A Pictorial Guide to Appliqueing a Split Leaf

Step 1:

Prepare your block for back basting. That is, draw the pattern on the wrong side of your background fabric.

We begin our split leaf by back basting the top of the leaf. Please note, that the long curve to the right will be underneath the bottom fabric of the leaf. The seam allowance that will be under the bottom fabric has been cut wider than the seam allowance that we will be turning.

Also note that this seam line between the two halfs of the leaf has been basted with a second thread with longer stitches.

This second thread will be removed in step 3.

Step 2:

Baste the bottom fabric in place. Do not baste the seam between the two sections of the leaf.

Step 3:

Carefully pull back the bottom fabric and pull out the second thread that was used to baste the first patch. We don't want to accidentally baste through that thread as it would make it difficult to remove the thread when the applique is complete.

Step 4:

Baste the final seam between the two leaf halves with a second thread. Trim the bottom half.

Step 5:

We are now ready to begin our applique. First we will stitch the seam between the two leaf halves. In preparation for this stitching, this photo shows the seam being clipped.

Step 6:

It is important that we do not stitch through the leaf to the background fabric below. After this seam is stitched we will stitch the outside edge of the leaf (both halves) treating it as one seam. That means when we come to the division between the top half and the bottom half of the leaf, we will be able to sweep under the seam allowance at that point. Just the same as we sweep under the seam allowance on the remainder of the leaf. We will not be able to do this if we have stitched this first seam between the two halves to the background fabric.

To avoid this problem, slide a toothpick under both leaf fabrics to raise the leaf fabric away from the background fabric. We then begin appliqueing the bottom leaf fabric to the top leaf fabric. Be sure each stitch you take only goes through the leaf fabric. As each stitch is taken, slide the toothpick along so that you create a space in which to take your next stitch without stitching into the background fabric. There is an enlarged photo below to show this process.

Step 7:

After completing the stitching of the seam between the two halves of the leaf, applique the outside edge of the leaf treating it as one continuous seam. You may need to change thread color when you come to the second fabric of the leaf. This method will produce a leaf that has a smooth curve and sharp points where the two fabrics meet.