Author and ribbon artist Helen Gibb has a special technique for making roses and carnations out of ribbon, as detailed below. The resulting roses serve as fabulous embellishments on everyday clothing and accessories such as hats and purses.
Carnations Materials:
40 inches of 1-1/2-inch wide hand-dyed, bias-cut silk ribbon, in white and blushing bride
beading thread, size 33
18 inch length of 20-gauge thread-covered wire
floral tape
milliner's needle, size 9
scissors
tape measure
hot glue
Steps:
- Fray the top edge of the bias-cut ribbon with your thumb and first finger.
- Stitch across the bottom with a stitch length of about 1/8 inch (figure A ).
- Gather to a length of about one inch. Secure gathering.
- Roll up the ribbon into a tight coil. Stitch through all the layers in the roll or stump to prevent the center from popping up (figure B).
- Create a stem from the 20-gauge wire.
- Glue tip of wire and insert into the base of the flower (figure C).
- Wrap the raw edges of the flower base and the stem with floral tape (figure D).
Tip - Other carnation colors in bias silk ribbon could include pale cream, white, and pale pink.
Basic tea rose
Materials:
The Faded Rose - discontinued, use any French wired ribbon--two yards of l- l/2"-wide raspberry, yellow ombre French wired ribbon
beading thread, white, size 33
milliner's needle, size 9
scissors
tape measure
Steps:
- Prepare 15 double-headed yellow stamens by folding them in half and securing with thread.
- From the ombre ribbon, cut 10 pieces, each four inches long, for the first group of petals. Cut five pieces measuring 4- l/2 inches long for the outer petals.
- From the four-inch pieces of ribbon, make 10 rolled corner petals. Fold each piece in half widthwise. Roll over each corner and secure with a few hidden stitches. Pleat or gather across the bottom (figure E). The petal should now cup. Set aside.
- From the 4-1/2-inch pieces of ribbon, make five rolled corner petals (these will be the outer petals.) Fold each piece in half widthwise. Roll over each corner and secure with a few hidden stitches. Pleat or gather across the bottom. The petal should now cup. Set aside.
- Take one of the four-inch petals and stitch it to the stamen bunch. The stamen heads should nestle in the cup of the petal.
- In a clockwise direction, overlap another four-inch petal next to the first petal and attach with stitches (figure F). Add the remaining four-inch petals in the same manner.
- Add the five, 4-1/2-inch rolled corner petals.
- Cover the back of the rose with a piece of ribbon so all the raw edges of the petals are hidden.
Resources hand dyed silk ribbon - Hanah
Artemis Exquisite Embellishments
Website:
www.artemisinc.com
The Secrets of Fashioning Ribbon Flowers: Heirlooms for the Next Generation
by Helen Gibb
Krause Publications, 1998
Order this title from Amazon.com.
Helen Gibb Design Inc.
Website:
www.helengibb.com
Guests Helen Gibb
Author and Ribbon Artist
Helen Gibb Design Inc
For autographed copies of Helen's books, order directly from her web site
Website:
www.helengibb.com Also in this Episode
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