Sewing appliques can be either decorative or practical. The decorative versions come in a variety of design themes, colors and styles and frequently incorporate embroidery into the design. The practical versions tend to be made of denim, canvas, twill or other widely available fabrics; they’re good for mending various items that need repairs such as blue jeans, denim jackets or canvas bags.

Whether you’re in search of decorative or functional sewing appliques, either way, these useful embellishments can enhance your child’s wardrobe pieces and other gear. They’re also useful for embellishing adults’ clothing and home furnishings.

Ideas for Using Sewing Appliques

• Apply sewing appliques to add unique details to childrens’ clothing, book bags, school bags or backpacks.
• Sports fans can embellish hats, bags, clothing and accessories with their favorite team’s embroidered patches.
• At home, you can use sewing appliques to dress up your pillows, quilts, blankets and countless other furnishings. For example, you could use letter appliques to create unique monogrammed accents for your hand towels, bath towels, table linens, clothing items or other soft goods.
• Alphabet letter appliques can be used for labeling your clothing, or your child’s clothing, with your name. This is useful for ensuring your child will be able to grab the correct jacket off a coat rack filled with similar jackets, or retrieve the correct sports uniform if it looks just like every other uniform.
• Sewing appliques can be cleverly attached to stained clothing in such a way as to camouflage the stains. It’s easy to accomplish this; simply select an applique that’s bigger than the stain is; then pin it to the clothing overtop of the stain. Use sewing thread and a needle to sew the applique onto the spot where you want it. If you prefer not to sew, another alternative would be to choose an iron-on applique, which can typically be applied to fabric with a hot iron.
• Iron-on patches are also useful for mending inconspicuous tears in canvas bags, hats, blue jeans, pants, and a broad variety of other fashions.

What Is Applique Used For?

• Parents can use sewing appliques to mend their kids’ clothes when their wardrobe items become stained or torn.
• Quilters can use appliques as a means of creative expression; appliques can add uniqueness and visual interest to traditional patchwork quilt designs that would otherwise not look much different than zillions of similar quilts.

• Crafters can use appliques as a means for personalizing their sewing projects and other craft projects. There are beaded appliques and rhinestone appliques that crafters can use for making their projects look glamorous and special.
• Interior decorators and do-it-yourself enthusiasts sometimes use appliques to enhance and embellish a variety of home décor items and craft projects.
• Students have the capability to use alphabet appliques as a way to identify their jackets, school uniforms or other items. They can accomplish this by stitching the letter appliques to their clothing, hats or other wardrobe items that could look similar to other students’.
• Anyone can use appliques for personalizing gifts that they give to others. If you have friends who celebrate Christmas, you could give them Christmas stockings personalized with alphabet appliques bearing their initials. Similarly, you could use appliques to personalize the bridal shower gifts or baby shower gifts you give to your loved ones.

What Kinds of Sewing Appliques Are Available?

• Appliques might feature embroidery, glitter or sequins. Alternately, they can be simply made of a plain or utilitarian fabric such as twill or cotton canvas.
• Alphabet letter appliques are popular with crafters working in a broad variety of media.
• Nature-inspired appliques are also popular, with flower designs, rainbows, mushrooms, ladybugs, dragonflies and animals all being broadly available design themes.
• Fairy-tale creatures such as dragons, unicorns and mermaids appear frequently as design themes for sewing appliques. So do popular cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty.
• Emoji appliques have recently been trendy amongst older kids and teenagers.


Yellow, Blue and Multicolored Moon and Sun Patch by C&D Visionary

• Visual symbols such as stars and hearts are other popular design themes for appliques.
• Christmas appliques tend to be bestsellers during the holiday season, and there are many other holiday designs available, too.

Sewing Applique Manufacturers

A few popular manufacturers of appliques and iron-on patches include Dritz, Wrights, Simplicity and Darice.

Where to Buy Sewing Appliques

There are many places to buy sewing appliques. Check out the selection of sewing appliques available at A Cherry on Top Crafts.

More Appliques

• Crochet Appliques
• Crochet Skull Appliques
• Small Heart Applique (Free Crochet Pattern)
• Crochet Flower Applique (Free Pattern With Photo Tutorial)
• Crochet Sunflower Applique Pattern

More Sewing

• Sewing Thread
• Sewing Project Idea: Crochet Hook and Knitting Needle Organizer
• How to Organize Sewing Thread: Use the ArtBin Thread Storage Tray
• Hand Sew Hem Stitch
• Hand Sewing Stitches (Types)

More Crafts, Hobbies and DIY Projects:

• Button Crafts
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• Yarn for Knitting, Crochet and Crafts
• Beadwork
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• Holiday Crafts
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Find More Craft Project Ideas HERE!

Posted By: Amy Solovay

This page was last updated on 5-14-2024.