How to Curl Fabric for Dresses

Use a sturdy fabric to make curly ribbons.

If you're looking for a way to turn an ordinary dress into something that meets fashion magazine approval, try accentuating the dress with curled fabric. Curling fabric is a process that takes wide ribbon fabric, molds it into swirly shapes and then adds the fabric ribbon onto the dress so that it looks as though the dress fabric is curled. When it comes to curling fabric for dresses you can select from a ribbon color that matches the dress, or you can go with a different color for contrast.

Things You'll Need

• 1 yard of fabric
• Ruler
• Fabric pen
• Fabric scissors
• Starch spray
• Sewing pins
• Piece of cardboard
• Sewing needle
• Corresponding thread

Instructions

1. Roll a yard of fabric out on the working surface so it is flat. Use a ruler and fabric pen to trace a rectangle in the fabric that is 8-by-2 inches. Cut out the fabric that you marked.

2. Spray the fabric with one coat of fabric starch. Wait for it to dry and apply a second coat. The fabric starch will give the fabric a tougher, sturdier texture so that the material will stay in place more effectively.

3. Use the ruler to measure a one-quarter-inch seam along the length of one side of the rectangular ribbon. Fold the seam, making a sharp crease, and pin it in place with sewing pins at every inch. You now have one long side of the fabric ribbon with pins from one end to the other.

4. Lay the dress that you are embellishing on the working surface. Stick a piece of cardboard under the top layer of fabric at the location where you want to add the curly fabric. The cardboard will prevent you from accidentally sewing the dress shut from the front to the back.

5. Thread a sewing needle with corresponding thread. Set the fabric ribbon onto the dress, so that the one-quarter-inch seam with the sewing pins touches the dress. Remove the first pin and sew your first stitch.

6. Curve the fabric ribbon -- once you have the first few stitches down -- as if you were going to create a figure eight. Remove the second pin and use a straight stitch to sew the next small section of the pin down.

7. Continue curving the fabric ribbon and sewing it into place. The more you can make the ribbon weave around and around, the curlier the dress will look. Make sure the last end of the ribbon meets back up with the starting end that was sewn first. Tie the knot with the needle and cut any excess thread.

8. Fill in the open gaps of fabric in the ribbon curls with more fabric. Cut additional strips of 2-inch-wide material, spray it with starch, pin the one-quarter-inch seam and place them strategically inside the first curl to make the curl look even curlier and frillier. You can even use another type of fabric, such as tulle, to stand out.