Ribbon Embroidery Techniques

Working With Silk Ribbon

Cut the silk ribbon into lengths of about 18" each. Using shorter lengths of silk ribbon is necessary since the ribbon will show wear the more times it is pulled through the fabric. To eliminate wear on the ribbon where it goes through the needle’s eye, lock ribbon into the eye of the needle.

French Knot

To work a ribbon French knot, bring the needle and ribbon from the back of the fabric to the front. Place fabric on work surface and take the ribbon in the left hand (right hand if you are left-handed). Lay the needle on top of the ribbon to make an “X” shape. Wrap the ribbon around the tip of the needle one time only. Insert the needle a short distance away from where the ribbon first came through.

Tighten the wraps on the needle down to the surface of the fabric and hold with the index finger of the left hand (right hand if you are left-handed) while pulling the needle and ribbon through the fabric. Move to the next French knot location and repeat or tie off.

Straight Stitch

Use a short length of 3.5mm silk ribbon and lock it into the eye of a size 22 chenille needle. Bring the ribbon to the front side of fabric and lay it over desired number of threads before passing the needle to the back.

Spiderweb Woven Rose

Stitch an odd number of laid straight-stitch spokes (model project uses five spokes for all spiderweb roses) and bring the needle to the front side of the fabric near the center of the rose. Leading with the eye of the needle so that the spokes are not pierced, weave over and under the spokes using tight tension in the center and gradually loosening up the weave tension toward the outer edge of the rose. Do not lay the weaves.

The twisting and turning of the silk ribbon will help make the rose look more natural.

Finish weaving over and under the spokes until they are covered. Then weave around the rose one more time, reaching under the weaving for the spokes before tying off. Tension on these final weaves should be gentle.

On the back side of the fabric, tie off the ribbon by carefully piercing through some of the ribbons that lie on the back side while holding the work in place on the front.

Japanese Leaf Stitch

The Japanese leaf stitch is an “isolated stitch” and is peculiar to ribbon embroidery only.

Thread a size 22 chenille needle with an 18" length of silk ribbon; lock it onto the eye of the needle and knot the end of the ribbon. Bring the needle and ribbon from the back to the front of the design fabric at the bottom of the leaf near the flower or stem. Lay the ribbon along the surface of the work toward the outer edge. Pierce in the center of the ribbon at the end of the leaf and gently pull the needle and ribbon through to the back of the piece, stopping when the sides of the ribbon curl into the center of the leaf. Move to the next leaf and stitch in the same manner or carefully tie off.