Ruffled Embellished Ribbons - A Tutorial

Today I want to share an easy tutorial with you on how to make ruffled embellished ribbons. I love the look of ruched ribbon, and adding pearls (my favorite embellishment) seemed a natural thing to do.

You can also add glass beads, charms, or any other kind of embellishment that has a hole for sewing it on.

I chose Noble Peacock Seam Binding for this card today. I love the color and the ease with which it gathers. There are a lot of beautiful colors in the RRR Store here.

Here are the steps:

1. Collect supplies needed. Cut a length of ribbon 2-3 times longer than you want for the final length (Do you like my vintage spool of thread? All wood. Miss those!).

2. Tie a knot in the end of your ribbon, and pass through the ribbon a couple of times, leaving a long enough tail to tuck under a layer or behind your cardstock.

3. Thread one or two pearls or beads onto your needle and pull tight enough to make the ruffle. You can have loose or tight ruffles, or a combination.

Here is an example of the kinds of stitches I took (not planned, not straight, not even! Easy!)

4. Continue adding pearls/beads until you have the look you want. At this point it may look like a tangled mess, but it will straighten out as you gather it up and adhere it to your project.  I used 1/4" Scor-Tape and attached a piece to my card where I wanted the ribbon. Then I carefully arranged and laid it out on the tape to adhere. Tuck in the other end and fasten off.

Here is the final project:

 I hope you will try it!

Stamps: sentiment is from Spring is Sprung (Flourishes)
Paper: Crumb Cake (SU!), Sweet Tooth (Poptone), MME DP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black 

Accessories: pearls (Kaiser and SU!), pennant dies (SB), scalloped doily die cut (MS), distressing tool, Noble Peacock seam binding (Really Reasonable Ribbon)