Gift idea: sewing a hair turban with a heart appliqué with a “negative effect”

Dear Community,

I always like to think of something special for my best friends for Christmas. It’s not always something sewn, but I always make it myself from the heart. This is very important to me personally, especially this year, which has required a lot from us – including not being able to see our friends as often. So I thought the theme for the BERNINA Advent Calendar – “from the heart” – was just perfect. And I also have a nice gift idea that you can decorate with a heart.

In this post I will show you how to sew a hair turban and create a negative appliqué. 

Negative appliqué definitely has plenty of positives. It looks really great and is very easy to do. Here are some simple instructions.

Hair turban with a negative appliqué heart

Sewing a hair turban with a negative appliqué – instructions

You will need

• Sewing project that uses knitted fabric – in this case a hair turban, more on that below
• A piece of fabric for the background
• Small, pointed scissors
• Heart shape (or other shape) on paper

We need this material for the heart appliqué on the hair turban

Method

First, draw the desired appliqué shape on paper. If you want a symmetrical heart, fold the paper in half. I do not recommend making your shape bigger than 10 to 15 cm.

Then cut the shape out of the paper and transfer it onto the overcast fabric remnant that will form the negative appliqué.

Transferring the appliqué shape onto the fabric

Then pin the fabric with the right side of the fabric on the wrong side of the sewing project and topstitch the heart shape, following the drawn line.

From the right side, the appliqué now looks as in the picture below. Now we use the scissors.

Using a pair of small, pointed scissors, now cut parallel lines into the fabric inside the topstitched shape – make sure you only cut into the outer fabric! It is best to cut these 8 to 10 mm apart.

Do the same across the entire shape. Once you’ve finished, gently pull on the strips. Woven fabrics create a nice effect after the first wash.

The finished appliqué looks as in the picture below.

Ideas and tutorials for your next sewing adventure

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Pattern and instructions for sewing a hair turban

The sewing project can now be completed according to the instructions. The pattern for the hair turban, including detailed instructions, can be found on my website:

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I wish you a Merry Christmas and good health to us all in the coming year.

Denise Pernet Ammann