Lisa's Stitching Essential Tools for Wool Applique

Hey everyone, it's Lisa Bonjean from Perinoat Gatherings, and I'm here to share with you my tools for wool applique. The first item that I want to share is my new book called Wool, Needle, and Thread. Now this book is an encyclopedia of stitches and techniques that I use, all stepped out photograph by photograph. Now the editors at Martingale Publishing did an awesome job in this book. So it's almost like I'm there right with you, teaching you step by step. So I talk about the tools that I'm going to talk about today here as well, and then the techniques. So you see all the photographs, step by step, of what we're doing. And then we're going to go to stitches, and again, step by step. Every time the needle moves, we have a picture for that step. And then at the end, there's a couple projects for you to practice the stitches and the techniques that you have learned. So this book will be your friend for many years to come. Next up is fusible web. I believe there is not one perfect fusible web that can do everything that I need. So therefore, I'm going to talk about two different fusible webs. Now to get out of the way, one is steamy seam to light. Now this fusible web is double-sided. So you would draw on the side that the grid is on, and then when you're ready to use it, you would peel off the backing paper that protects the sticky layer of fusible web. We would adhere that to the wool, and then iron it, cut it out on the line, and then put it onto our background. But this fusible web has become so tacky that I really only love to use it for my stems and the outer edge of a mat. Now what I mean by that is because I don't stitch through the stems. And when you stitch through this fusible web, being it's a little more tacky than what it used to be, it'll kind of gum up your needle a little bit. So therefore, I try to only use it on the stems because I'm not stitching into the stem, I'm stitching over the stems with a cross stitch. And you will see a video on that as well. Just look for that on YouTube. So now, the other fusible web that I use for all the appliques is called Heat N Bond Featherlight. Now this fusible web is super lightweight, and you would trace on the paper side. There's no need to take off a backing paper because here is the fusible web. You can kind of see it has like a snake skin texture. So then you would trace, cut out your shape, put it onto your wool, iron it, and then cut it out on the line. Now this is super nice and easy to stitch through, and that's why I love it for the appliques. Okay, now on to the number three. Next up for an essential tool is the circle template. Now anytime you have a circle in a pattern, I love to use a perfect circle. And that's how you trace your circles is with a template. It's hard to trace a nice perfect circle if you're just doing it by hand. So I find that the circle template is amazing to get almost perfect circles. Next up is the stem cutting rulers. Now these rulers I have designed for specifically cutting wool strips that are meant for stems and vines that are cut 3-16ths. So if you get a chance to peek at them, let me put something behind it, maybe this piece of fusible, it'll show up a little bit better on the camera. So each one of these lines is 3-16ths apart. Now why do I want 3-16ths? Because when you cut wool and then you stitch it, it becomes chubbier, thicker. So if I cut a stem 3-16ths and then stitch it, it will essentially look a quarter of an inch when it is done and stitched. So that is why we cut our stems a little smaller, stitch them, and then they look the size that we want. So when you do 3-16ths, you just move this and cut continuous 3-16ths inch steps. One of the best things I've found for crazy quilt stitches are these embroidery shape templates and stitch templates. Now I have two different ones here. So the embroidery shape templates, I still had the sheet for it. So these are all different types of shapes that will help you create lines and zigzags to add your stitches to. So sometimes you're not really good at free-forming a line. These templates help you get evenly spaced lines. There is an alphabet as well, and herringbone, and zigzags, and feather stitch, all different kinds of templates in this small set of embroidery shapes. Then we also have a larger set, and I don't have the cover sheet for these as well, but if you look under the embroidery shape templates, you will see these on our website. And this is a massive amount of different types of templates used to create beautiful crazy stitches. One of the biggest questions that everybody asks is, what kind of thread do I use for wool applique? Now being a designer, I have to pick one thread to use again and again and again, and I think I picked the most beautiful thread on the market, and that is the Valdani threads. So the Valdani threads come in four different size weights, starting with the 12 weight. This thread is hand-dyed and variegated and just beautiful, and I believe it looks a lot like our hand-dyed wools that we are using in these wool projects. So 12 weight, 8 weight, 5 weight, they get thicker as you go up. And then we also have three-stranded floss available to us as well, and I use the three-stranded floss for wool applique with one strand of it. Not all three, because if I needed all three, I would use one of these thicker weights, but sometimes we have very small shapes, and then I use the one strand of the floss for those little tiny shapes so the thread doesn't take over that shape. It's just barely there. So that's the four weights of thread. And again, I choose the Valdani thread. Is there anything wrong with any of the other threads out there? No, but I had to pick a favorite, and this was it, the Valdani. To keep track of your Valdani threads, Primitive Gatherings has a book out, and it's called My Soul is Fed with My Wool, Needle, and Thread. Now this is a book that you can carry with you to the quilt shop or to the show, and it keeps track of all of the threads you already have in your collection. And you can list whether you have 12, 8, 5, or the three-stranded floss. It also has a little bit of an intro about all the other tools that you may want to use in wool applique, and about the threads, their numbers and their colors, their numbers and the letters and what they mean. Also in the book is a quick guide for stitches, keeping track of your projects, and then a little bit for notes at the end. A lot of my customers swear by this book, and they absolutely love it that we have it. Then we have a thread bowl. Now this thread bowl is so fun to have because this is what you would do when you're stitching with a