Return to Reverse Applique

Tropical Fish Wall Hanging from June, 2016

As we promised, we are re-visiting a popular project and offering another pattern for the same technique. To the left is the completed reverse-applique of a tropical fish. (For extensive directions for doing this type of reverse applique, see the post for June 24, 2016.)

First, let me explain the changes I made from my original plans for this tropical fish. I decided to do a small wall hanging rather than a framed picture because I wanted all the textures in the piece to be visible and even touchable. For the background I chose a suede-like fabric in a medium teal color. After appliqueing the fish and its watery background to this material, I decided not to use the narrow black felt “frame” I had cut for it, substituting instead a glittering edging in blue and silver. I liked this much better than the felt and plan to use a similar fabric for the current project. A narrow pocket at the top of the teal fabric contains a small dowel, from which the hanging is suspended.

For the current project, here is a downloadable silhouette of a fantail goldfish. You may use the narrow frame or discard it and substitute your choice of trimming.

Downloadable Goldfish Outline (click here)

You will need the following materials:

Materials you will need

•   a rectangle of black felt approximately 81/2 inches X 11 inches (22 cm X 31 cm)

• a piece of silk or nylon crepe approximately 10 inches X 13 inches (26 cm X 33 cm) in a “watery” pattern
• scraps of silk or nylon, from old scarves, in shades of yellow, gold, and orange
• a glittery button for the eye
• various trims
• matching threads
• heavier material for the backing fabric
• a small dowel if you are making a wall hanging, and cord or wire to suspend it

You will need the following equipment:

Equipment you will need

• scissors or shears that are used only for fabric, yarn, or floss
• small, sharp-pointed embroidery scissors
• manicure scissors (optional)
• a ruler or other measuring stick
• straight pins
• permanent markers in yellow, gold, and/or orange (optional)

You will also need access to an ironing board and a steam iron.

NOTE: In the original article, I showed the equipment I used to cut the silhouette. However, if you are not accustomed to using craft knives I recommend that you use scissors instead. Manicure scissors with their curved blades are useful for getting around small curves cleanly. And to teenagers or ‘tweens who may want to make one of these as an art project or for a Girl Scout badge, please do not use craft knives or razor blades unless an adult is present. Accidents can happen very quickly and can be serious.

The step-by-step procedure is similar to that for the tropical fish.

    1. Assemble your materials and equipment. Press your fabrics, being careful to use the right temperature setting for each one. Since I use so many kinds of delicate fabrics, I use a press cloth between the fabrics and the iron.
    2. Download the goldfish pattern and make a second copy, which will be cut apart. Pin one copy to the felt rectangle.       
    3. Cut around the outside of the fish. Make your cuts as clean and neat as possible. Then make a slit in the middle of each interior section of the fish and carefully remove both the paper and the felt.

Felt cut-out of goldfish outline

4. Lay out the fabric for the big fantail. (The curved top half of this section of the fish is indicated by the dotted line on the pattern.) I cut two pieces — one for the entire tail and one for just the curved top half. I pinned the two together with the smaller piece underneath, then pinned both underneath the black felt frame, trimming off any fabric that showed around the frame. I basted the fabric to the frame with a bright-colored thread so that the basting will be easy to remove later.

Step 4

5. Repeat step 4 for the body, head, and three smaller fins.

Step 5

6. Place the whole assembly on the “watery” background. Because goldfish are pond dwellers, I chose a fabric that suggested some plant material in the water and some sunlight reflections on the surface. Pin the assembly in place on the fabric, pinning both the outside and inside edges of the black felt.  Using black thread,  sew around the inside of each section. If you are sewing by hand, as I do, make your stitches as small and close together as you can. Remove the pins from the insides of the sections and make sure all pieces lie perfectly flat. Re-pin the outside edges as needed. Now sew around the outside edges of the felt. Remove all pins and basting threads and press the assembly lightly, using a press cloth over it.

At this point I chose to do some light shading with the markers I mentioned earlier and a small amount of embroidery. If you decide to use markers, practice on scrap materials first.  Use light, quick stokes and don't let the marker tip press into the fabric and make spots.

Step 7

7. Since some of these fabrics are slippery, you may want to make a cardboard cutout to draw around. Cut the cardboard to the size you need. Turn the fabric over and place the cardboard cutout on the back of the fabric. Mark around the edges of the cardboard with a pencil. Remove the cardboard. Clip off a small triangle from each of the four corners of the material to be turned under. Turn under the raw edges of the “watery” fabric and baste them. Press again if necessary.

8. Cut your background fabric, hem it if necessary, and sew the pocket for the dowel if you are making a wall hanging. The background fabric should be enough larger than the applique to serve as a picture mat. If you are going to frame the piece, trim the outside to fit the frame you plan to use. Mark the place where the applique should go. If you plan to make a pillow, you will need double the amount of background fabric, plus a pillow form or stuffing.

9. Place the applique on the background fabric and pin it in place. Sew it to the background fabric. Sew the black felt “frame” or some decorative trimming over the seam where the applique is sewn to the background fabric. Place the button for the fish’s eye on the head and sew it through all layers of fabric so that it will not sag or droop when the piece is hung on the wall. I prefer shank buttons for eyes because they stand out from the fabric and cover the stitches used to sew them on.

