Ribbon embroidery is an old type of needlework that is now experiencing a rebirth. In this technique, you can embroider a huge carpet, a small panel, and a bag. The elements of the picture are obtained volumetric, which must be taken into account when making a sketch.
For ribbon embroidery, you will need cotton or linen fabric. It is better to wash and iron it before work in order to avoid shrinkage in the future. Need, of course, satin ribbons of different widths. It is very good if you can find tapes of the same color, but one-sided and two-sided. Do not forget to choose a floss to match the ribbons, an embroidery needle (with a large eye and a blunt tip), a thin sewing needle, a hoop and scissors.
To cut the linen fabric correctly, mark the dimensions of the desired piece. Pull out one thread at a time. Cut is best with a razor blade or short scissors, carefully cutting the threads along the strips.
Select a drawing. In principle, ribbons can be used to embroider any subject, from still lifes with flowers and fruits to medieval landscapes and genre pictures. To decorate a bag or, say, a small wall panel, all kinds of bouquets are more suitable. An old castle, a forest with a figure of some beautiful animal, etc. will look good on a tapestry. If you don't know how to draw, find a suitable picture, scan it, and then process it in AdobePhotoshop - convert the image to black and white and remove all unnecessary details, leaving only the outlines and borders of color spots. Enlarge the image to the desired size and print.
For ribbon embroidery, it is important that the design is free of too small details. The shape is conveyed by the texture of the ribbons, their thickness and location, and not by additional stitches.
You can transfer the pattern to fabric in the same ways as for satin stitch embroidery. You can transfer the pattern through carbon paper or by spraying. In the second method, pierce holes along all the contours at a distance of 5 mm from each other, then pin the pattern onto the fabric and fill the contours with rubbed chalk or pencil lead. Of course, chalk and pencil should be in a contrasting color. You can also attach the patterned paper to the fabric, sew all outlines with a basting stitch, and then remove the sheet.
Think about the order in which you will be sewing the details. This is very important for this type of embroidery, since the images are three-dimensional. First you need to embroider objects in the background, then - in the middle. That which is closest to the viewer is embroidered last.
It is best to embroider asters, daisies and dahlias in a circle. Leave the middle blank. It is better to take a narrow double-sided tape. Insert it into a needle with a wide eyelet. Insert the needle from the wrong side of the center of the flower. Stretch so that an edge of 1 cm remains on the seamy side. Carefully lay the tape along the front side for the length of the petal and bring it to the seamy side. Make the second stitch from the middle, close to the first, but with a slight discrepancy. Sew the rest of the petals in a circle. After the last stitch, the end of the tape should be on the wrong side. Cut it off so that 1 cm remains, and carefully sew to the seamy side with floss to match the ribbon. It is best to do this with a buttonhole stitch, stitching back to back. The middle can be filled with threads, with a "knots" pattern.
As for the roses, it is better to make them separately, and then sew them onto the picture. They are easy to do. Cut a piece of wide tape, fold it in half, aligning the edges. Sew along the edges with a needle-forward seam with fine stitches and pull off slightly. Twist the bud, sew at the base and spread the petals. Tuck the free edge into the tape and sweep. Sew the rose to the panel with floss or ordinary sewing threads, but always of the same color as the rose.
