Friday, January 7, 2011

Ruched Ribbon Technique

I have had a few requests to explain how I gathered the pink ribbon on my Mojo Monday card posted on Thursday, January 6th.

The technique used is called ruching. Use a long thin needle with a small eye and sewing thread (if you find your thread breaks when you pull up the gathers you should try a stronger thread like a beading thread). Use white thread for light ribbons and black thread for darker ribbons, I have also used invisible thread but it is a bit tricky to work with. The amount of ribbon you require will depend on how tightly you pull the ruching and the weight of the ribbon. For yesterday's card I required a length of ribbon about 3x the length of my finished piece. I left my ribbon attached to the roll until I had finished stitching and gathering the ribbon to the desired length and then cut the ribbon for less waste.

Below is a picture showing the zigzag pattern that you hand stitch onto your ribbon. Begin stitching at the top edge, starting with a couple of back stitches, (do not knot the end of the thread and start that way as the knot will most likely not hold and will pull through your ribbon when you start pulling on it for gathering), and make small running stitches diagonally to the other edge of the ribbon. Take your stitch over the edge of the ribbon (I have tried to show this in my hand drawn diagram), make a right angle and continue stitching back to the top edge.



Once you have stitched as much of the ribbon as you think you need, pull on the thread and gently gather the ribbon, pushing it towards the start end. Pull it as loose or as tight as you like depending on how you want the finished piece to look. I leave my threaded needle in the ribbon in case I need to add more stitches. Once you've got the finished length take a few back stitches and cut the thread and ribbon.



I hope that is clear. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

9 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing your ribbon technique! I can't wait to try it.

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  2. Gorgeous!!
    Thank you for taking the time to post a diagram and extra photos :O)

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  3. OMGorgeousness!! Can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing with us!

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  4. Thanks so much for the wonderful tutorial. I can't wait to try this.

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  5. Hi Connie. Just wanted to let you know that I have posted a link to this post on my blog. You can check it out at http://sandrasstampingspot.blogspot.com/2011/01/all-my-love.html
    Sandra

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  6. Thank's for the tutorial, the ribbon looks fabulous Ruched.

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  7. Thank you for the tutorial. I will difinitely have to give this a try. They really add to your cards.

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  8. Because of your incredible cards, I not only went out and bought ribbon specifically to make a congratulation card for my niece's recent engagement, but I also picked up a Cuttlebug and 3 sets of Nestabilities... just my contribution to the local economy..!
    Thank you Connie for being so inspiring!

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  9. Great tutorial. I am a ribbon addict! Now I will try using some of the thicker ribbon that didn't work on cards. What a great idea, thanks:)

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Thanks so much for your kind comments, they always make my day.