color that you're going to be stitching a lot of, you will unthread your ball, thread the hole, and then you just keep pulling your thread as you need it. And it's always right there in your bowl, not laying on the floor, and it's pretty and very functional. So we have a couple different varieties of these thread bowls available. So those are all the essential items that deal with thread. Then we have fray check. Now why do I use fray check? When I stitch my wool mats, I do not put another layer of wool on the back. I put a more inexpensive fabric, which is homespun. Now the homespun could unravel a lot. So once I get the homespun adhere to the back and I cut away the excess, I then fray check the edge of the homespun before I stitch the edge of the wool mat. So this allows the project to keep the edges sealed to prevent further unfraying of those threads. It also can be used on wools that are maybe a looser weave. So you would apply this to the edge of your wool shape after it's cut out, but before you stitch. And this will help prevent those fibers from fraying while you're stitching. Okay, then there's needles. Now I think needles are extremely important. It's kind of like having the right tool to build something. Using the right needle is so essential to the success of a project. So on different weights of threads, you would use a different weight needle. So for wool applique, we have two sizes. We have the 24 chenille needle, and this is for the 3-stranded floss, 1-strand, and the 12-weight Valdani. And then we have the 22 chenille needle, and this is for the 5- and the 8-weight. Then we also have an embellishing needle for the drizzle knots and the colonial knots you can use this for, and also the bullion knot. That's what you want to use this needle, which is all straight from beginning to end. It doesn't bow out at the needle tip to slide those knots through. Then I have to mention the binding needle as well. Even though binding is really all, you know, mostly on quilts, we also bind some of our wool applique quilts. So if you haven't tried Primitive Gatherings binding needles, you will find that they're extra long, they do not bend, they're sharp, and we have a great eye for threading your thicker quilting thread that you should be binding your quilts with. Now this little inexpensive needle threader works super for going in the eye of the needle, hooking your thread, and pulling it through those chenille needles. So this is very inexpensive. It does not break because it's not a wimpy wire. It is nice and sturdy and perfect for threading your needles if you have trouble doing that. Next up is cutting tools. For cutting my wool applique, I love this Dovo German made scissors. It is super sharp, very lightweight, and just a joy to cut out my wool applique shapes. And yes, I cut out the fusible web. I do not use a different paper scissors. I use this scissors all the time. So it is perfect for your wool applique. Then, what is this little cute rotary cutter for? This 18 millimeter is perfect to cut out your fusible web shapes very quickly. So I will lay my fusible web out, and then because you rough cut fusible web, I just simply cut out my fusible web instead of scissor cutting. And that makes for much more efficient cutting than using a scissors. What do we need a tweezers for in wool applique? Well, let me tell you that this tweezers is a game changer. This little guy helps you pick up wool pieces. Instead of using your chubby little fingers to pick things up or to peel paper off, this super sharp tweezers does the job like nobody's business. So get yourself one of these Martelli tweezers for your wool applique. Then we have marking tools. Now, what is the best way to mark on your wool? That is like one of the most popular questions. And I find the liquid white marking pen works the best. This is from Clover. And the trick to this marking pen is not to press real hard. You want to gently roll it out because it's liquid chalk. And then give it a second to dry. And the line appears nice and bright and easy for you to stitch on. But the best thing about this chalk pen is it does not brush away like dry chalk would. So that's why I use this liquid chalk for marking my wool appliques. But then sometimes we have a lighter wool and it's hard to mark on a light wool. Well, then I will use these friction pens. So depending on what color I am using for the wool stitching thread, I will use black, green, or blue to do some of those marking instead of the chalk pen if I'm working on a lighter thread that the chalk pen doesn't show up on. But really the chalk pen shows up on a lot except for almost like the whitest whites. It will still show up on some of the creams and such. Then for tracing, I have a Sharpie marking pen. I love to use the Sharpie marking pen on the fusible web because I do not get a lot of graphite on my hands. And the smoothness of a marker is really nice. And the tip is super fine. So that really helps you get nice crisp drawing shapes. All right, we're getting down to the end of the essential items. We have the Rowenta steam station. Now this is a professional iron. It has a huge tank that you can fill up and don't have to change water or add water to it the rest of the day. And then the best thing about the Rowenta is the amount of steam holes in the iron. So I'll tip it this way as well. So do you see all those little steam holes? Instead of just having like 12 steam holes, it has evenly distributed heat and steam throughout the whole iron. Then it has a trigger to press for the steam. So when you pick it up, be careful that you don't grab the steam. But when you want the steam, you just press the button for the steam. One of the best things that you can have for a pressing surface are these wool mats. So these wool pressing mats, what happens is when you steam on it, it bounces the heat back up. So you're actually pressing both sides of your wool applique at the same time because the heat is held in the mat and comes back up to your project. So you're getting the most coverage of your steam and iron surface with these wool mats. Now these are great for your quilting as well, not only just for wool applique. So we have these mats in three different sizes, 12 inch, 20 inch, and then 20 by 58 for your whole big ironing board surface if you have one of those. So those are the items that we have for the needful things for wool applique. So these items that I just shared with you today are what I use every day to make successful projects. And the reason why we sell these here in our shop is because I believe these are the best items needed for wool applique. 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