It's such a good feeling to me, when I come here and see someone asking a question and having all of these sweet sisters run to help and give you their best advice. Love you girls!
I usually use a double sided fusible like Stitch Witchery or Steam a Seam...but if you do not want to use a fusible, you could use a temporary spray adhesive or a good ole' school glue stick...the purple one...it will wash out totally with no residue...I use them a lot! Then you can stitch around with the blanket stitch or deco stitch or satin stitch...
will this help?
Use double sided fusible webbing (pellon) then cut out your pieces. This makes the fusible webbing extend to all edges. Use tweezers to hold the small pieces. Press into place and stitch
Sorry Loralye, I thought you just wanted to avoid the sticky back stabilizer. Because the fusible is soft I thought it would be a good suggestion.
DonĀ“t forget to put a stabilizer on the back when you stich with satin stitch. It will be nicer
You could spray baste your cut out piece to make it stick temporarily and then stitch around the outline with the sewing machine using a applique stitch. That is all I could think of.