Applique

ap*pli*que – of French origin; a decoration or trimming of one material sewn or otherwise fixed onto another.
  This week I decided to write about something I am doing almost daily in my sewing room; applique.  What is applique??  Well not only will I tell you; I show you!
  
  I have attached some photos for you to see the applique process.

My machine is sewing an outline so I know where to put the fabric. Please disregard my little chalk marking; that is my state of the art way to mark my center point.

My machine is tacking down the fabric and then I will trim around the stitches.

Here it is sewing a pretty satin stitch to finish up the flower.  Sorry, I forgot to snap a picture when I added the gingham, but you get the idea.

Here is the end result; quite cute don’t you think????
  The thing I love about applique is it’s endless possibilities! Then there are all the cute fabrics to choose from and sometimes the design calls for a combination of fabrics. Be still my heart!! I love combining them!! I love seeing the end result!  Good way to use your scrap fabric too; no waste.
  I hope you enjoyed this little applique tutorial.  If you are interested in purchasing one of these little dresses click here
Thanks for stopping by!
The Cricket

My bright idea!

  Ugh!!  This is so hard!!  I often think about what I should write on my blog. I come up with an idea but then I second guess myself; I think "what can I write about that others would want to read"????? 

  I think I have a solution though.........I am going to write about the items I have worked on each week.  I come up with some really beautiful items (if I must say so myself.... but others say it too!) and it would be very selfish of me not to share. ;) 
  So this week I had a giveaway on my Facebook page; I was trying to get to 500 'Likes' (I liked it better when they called it "fans"; made me feel like a rock star!).  From time to time I have little giveaways; bags and stuff.  Things I would want to win!  Things you would want to win too!  Anyway, I was giving away a beautiful seersucker tote bag with an appliqued design.  The only thing you had to do to get your name entered in the drawing was to send a friend (or two; the more you send the more entries you get) to my Cricket Stitches Facebook page and have them "like" me.  Once they "liked" me they had to write on the wall who sent them.  A nice man won the drawing; his wife sent him.  Guess who gets the bag!  The wife does!  And here you get to see it before she does; lucky you!

  This bag is for sale on my website; click on the picture to get you there!  Still working on getting the appliqued designs on my site.  In the mean time if you want this design on your bag put it in the “comments” section upon checking out.
  Thanks for stopping by!