Now that I’m a fair way along in completing my RSN appliqué piece, I thought it might be a good moment to introduce one of my most useful — yet rather humble — tools. It’s not expensive. It’s not fancy. And for a long time, I didn’t even know what it was called. Yet it has become indispensable for this project. In this post I’ll show you how I use a bone folder bone folder for padded appliqué to create perfectly fitting fabric shapes for my RSN appliqué project.

Working With Height in Appliqué

Many elements in my RSN Appliqué piece are heavily padded. Some of them rise several centimetres above the background fabric. The large mushrooms on the left and right, for example, stand about 2.5 cm high, and the cat in the centre is even higher. These shapes are usually built up from several layers of carpet felt, topped with a layer of craft felt, and finally covered with fabric.

Because of this height, the original traced shapes of my drawing are no longer accurate when determining the size of the outer layers for craft felt or fabric. The higher the shape becomes, the more fabric you need to cover it. If you simply cut the outer fabric to the same size as the base shape, it will end up being too small. So the challenge becomes: How do you determine the correct size for the outer fabric layer once the padding is already in place? This is where my small mystery tool comes in.

My Mystery Tool

I’m not entirely sure what this tool is called, but a bit of googling leads me to believe it’s called a bone folder — if you know for sure, please tell me!

It was originally designed for working with paper. Historically these tools were apparently made from bone (which is where the term bone folder comes from), though most modern ones are made of plastic. The shape is a bit like a knife, but without a sharp edge. One side tapers to a firm, smooth edge with a blunt tip.

It’s designed to make crisp folds in paper without damaging it. As it turns out, it’s also incredibly useful in embroidery and appliqué work.

Making a Pattern Directly From the Padded Shape

When I need to determine the correct fabric size for a padded element, I pin a piece of tissue paper over the shape. Then I run the edge of my little tool along the edge of the padded shape underneath the paper.

Because the tool is firm but not sharp, it presses the tissue paper down against the edge of the padding, leaving behind a clear crease line that follows the exact outline of the raised shape. It’s a wonderfully simple way of creating a new pattern that perfectly accounts for the height of the padding.

For the craft felt layer that covers the carpet felt I pin the tissue paper to the craft felt and then I simply cut along that line and use the resulting shape directly as my pattern piece.

For the outer fabric layer, I take an extra step. First, I trace over the crease line in the tissue paper with a marker so the outline becomes more visible. Then I place the fabric over the tissue paper on a light box. The line underneath shines through the fabric just enough to follow it. Using a pencil, I lightly trace around the outside of the shape. While the light box is on, the pencil line can be a little difficult to see — but once the light is turned off, the outline is clearly visible on the fabric.

Adding Colour Before Cutting

For this particular piece I wanted to add some colour variation to the fabric before cutting it out. I tested a few colours along the edge of the fabric first to see which combination worked best.

The colours I’m using are water-soluble oil crayons. At first the application looks a bit rough when applied directly to the fabric. But once I go over the area with a slightly damp brush, the pigments dissolve and blend beautifully into each other. The crayon marks disappear and the colour becomes much softer and more natural.

Once the fabric has dried completely, I cut out the shape just inside the pencil line. That way there is no risk of visible pencil marks ending up on the final piece.

Fine Adjustments

Most of the time the resulting shape is already a very good fit for the padded element. Occasionally a tiny adjustment is still needed. And that’s when my little tool comes in handy once more. By running the edge of the tool along the fabric while gently pulling the fabric tight, I can create a very fine crease line exactly where I want to trim. That crease becomes my cutting guide. Using a small pair of embroidery scissors, I can trim the fabric precisely without leaving any marks behind.

It’s a small trick, but it makes a surprising difference when working with detailed shapes. This little folder — bone folder? paper folder? mystery tool? — has quietly become one of my favourites for working with padded appliqué shapes!