How to Add Appliqués to Crochet Items

I typically prefer to crochet appliqués and sew them on to my crochet items. I have even crocheted logos and sewn them on. They turn out so personable and handmade. However, there are times when felt appliques are necessary. Such as this Batman logo….

I have been asked to make a Batman hat many times, and many times I have crocheted the emblem. I have never been 100% happy with it. I’m very particular with how I want my crochet items to look. Things need to be even, symmetrical, and neat.

This time I decided to do the Batman emblem with felt. It was pretty simple and I like how it turned out. I wanted to share with YOU the step-by-step instructions on how to make your own. This will work well with any applique.

Materials Needed

• crochet hat/item
• felt
• scissors
• printer/paper/ink
• thread
• sewing needle
• craft glue

The key to using felt is to make sure it can not be removed. For the Batman hat, I started with crocheting a basic crochet hat. A simple crochet hat pattern with ear flaps can be found here. The pattern includes sizes newborn to adult. It uses hdc stitches and can make with or without ear flaps.

I made the hat and ear flaps in black, then added a single crochet row of yellow around the parameter.

Next, you want to start on the Batman emblem, or whatever emblem you are making. Print off a photo/outline of what you are making. I found this batman emblem by googling “Printable Batman Emblem”. I found a site with a pdf outline. I copied it a put it on a word document so I could edit the size.

In the word document I decreased the size so it was about half the width of the page. This was tricky and I couldn’t figure out how to control what size I wanted it. I figured if a page of printer paper was 8″ wide then half of that would be 4″ and that should work for a hat.

After printing off your emblem, cut it out. Take the paper emblem and place it in front of the felt. Use the emblem as a stencil and cut out the shape in felt. Clean it up. Felt is pretty forgiving with scissors. It is easy to get clean edges. See photo below of the Batman emblem cut out.

Once I had the emblem cut out I crocheted an oval to fit behind it. Your item may not need to to have a crochet background. You may be attaching it directly to your crochet item and that is fine.

Pattern for the oval….

Rnd 1: Ch 9, sc across in second chain from hook, place 2sc in last ch. sc across the back side or opposite side of the chain. place 2sc in the last ch. join (18)

Rnd 2-3: ch 1, sc in each st around placing 2sc in the 2 corner stitches. join (22 – 26)

Rnd 4: ch 1, sc in 2 st, hdc in 4 st, sc in 4 st, 2sc x 2, sc in 4 st, hdc in 4 st, sc in 4 st, 2sc x 2. (30).

Rnd 5: ch 1, sc around placing 2hdc in the corner stitches. join (34). Finish off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Using craft glue, glue the felt on to the crochet item. I glued it to the crochet oval. Make sure you glue the corners really well. Let the glue dry for the recommended amount of time on the bottle. Mine dried in about 4 hours or less.

Once the glue is dry, take a needle and thread that matches the applique. Sew the edges and corners of the applique down. Make sure it is on there well. The last thing you want is for it to fall off, or even worse….the edges to curl.

There you have it! It’s pretty simple to add an applique to any crochet item! And the possibilities are endless.

I sewed my applique to the yellow oval, then sewed the oval on to the hat. Measuring is a good idea to make sure the applique is centered and even.

To make a basic crochet hat…see post here. Pattern is for sizes newborn to adult.

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