Step 4 - Appliqué

This step took me about 4 hours, not including shopping time - expect more for more complex designs, or none at all if you want a single color kite.

I found the following page about appliqué: http://www.kites.tug.com/goodwinds.html. It has about everything you can possibly need to know about kite appliqué, and a lot more. I skimmed, and read bits I thought would be useful.

I started out making another trip to the store. It turns out there is a great kite supply store here in Seattle: Gasworks Park Kite Shop. I bought some appliqué supplies there, along with some string (the other store was out). I then ran by a marine fabric store for the last of my materials, and a hardware store to buy a wood burning kit (a soldering iron with multiple heads). Here's the new additions to the materials list:

1 yd .75 oz royal blue $8.25
.5 yd .75 oz red $4
250# 500' dacron line $13.80
4" velcro $2.50
1 yd 1" nylon webbing $.85
Z69 white nylon thread $4.49
Wood burning kit $13.50

Updated total: $100.95 (ouch)

The thread is much thicker than the recommended stuff, but they were out of everything thinner and I didn't want to have to go to any more stores.

Back to Appliqué. Using the soldering iron makes the process very easy. You just cut the pieces you'd like, arrange them, touch the tip of the soldering iron along the edges to keep them in place, sew them together, then cut off the pieces you don't need. Here are some picutres that should help.


New materials

I didn't measure designs - just folded the shapes I wanted and cut

Folding red fabric

I used a scrap board, foil to protect my fabric from the laminated board, and a soldering iron.

After tacking

After sewing

Setting up next piece

Cutting fabric after sewing

Finished piece

Laying out next piece

It's difficult to sew large pieces