Ribbon artist and historian Candace Kling explains how to create baby rosettes from ribbons. They're a little bit simpler to make than ribbon flowers and have many uses. Basic Baby Rosette Materials: Wired or nonwired ribbon
Needle and upholstery thread
Scissors
Decorative flowers and stamens
Optional: Fray Check® - Cut a piece of ribbon whose length is nine times its width. Making a clean cut is important when you're working in miniature. If the cut is off-grain, fray it, and cut again. Use Fray Check if necessary. If your ribbon has wire, remove it from the inner edge (the edge that will form the center of your flower).
- Using heavy upholstery thread, begin stitching 1/8" in from the raw edge. Back-stitch over the selvage to secure. As you stitch to the other side of the ribbon, round the corners. "Hug the selvage" as you continue stitching, rounding the second corner and stitching across to the other side to form a curve.
- Leave 1/8" at the raw edge as you finish stitching. The curves create two 1/4" tails of ribbon you'll later be able to hold while you stitch your center.
- Draw in the gathers to about 1/2". Hold them together tightly with one hand, back-stitch, and knot. Don't cut the thread. Draw the gathers into a circle.
- Overlap the two gathered ends of the ribbon slightly, as you would the waist of a wrap-around skirt. Where both layers overlap in the center, secure with a stitch. Bring your needle through to the front and back down again, hiding this stitch in a fold. Knot off.
- Although the outer edge overlaps, your eye will see it as a continuous ruffle. You won't notice the selvedge curving in toward the center unless the ribbon has a pronounced stripe at its edge. Don't put a stitch at the outer edge of the flower to hold it together. This is akin to putting a safety pin at the lower edge of your skirt. It will make the edge look forced.
- Decorate with a stamen.
Ribbon-Folded-in-Half Rosette - Fold ribbon (wire only) in half lengthwise. Use this new width to measure a length nine times the width or greater, then cut.
- Stitch as described above for the basic baby rosette. You will stitch along the folded edge.
- Separate the two layers to create the double ruffle of this rosette.
Ribbon Folded Off-Center Experiment with the position of the fold. The placement of the selvages will change the look of the finished flower and allow you to customize its width. Stitch as described for the basic baby rosette.
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