Silk Ribbon in Basket Kit

This is a simple silk ribbon beginner kit that I've added to the RibbonSmyth website. We continue to receive requests for kits and I thought a kit with a hand-dyed Venise basket filled with silk ribbon flowers, would be great as a beginning piece. Only three silk ribbon stitches to complete the kit! Simply baste the basket to the fabric and then add the silk ribbon flowers, add a little sparkle with beads and finish with green cotton floss to give the basket a bit of dimension. And all the ingredients are included in the kit!

The key to beautiful silk ribbon stitches is...keep those stitches loose and always keep your straight stitches or Japanese Ribbon Stitches, short in length!

Wall-hanging with mini collages

In July, CQMag will feature an article about my studio, one of my curved piecing methods and a finished three-block wall-hanging. The following collage pics are some of the mini-collages within the wall-hanging. When the article comes out, will post the links! This collage features special mother of pearl "bits" given to me by Barbara Blankenship and they offer great memories of our shopping venture in New York. I've twisted assorted colors of rayon cord with loops and knots to allow for small vignettes for beads and seed beads and RibbonSmyth's mop Japanese discs. Too much fun!

Wire-edge Roses and Rayon Trim

This small collage features RibbonSmyth hand-dyed 13mm Vintage Rayon Tape twisted over and under other rayon tape. Rat tail cord is twisted among the tape and tacked down with RibbonSmyth Vintage Japanese Mother of Pearl Discs. Then I made two small wire-edge burgundy rose buds and tacked them among the rayon tape. I added 7mm silk ribbon Ribbon Stitches in color # 1201124 and finsihed with beads and RibbonSmyth small gold brass dragonfly and bee charms.

RibbonSmyth Rainbow Dyed Lace Motif

I love dyeing lace! This wall-hanging features bits of RibbonSmyth Rainbow Dyed lace through-out the wall-hanging. The lace adds dimension, texture and color on top of printed or solid fabrics. The piece featured here was probably dyed 10 years ago. I dye scraps, bits, yardage and then keep them all in a plastic bin to use someday! This little piece would have been dyed with Antique Gold, Cinnabar and Topaz, undoubtedly some of my favorite dyes color combos. Love this color combo on top of purple, maroon, hot pink or magenta fabrics.

Mother of Pearl Button Collage

This collage features a 1 1/2" Mother of Pearl button that I make at the Studio. This button features vintage Kimono fabric and then I anchored it with sequins and seed beads. I stitched a few rows around half of the button using sequins assorted beads I found at a Puce (French flea market) in Paris. To create movement in the wall-hanging I used a variety of rat-tail cords knotted, and RibbonSmyth Rococo Lace in Victorian Rose Gold.

Mini Collage with Sequins

I am a huge fan of sequins! After seeing the use of Sequins while earning my Couture embroidery certification at the House of Lesage in Paris, I became intrigued on how sequins enhance any piece of embroidery. This is a small collage using a turquoise crystal "fish" (marquis rhinestone) a turquoise glass Czech button, Asian enamelled bead, button, lampwork flower gifted to me by Leonie Hartley-Hoover and then a few bronze glass nailheads all tied together with little flower sequins meandering among the grouping.

Silk Ribbon Stems

Here is a quick and easy method for creating stems for our silk ribbon flowers. The flowers are "fantasy flowers" meaning I make them up as I go! I used RibbonSmyth 7mm variegated silk ribbon color #1201124 and just created a few straight stitches. This ribbon color is one of my favorites, as this color goes with everything! I selected a moss green silk ribbon in 4mm for the stems. Make the two flowers, then bring the 4mm green silk ribbon up through the fabric at the base of the flower and twist the ribbon tightly. This creates a great stem. Couch the stem with champagne Nymo and take the ribbon through to the back of the fabric and tie off. The pic of the silk flowers are a bit "squished" by the scanner, so the dimension cannot be seen. I added small metallic seed beads at the top of each flower. I made the little metallic rose medallion out of polymer clay and tinted with pearl expigments and then added a bit of our gold glitter on top of the pearl-ex. I placed that inbetween the two flowers to create the collage.
Sprayed the polymer clay with a light coat of acrylic spray.

June Blog Give-Away ! Sign up now!

June Blog Give-away ~Simply leave a note to say "hi" and be sure to include your email address in the comment section of this photo. We will select three winners and announce the winners the first of July!

May Winners - Noel, Di and Sandy! Packages will include: ribbons, fibers, trims, buttons and bits of fabric - Compliments of RibbonSmyth! We will do a monthly blog-give away for the remainder of 2009! It's our way to let you know how much we appreciate your visits to our Emporium! www.ribbonsmyth.com

This is a photo taken at Tinsel Trading featuring bits of German glitter pieces.

Rayon Tape and Rococo Embellishments

This is another WIP waiting for more silk ribbon embroidery!

The seam treatments for this block feature RibbonSmyth's hand-dyed rayon tape and rococo lace. Our inexpensive $1.75 combo packs offer fibers that can be used in a variety of techniques. In the center of the block, I ruched the hand-dyed rayon tape and tacked it to the fabric seam. In the top right corner, I gathered one edge to make a flower and added some small buds made with the same tape. In the bottom left corner, I covered one seam with the rococo lace and then added sequins on top of the lace. I gathered one side of several rococo lace pieces to make small rosettes and then added seed beads to the center of the rosette. Among the floral bouquets, I added vintage brass dangles and vintage czech peridot glass flowers. I worked with purple and moss silk fabrics and added apricot variegated silk ribbon, color #112 and ivory 4mm silk ribbon. Sequins were added throughout the block. Now to add more silk ribbon work to tie all the elements together and to create movement among the block. It looks a bit sparse!

Mother of Pearl Necklace

This Mother of Pearl Charm Necklace was fun to make using RibbonSmyth 1950's Vintage Japanese Mother of Pearl Disks strung onto a crocheted collar. Barbara Blankenship graciously crocheted the collar and then I added the Mother of Pearl disks using all the shapes we carry on our website. When I finished, I decided to add more of the small round disks in-between each of the larger shapes. I made the focal button using a 1 1/2" Mother of Pearl button and a piece of vintage kimono fabric. I mostly use the Mother of Pearl disks as embellishments on crazy quilt blocks, purses and wearables, but this application really shows off these great buttons. And when this is worn, it makes a soft tinkling sound, just like wearing a charm bracelet!