How to Appliqué Designs Larger than the Width of Your Hoop

Have you ever wondered how appliqué designs larger than width of hoop stitch out so perfectly? The magic is using Alignment Crosshairs that are built into the design.

These are stitched out as placement stitches so you'll know where to align your needle up with. Let me show you the simple steps to achieve these large appliqué pieces.

Sewing Machine Used:

• THE Dream Machine® 2 Innov-ís XV8550
  or THE Dream Machine® Innov-ís XV8500D
  

Materials & Supplies:

• SA5815 Medium-weight, adhesive tear away stabilizer
  
• Spray starch
• Multi-part appliqué pattern, Bluebird of Happiness design shown here
• Fabrics for appliqué
• Embroidery thread
  
• Basic sewing tools

Preparing Your Fabric

It only takes a few extra steps to prepare your fabric. First, before starting your appliqué, prepare the background fabric by using a spray starch and folding it in half and half again, pressing the folds to create a vertical and horizontal crease. You will have inserted your hoop filled with sticky backed stabilizer
into the embroidery unit. The appliqué embroidery design will have a few embroidery files to complete the overall appliqué design.

In this article, I align the final file of the Bluebird of Happiness design, the bird.

Using Alignment Crosshairs

On THE Dream Machine® 2 Innov-ís XV8550
or THE Dream Machine® Innov-ís XV8500D
embroidery machines, select the icon in the upper left corner that has a W+ and a red dot within the foot outline. This will display a red laser light that you can see on the background fabric. The red laser light indicates needle down position.
Move the background fabric until the red laser light is directly in the center of the stitched-out Crosshair.
Use the needle down button to insert the needle into the center of the stitched-out Crosshair. Finger press gently around the needle to secure that part of the background fabric to the sticky stabilizer. Bring the needle up and select the next color change to select the next alignment crosshair on the design.

Using the Pressed Creases

For the second alignment crosshair within this design there is not a stitched-out Crosshair on the background fabric. This is where the pressed creases on the background fabric are used to align the crosshairs built into the design. Again, using the red laser light and move the background fabric so that the laser light is in the center of the creased line on the background fabric.
Use the needle down button to insert the needle into the center of the creased line. Finger press gently around the needle to secure that part of the background fabric to the sticky stabilizer. Bring the needle up and select the next color change to select the next alignment crosshair on the design.

Securing the Background Fabric Before Appliquéing

Once all the alignment crosshairs are lined up on the background fabric, remove the hoop from the embroidery unit and place on a flat surface. Secure the background fabric by gently hand pressing the background fabric onto the sticky stabilizer. Return the hoop to the embroidery unit and verify the crosshair alignments before stitching out the appliqué design. Once verified, stitch away!