Reverse applique Fantail Goldfish, finished through Step 9

Downloadable blackwork goldfish pattern (click here)

I never discard a pattern I like.  Here is the goldfish done as a pattern to be used in an entirely different kind of needlework! The pattern is yours to download and embroider in Spanish blackwork. If you are not familiar with Spanish blackwork, you may want to refer to these two previous blog posts (October 6, 2013 and October 18, 2013). The downloadable pattern for the tropical fish was given in the post for May 28, 2018. The two blackwork patterns may be used as a facing pair if you like. You will notice that the present chart has a number of new diaper patterns.

Keep watching for a second tropical fish, made as a companion piece to the first one, this summer. It will also have both a downloadable outline pattern for reverse applique and another downloadable pattern for a Spanish blackwork piece, with several more new diaper patterns.

Enjoy!

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

A Little Eye Candy: Our 6th Anniversary Issue*

"Hard Winter", photo by J.J.

Greetings, readers old and new. We are currently winding up our 6th year of this blog, and gearing up for Year Number 7. J.D. has a lot to show you and tell you, so I will turn this post over to him. I’ll be back to introduce some of the topics you can expect to see in the coming months.

Hello, all;  J.D.,  Annake’s Garden Gnome here.
 
First, a special welcome to last year’s new visitors from Andorra, Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, El Salvador, the Republic of Georgia, and Mozambique. We have now had visitors from at least 121 of the 197 countries recognized by the UN.  I say at least, because Google Analytics classifies a growing segment of our visitors as ‘Not Set’,  so any of you who has never seen your country mentioned — blame Google!
 
Last year’s most popular new posts were the five parts of our series on ‘Landscapes in the Needle Arts’, followed by the post ‘Back to Blackwork’, and (surprisingly) our periodic Question & Answer posts. I don’t know whether we are doing a better job of promoting those posts, or more of our readers have figured out that they are full of juicy bits of new information;  we’re just glad to see them getting more attention. And, since many of you first come to this blog searching for material in our archived past posts, I’ll note that cumulative visits since we launched are still highest for tutorials on various bargello topics, blackwork embroidery, Holbein and Assisi embroidery, and cross-stitch; but last year, Swedish weaving and the posts on optical illusions started to catch up.

Now available for download in our Etsy shop

And now, a major addition to our Etsy shop: by the time you read this, the first downloadable prints of some of Annake’s work will be available for you to buy, for a very reasonable price. We’ve shown a few of these in recent past posts — remember the wolf and bear prints? These and many more will be in our Etsy store. Initially, what will be available is going to be limited in size and scope; but, as we figure more of this process out, you can expect to see many more subjects, colors, and sizes that you can download immediately and print at home, or take to a print shop to have your own high quality example of Annake’s work. This includes our international readers — no hassles with expensive shipping, customs forms, or currency exchanges:  just download from the Internet!

So — why this, now? Doesn’t Annake mostly do needle artwork? Where is all this coming from?

Well, the prints are being offered as a result of a number of converging headaches, needs, and trends, which I will tell you all about in a much longer post later this spring. For now, a quick example:

Black-maned lion needlepoint

Remember this black-maned lion needlepoint (we showed it, still unframed, in this post)? Annake came across her original sketch while digging through files looking for something else. (We do a LOT of that!) 

Damaged original working sketch

You can see that it was in pretty rough shape, so I said, “Let me scan it into the computer; I can clean it up, and then you’ll have it when you need it, and we can print it out in any size you want.” So I did — the result is below.

Edited scan of lion sketch

Annake said, “Hmmmm… print me a copy, I’ll put in some shading to indicate what I had in mind for stitching, then you can scan that in for future reference.” So she did — and by the time I had scanned and cleaned it up, it looked pretty darned good. We decided to sign it, put it into a high-quality print file, and — you can see the result above at the beginning of this section.  And, you can now download and print your own.

Look for lots more prints to come over the next several months… as well as printable downloads of some of my photos, and some of J.J.’s — all in our revamped Etsy shop.

Back to you, Annake...

Here are some of the topics you can look for this year:

• Our next issue will feature a new reverse applique with step-by-step photographs and a pattern to download.
• Then watch for Seascapes IV and V and at least one issue on skyscapes.
• I’m going to revisit Folk Embroidery and feature several new “families” of stitches.
• There will be a new series on color, starting this spring. I think you will get some new ideas from it that will be fun.
• Expect features on collage and scratchboard plus more optical illusions.
• There will be new bargello patterns for 4-way and all-over designs, plus new “diaper” patterns for Spanish blackwork, Russian redwork, and Scandinavian whitework.
• I’ve been looking at landscapes again from a new perspective that I want to share with you.

Photos from some future posts...

Don’t forget out Question and Answer issues where I try to answer your questions and provide additional information.

I’m really looking forward to starting the next year of blog posts with you.

Take care of yourselves. Stay safe, come back often.

* If you're wondering about the title of this post, candy is a traditional 6th anniversary gift.

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.