The humble ribbon holds a warm space in our hearts - a physical symbol of celebration, giving, gratitude and love. Use elaborately to decorate grand spaces or simply and lovingly wrap around a home made jar of preserves or a handful of freshly picked flowers.
With a collection of fabric at hand, you have all you need to create festive, one-of-a-kind ribbon perfect for gift wrapping and decorating. We put the bolt ends of our store fabrics to good use for this purpose all the time - let us show you how in this simple tutorial!
No Sew Ribbon >
We use this in the store as part of our gift wrapping service - it's easy, fun and fabric can be chosen to suit the occasion. Green, white, and red are obvious choices for Christmas!
You'll need:
✂️ Fabric scraps - fabric that is supple enough to tie a bow. Light - mid weight cotton and linen are a great option. Avoid anything too heavy or that frays a lot.
✂️ A pair of fabric scissors. Pinking shears give a decorative edge.
Method:
Iron fabric flat, then simply cut strips of fabric long enough to wrap around your parcel. If you prefer an organic look, just eyeball the line. If precision is more your cup of tea - mark out lines to follow or grab a rotary cutter and ruler.
Width of each strip is up to you! We find for gift wrapping 2.5cm is about right. For decorating we normally make ribbon approx 10cm wide.
The direction you cut is not too important, but note that if you cut on the bias you will have a stretchy ribbon.
Joining Ribbons:
If you only have short scraps of fabric to work with, you can either sew short ends together, or tie small knots or bows for a little more interest.
Simple Sewn Ribbon >
This is a great option to create ribbon that can used again and again and/or where both sides of the ribbon will be on display. You will be turning a long tube, so works best when creating a wider width ribbon.
This is also a lovely method to turn treasured fabric or old textiles/clothes into heirloom tree ribbon.
Your ribbon will have a little more structure than the No Sew Ribbon as you end up with two layers of fabric plus seam allowance.
You'll need:
✂️ Fabric and textile scraps - light weight cotton and linen are a great option. Avoid anything too heavy or that frays a lot.
✂️ To create an heirloom ribbon you could use special items of clothing (wedding, baby, Dad's favourite shirt); hand dyed fabrics; vintage linens or anything else that has fond memories.
✂️ Fabric scissors
✂️ Ruler and fabric marking pen - or ruler, rotary cutter and cutting mat.
✂️ Iron
✂️ Sewing machine and thread
Method:
Iron fabric flat. If you have short pieces of fabric, sew pieces together to get the length you need. Think about if you want to wrap a present or a tree!
Mark out and cut strips of fabric - avoid cutting on bias.
Width = 2 x width of finished ribbon + 1cm
Fold fabric strip in half - matching each long side, right sides together.
Mark out and cut right angle triangle from each end of strip - as shown in photo.
Sew with a 0.5cm seam allowance - start at point of one end, sewing long edges together. Leave a gap of approx 10cm in the centre of the ribbon. This will be to turn the ribbon through to the right side.
Turn ribbon through to right side. Press flat, turning in seam allowance on opening, and either hand stitch or machine sew opening.
Et voila!
Using Your Handmade Ribbon >
Use your finished ribbon anywhere you use traditional ribbon - gift wrapping, wrapped around wreath frames, tied into bows for the tree, or woven through garlands and swags.
Store any leftover ribbon rolled around a cardboard tube to keep it neat for next year.
