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,

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

Reverse Applique

Kuna Woman Selling Molas (Wikimedia)

The term applique refers to the fastening of a cut-out cloth design to a fabric background, by hand or machine sewing or with glue. Reverse applique consists of layering two or more pieces of fabric together and then cutting through the layers to expose the color you want to have showing in each part of the design. The most extreme use of reverse applique I have seen is done by the Kuna (also Cuna or Guna) Indian women from the San Blas archipelago on the coast of Panama. These appliqued pieces are called “molas”. The women use large molas for the fronts and backs of the blouses that form part of their native costumes. Smaller molas sometimes adorn the short sleeves of the blouses. Other molas are made to sell to tourists.

Wooden plate with Panamanian motif

The subjects of the molas vary greatly. Some, like the eagle design below, are obviously copied from non-native designs. More traditional designs come from their folklore, like the design painted on this wooden plate (not done by the Kuna). Still others feature native animals and plants. Finally, some designs are copied — often in great detail — from commercial containers like cereal or detergent boxes or food cans: artist Andy Warhol would have loved the one I saw of a Campbell's soup can.

Eagle mola, front and rear views

The black-and-white American eagle is the pride of my collection. It has only two layers, but it is far from being a simple design. Each of the individual black pieces was cut out and the edges were turned under before they were hand-stitched to the white background. I want you to look closely at the back of this mola to see some of the hundreds of tiny stitches used to secure the pieces of the design, while circles of more tiny top-stitches were used around the eagle's eye. Just imagine the time and patience necessary to create this intricate design!

Red and blue mola with leaf motif

Molas are typically made with smooth-surfaced cotton, but as more kinds of fabric became available to the Kuna women, more variety appeared in both fabrics and colors. Most designs have either a red or a black background. This leaf design, one of two I have by the same native artist, was atypical for its time with its blue border. (Modern molas use a much broader range of colors.) This is another one done with only two layers. The design's colors are more subtle than most., and the red fabric has a suede-like surface. Bear in mind that these designs are not drawn first; they are cut “freehand”!

Butterfly pattern cut from blue construction paper

I am going to show you a much easier and faster way to do a reverse applique design. We are going to use felt. Because it is a non-woven material, felt does not fray or unravel at the edges; therefore, its edges do not need to be turned under. This saves both time and effort. We are going to do a simple two-layer design. (Later, we will try a design with multiple layers and inserts — but that is for another day.) You will need: two 9-inch x 12-inch (21.5 cm x 30.5 cm, approximately) rectangles of felt in contrasting colors, small sharp-pointed scissors, a sharp-pointed needle, thread, straight pins and the downloadable pattern below. Print out two copies of the pattern — one to use and one to file for future reference — or three, if you want to try the technique on colored paper first.

Downloadable butterfly pattern

Choose two contrasting colors of felt, preferably one dark one and one bright one. Set the bright one aside. Pin the pattern to the darker piece, placing the pins both outside and inside of the dark areas on the pattern. Short pins with small heads are best for pinning. (You may be tempted to fold the felt and try to cut both halves at the same time; please don't!) Carefully cut out the dark areas as precisely as possible. Use the smallest, sharpest scissors that you have. I use a pair of Fiskars® mini-shears, but embroidery scissors or even sharp manicure scissors will do he job. If you are experienced with an X-acto® knife, you might use that, but I don't usually recommend it for felt. Unpin the pattern and set it aside. Keep the pieces you cut out of the wings because you may want to cut out circles, spirals or other shapes to decorate the wings after the butterfly is applied to the background. You may want to omit the antennae and cut more fanciful ones from your scraps to sew on later. Or you can embroider them or apply some other kind of trimming. Don't be too critical of your work. Remember this is folk art. It shouldn't look machine-made.

Butterfly reverse applique in 2 colors

Place the cut-out pieces on top of the brighter felt. When you are satisfied with their placement, pin the design to the background, if you are going to hand-stitch it, or baste it to the background, if you are going to machine-stitch it. Felt has a tendency to stretch, so pin both sides of each cut-out shape wherever possible. You may use matching or contrasting thread for stitching. If you are hand-stitching, make your stitches small, neat, and regular. To make your stitches less apparent, use a thread the same shade as the felt. To emphasize the stitching, use a thread that contrasts greatly. You may also glue your pattern to the background if you like; I don't do this because I have not been satisfied with several fabric glues.

Butterfly reverse applique, 3 colors

If you want to add a third color to your design, cut out the butterfly shape once it is applied to the brighter background and place it and the pieces of the “frame” on a third, medium-colored piece of felt. When I cut out the butterfly shape, I left a tiny edge of the wing color around the outside to make sure I didn't cut any stitches I had made along the edges of the cut-out. The “frame” is in separate pieces because that was all that would fit on a standard piece of printer paper. If your felt is large enough, you can cut out a “frame” in one continuous piece.

Butterfly reverse applique, 4 colors

To add still a fourth color, at the two-color step use half sheets of two bright colors of felt and place their edges together so that the join is hidden by the black strip that separates the top and bottom wings. Then treat the cut-out butterfly as you did for the three-color design. If you decide to add a fourth color after you have done the three-color stage, just baste around the inside of the cut-outs on the bottom wings. After the rest of the butterfly has been sewn onto the background, remove those basting stitches. Use the cut-outs you removed from the original outline for patterns. Cut a piece a little larger all the way around than the pattern piece. Slide the fourth-color pieces under the edges of the butterfly outline and sew those edges through the colored pieces and the background.

There are many ways to decorate your reverse applique. Those of you who have been learning folk embroidery stitches will find many opportunities to use them. If you look at my finished project at the bottom of this post, you will see that I used several of the techniques mentioned in the article. You can frame your project or sew felt tabs on it and hang it from a small dowel. Three of these pieces on a longer dowel make an attractive hanging for a child's room. Try making your own designs. A child's coloring book is a good source of ideas. Or cut out a simple magazine picture, separate the sections, and trace it onto plain paper for a pattern.

This is a playful sort of pattern and project. Enjoy,

Butterfly reverse applique, complete with decorations

Photo Credit: "Kuna Woman Selling Molas", By Markus Leupold-Löwenthal (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

All other photos, copyright Annake's Garden, 2016

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