Generally, an applique is anything that is ‘applied’ to another object. In the world of crafting and fabric, an applique is a smaller piece of fabric or needlework is attached to create embellishments, patterns, or designs.
But, despite the stiffness of the definition above, it ain’t all that hard to do, and it certainly can open up whole new worlds of customization and fun. This Mama Makes Stuff offers a name applique tutorial here, which will soon teach you the technique, and’ll help you write anything on anything, in fabric!
Via.