How to Make Ribbon Flowers

Ribbon flowers are an ideal adornment for everything from gifts to hats. They can be used as jewelry, to add to a handmade outfit or bag or to make hair accessories. With only a bit of time and a few materials you can make an entire bouquet. Read on to learn how to make ribbon flowers.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1-inch wide ribbon
• Pretty buttons or beads
• Sharp, thin needle
• Sewing thread

1. Cut a 12 -inch piece of 1-inch wide ribbon. Seal the ends of your ribbon after cutting with clear nail polish or commercially available Fraycheck. Synthetic ribbons can also be sealed by passing the ribbon through a flame very briefly. Grosgrain or satin ribbon will work fine for this project, but you could also use velvet or high quality silk ribbons. Softer ribbons may make for a floppier ribbon flower. Feel free to substitute a narrower or wider ribbon as desired to make ribbon flowers.

2. Thread your sewing needle with a long length of sewing thread, doubled in your needle for additional strength. Secure snugly at one end of your ribbon. Take small neat running stitches from one end of the ribbon to the other. Larger stitches may produce bulkier gathers in your ribbon flowers than smaller ones.

3. Gather your ribbon flower tightly along the thread by pushing the ribbon down your stitches toward the securely knotted end of your thread. You will now have an approximate circle of gathered ribbon. Tightly knot your threads. The sealed ends of the ribbon can be glued together along the underside of the flower or secured with a few stitches.

4. What happens next is up to you. You may wish to do another layer like the first to add fullness, to make a narrower layer to create a more elaborate ribbon flower or simply finish your ribbon flower. A ribbon flower intended to decorate something small may be best left a single layer, while one for a brooch might be much more elaborate.

5. Take a threaded needle and sew buttons or beads in the center of your flower. Shank type buttons are an ideal flower center, but depending upon your skill level you may find that a variety of findings will work well when making ribbon flowers. Again, choose flower centers according to the scale of the final project. Also, an elaborately layered ribbon flower may hide a beautiful center, so a simpler one might be in order. A very simple ribbon flower can be an excellent way to showcase a treasured button or even an old brooch or vintage earring.

6. Add your ribbon flowers to clothing, hats, gifts or even housewares. Ribbon flowers are a great choice for wedding decor or to embellish bedroom throw pillows. You might also consider using them for curtain tiebacks or to decorate a favorite purse or scarf.

Tips & Warnings

• Create stems for your ribbon flowers with florist wire and tape and display as a bouquet.
• Attach to pin backs and use as an additional part of birthday or holiday gifts, doubling as both a part of the gift and a decoration.
• A very fine, sharp needle will make gathering ribbon, especially heavier ribbon, easy.
• You can gather wired ribbon along its own wire, saving yourself the sewing time.
• Watch your fingers or use a thimble.

Resources

• Ribbon flower accents info on DIY Network