All Eyes On...Ribbon.

Am back from a wonderful Father's Day jaunt to Idaho.  Every time we make our way to the in-laws house, I want to stay. We even picked up a home-for-sale flyer, dreaming. The wide open spaces; oh, I love them. I was wishing for those lonely farm roads for myself back when the babe had colic. They would have been much more pleasant than the smoggy freeways we drove as he slept by my home.

Before we left, I made this card for the Wplus9's monthly All Eyes On feature. This month the team is focusing on unconventional ways to use ribbon. No regular bows allowed!  I'm in the process of making ruffly ribbon pillows for my daughter's bed...so I decided to try the same technique on a card. I love ruffles!

Instructions on Ruffling your Bows...the Hannah Way.
I am not a sewing expert. I can do straight lines and make simple patterns. I do not, however, know if I do anything the correct way and I definitely do not know the correct terminology. But, even still, the results of this technique are pretty.

First, cut a piece of 1" ribbon about 2.5x's longer than your crafting medium. (For my 10 inch pillows, I cut the ribbon 25 inches long. For my 5 inch card, I cut it 12.5 inches long.) Mark the ribbon every inch with a pen on each side. (I marked the sample ribbon above with little black dots so you could see it better.) If you are a perfectionist, like me, use a ruler to draw zig-zags from one dot across to the next. Then follow those lines in a running stitch using a needle and a similar colored thread. (I find doing it in zig zags rather than straight across makes an especially ruffly and feminine looking ribbon. Perfect for a little princess pillow for my daughter or a pink and purple birthday card. I also like this technique best with satin ribbon.)
Yes, you can use a sewing machine, but the needle and thread make this process especially fun for me.

Gently pull the thread, allowing the ribbon to ruffle. Pretty, no?

Finally, add it to your craft. I am sewing it onto my daughter's pillow, but for the card, I used the strong adhesive in my ATG 700. Put the adhesive on the card first, then press the ribbon down firmly.

I think this ruffly ribbon looks so great with Dawn's Background Builders: Hearts stamps. For info on the card "ingredients" and the how-tos for this card, please visit my card portfolio blog later today.

Have fun with this pretty technique! You can use it on just about anything! I am thinking about making a ruffly bag next. Or maybe a shirt.