Since I am planning to build my “Abiding Garden” hand-appliqué as I go, I realized that I need stems and leaves available to include whenever the mood hit me.

But, how do you make skinny stems?

I spent a bit of time watching various videos….there are TONS of methods. Then, I remembered Karen Kay Buckley’s stem templates and realized that I had a set in my studio!!

Don’t you LOVE when that happens!

AND, the package included templates for 8 stems, ranging from 1/8-inch to 15/32-inch.

This is the process…..

Cut a strip of fabric at least twice as wide as your template, PLUS 1/2 inch for the seam allowance. So for a 1/8-inch stem, my strip would be at least 6/8ths (3/4-inch) wide.

I actually made it even wider, so it was easier to work with!

Fold and iron the fabric strip in half….

Place the template so that it snugs inside the fold……

Sew right along the edge of the template….

Trim the fabric as close to the stitching line as possible…

Now, using your thumbs, ROLL the tube until the seam allowance is on one side of the tube….

Iron it in place….

They suggest pressing the seam open, but on these tiny strips, there was no way to do so!

Finally, I brushed on some “Fabric Sizing”….

…and ironed it dry….

VOILA…..

One SKINNY stem…..

There are some threads sticking out along the edges, but those will be tucked in place during the appliqué process.

I loved the process, but I personally struggled to sew right up against the edge of the Teflon template, so I modified the process a bit.

Once I had the strip ironed in half, I DREW a line that was approximately 1/4 inch from the fold.

I sewed along my drawn line and trimmed the excess….

I then inserted the template into the tube…..

….and continued the process as normal.

At the end of my “learning” process, I had a BUNCH of stems ready to go!!

I expect these stems to be mostly straight, but if I need a curvy one, I will cut the strip on the bias rather than on the straight grain.

So now that I know HOW to make them, I need to get back up there and make BUNCH more!!