (0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, 180 degrees, 225 degrees, 270 degrees, 315 degrees, 360 degrees), and depends also on the diagonal lines from the four corners of the square.

Hexagon plotted for six-way bargello

The six-way design, however, will be based on a 60 degree angle (0 degrees, 60 degrees,120 degrees, 180 degrees, 240 degrees, 300 degrees, 360 degrees). The design must be constructed along each axis from the degree mark to the center. I haven't yet decided whether to use a hexagon or a circle to enclose the design. When I get the pattern worked out, I will do a sample and write a new post describing how to make it.

I appreciate your questions.

Click here to download!

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