The Ribbon Flower - Rose Tutorial

Well hello there! Long time no see!

I wanted to give you a new quick tutorial that you will be able to use for the coming festive season. This tutorial is for one of the fabric flowers I gave you as a teaser before on this post Here!

This was made with 1.5 inch silk ribbon

This was made it 2.5 Inch outdoor ribbon

Top Right

Aren't these just the cutest roses!! The best thing about them is that they are very dimensional. They can hold their own without any leaves or any added detail... However, if you want to add flourishes be my guest!! I am never one to turn down the little details ;)!

Lets get started! These are the Supplies you'll need:

All set to go!

Needle

Thread (matching colour is not a must as it will be hidden)

Scissors

Ribbon (you will need enough for 24 pieces)

*to measure your ribbon, take the width of the ribbon and double it for the length. ie. for a 2.5 inch ribbon you will need the length to be 5 inches.)*

Measuring Tape

Felt Circle for base (or card stock)

Glue Gun with Glue (not shown in this picture)

Now you are ready to get started!!!!

Start by cutting your 24 pieces of ribbon. I was able to use my amazing Sizzix Die cutter to make this job quick but you can also use normal scissors or you can even use a mat and a rotary cutter if you have one handy to make the job go a little faster... ;). Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for quick cuts??

Ribbon Tower!

All Cut and ready to move!!

As it was stated before each piece of ribbon will be doubled the width in length. So if you have a ribbon that is 1 inch wide the length will be 2 inches and so on. If you are unsure of the width you can measure or check the roll it is on the side :).

Remember to measure twice and cut once!!

Now we are on to forming each of the petals!! Please let me know if you have any questions! I am here to help along the way!!

Take your rectangle (if your ribbon is Single sided make sure the wrong side is facing you to start, if it is double sided you are good to go!)

Take the top right corner and fold across to make a diagonal fold. This fold will end up having two long edges that should be equal in size.

*** Tip: if your edges are a little off you can keep reorganizing or refolding until they seem to match better***

Folded corner to corner

Next you will fold this in half so that the edges match each other and so that the corners are matching.

It will look like this once you are done:

All folded and nice

Now you will need to thread your needle with a knot at the end of the thread to hold the stitches (don't worry if the ribbon unfolds a little, the creases will remain and it will fall right back into place).  Once your needle and thread are ready you will take the folded petal and sew the bottom together.

Like this:

Simple stitch across the bottom

 Now you will have a thread that will weave in and out along the bottom. Pull the thread so that the knot begins to pull against the ribbon and fold the ribbon as it moves closer. Once you have the base all bunched together you will stitch the base closed and then bind off the stitch by tucking the thread with the last pass of the needle. (If you have any questions please let me know!!)

All bunched together

Tied off Tight!

Do you see the petal shape now!!!????? I do apologize for the type of ribbon I used. This flower will be going on a Christmas Wreath (Tutorial to follow) and I needed the thicker ribbon. The only downside is that the creases don't show as well with this fabric. As such the next few photos will incorporate a silver flower I did as well!! They will alternate ( hopefully it is not confusing!!)

Now continue the above practice with your petals until you have only one piece of ribbon left. For this one you will do the initial fold and then you will roll the ribbon and sew the bottom so that you will have the centre curl for the rose.

The family of petals!

Now plug in your glue gun and let it heat up. While it is heating up you can sew together the centre pillar for the flower. 

There are 4 layers of petals. Two layers of 7 one layer of 6 and one layer of 4.

The layer of four is our pillar as I like to call it because it will hold everything together in the end.

To make the pillar wrap 3 petals around your curled ribbon and sew the base in place like this:

So Pretty!!!

The base is sewn together.

you can trim the base once it is all together so that the bottom is flat. Don't worry about the height of it right now... It will come in handy soon!!

Now that your glue gun is hot and ready to go. Get your base (felt or cardstock ready) the circle can be as large as you would like. However, make sure that your ribbon is big enough to fill all of the spots. Mine was about 3 inches in diameter.

Now you will begin to place your petals in their layers around the base. Remember the layers matter. 7 for the base, 7 for the middle, 6 for the top later and the pillar you have done already!! Take it away!

The first layer down!

Two layers down!!

Now we are ready for the final piece. The third layer is done and all you need to do now is place a huge glob of glue down the centre of the flower and press the pillar in!!. Press it hard and make sure it stick. Pressing the pillar down into the flower is what causes the flower to make its true shape!

Push hard! (don't rip it though;))

 Now you are done!!! Look at your amazing creation!!!!!!!

What colours did you use?? Which type of ribbons did you use??? Please post pictures and keep me posted, I would love to see your amazing creations!!

Beautiful

Ready for the wreath

I can't wait to see how you do!!! I hope you found this tutorial helpful and if you have any questions or if anything is unclear please let me know!!! There will be many more tutorials to come!!

-Happy Crafting-

-xo-