Satin Applique – Fusing Melty Fabrics

Satin Applique - title image for a post showing how to fuse fragile and melty fabrics, showing a house with a satin tree

Satin applique is just perfect for getting shiny smooooth things like this blue dragon.

Satin applique used to make a shiny blue dragon quilt block

Usually when I use satin in a quilt I use it for soft 3D pieces – like the lining on these fun, floppy ears in my Mix & Match Monsters quilt.

blue monster quilt block with satin-lined flappy ears - one of the blocks in my new Craftsy class

But you can do satin applique too – even if you use fusible adhesive!

Like fleece – the big problem is heat. The heat required to melt your fusible adhesive will melt most satins too.

The answer is simple.

Use a press cloth!

A press cloth isn’t anything fancy, and it isn’t anything you need to buy. It’s just a piece of regular woven cotton that you put between the potentially melty thing you’re ironing and your iron.

That fall tree in the top photo is satin. Here’s how I did it.

How to Applique with Satin - tips and tricks from Shiny Happy World

Fuse your paper-backed adhesive to the back of the satin, just like you would with any fabric except. . .

Ironing with a press cloth to protect melty fabrics

. . . top it all with a press cloth before you fuse.

Use the press cloth again when you fuse the tree top (or whatever) to your block.

After that just stitch around the edges as usual. The fusible adhesive keeps the edges from fraying in every satin applique I’ve tested – but the content of satins can really vary so you might want to make up a quick sample yourself and test it before you use it for a full size quilt that you’re planning to wash a lot.

Wouldn’t it be super cute to make all the cars and trucks in the Beep Beep quilt out of satin, so they’re shiny and smooth like real cars?