Applique / Satin Stitch question

I tried my first applique yesterday, not very happy with it. I was trying to applique a cotton design on a knit onsie/t. I am wondering how do I keep it from stretching. I put stabilizer under the cotton/on top of the onsie. The design kind of poofs in the middle. What am I doing wrong? Also when I use the satin stitch I can not get it to feed under the foot right. It wants to bunch up. I even tried using a foot that seemed to have a slight channel under it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Jessica

Doing applique on knit is definitely a challenge!  Did you use stabilizer under the knit part too?  One of my favorite things to use is freezer paper because you can iron it on (shiny side toward the fabric) and it will stick there.  It will also peel right off when you're ready (and sometimes when you're not quite ready. ;-)  You can also reuse it over and over.  The only drawback is that you have to pick the paper out of the stitching (which usually comes out after a couple of washes anyway.)  Sulky also make a nice stabilizer but you have to pin it in place.

I would also forgo using just a stabilizer on the actual design--you want something that is going to hold it in place permanently.  I use Heat'n Bond UltraLite (don't use UltraHold)--you just iron your fabric onto the bonding medium, cut out your design, peel the paper off of the back, and iron it onto your onesie.  Apply the stabilizer/freezer paper to the back of the onesie (behind the design) and start your stitching.  Everybody is held in place and ready to rock--that should eliminate the problem that you've encountered with the stitching.

I have a tutorial about applique on my blog--just click on the tutorial tab and look for "Rick Rack Applique" in the sewing section.  Hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any more questions--this is the easiest and most satisfying way that I've found to do applique.

Jessica,

If you foot will not move over your satin stitching then your stitch density is set to close.  You should have 2 settings, one for the width of the stitch and one for how close together they are.  Try adjusting the setting for how close they are and that will thin out the density.  If you are using a clear open toe foot with the channel on the underside, you have the right one.