5 Ways With Ribbon
Hands up if you have a stash of beautiful ribbon proudly displayed in a glass jar in your sewing space? I know I do, it’s like buttons, labels and sewing themed pin badges, I’m drawn to these pretty things and know that they will come in useful one day.
We sent some beautiful leopard print grosgrain ribbon in Novembers boxes and want to share with you my top five ways you can use ribbon in your dressmaking.
Stabilising Shoulder Seams
If you’re sewing a jersey or knit garment it is quite common for the instructions to suggest stabilising the shoulder seam to help stop the top or dress from stretching over time. To do this use a zig zag stitch to sew a strip of ribbon to the wrong side of the back shoulder within the seam allowance before sewing the back and front together.
Drawstring Closures
There are plenty of garments that call for a ribbon or drawstring closure, whilst you could make one out of the same fabric as the rest of your garment, you could substitute it for some pretty ribbon instead. This looks especially cute for pyjama bottoms but works for dresses with a channel in the waist or top that have a tie around the neckline.
Hem Details
This one might be purely for decorative purposes but if you have a bulky fabric or you’ve made something with a lining a great way to finish the hem neatly is by sewing a length of ribbon to the right side of the fabric just overlapping the raw edge before pressing the hem up and sewing a second row of stitches, just be sure to check if your ribbon has a directional print.
Concealing A Seam
This is particularly common in ready to wear jersey tops but you can definitely apply it to your me mades, just make sure to choose a ribbon that is soft or silky to stop it getting too itchy. The ribbon is usually placed only along the back of the neckline and can also anchor a label in place.
Hanging Loops
A super simple way to use ribbon in your dressmaking is to stitch in a little hanging loop, especially useful on jackets or dressing gowns on the inside of the neckline but you could also sew some narrow ribbon into the top of the armhole seam within the seam allowance of a jersey garment to help take some of the weight when hanging.
Do you have any other ways of using ribbon in dressmaking?