How to Make Ribbon Flowers

Making a Gathered Ribbon Flower

Cut your rib­bon. Cut about 12 inches of ribbon. Get creative with the colour and pattern of ribbon. Purchase ribbon at your fabric store, dollar store, or arts and crafts store. Use thicker ribbon to create a more pronounced effect.

Weave a needle and thread through the upper part of the ribbon. As if you were inserting curtains onto a rod, weave your needle and thread in and out of the top third of the ribbon. Keep the thread on the spool so you don’t have to worry about running out of thread or if the thread falls off the needle. Continue weaving your needle in and out the top of the ribbon until you reach the end of the ribbon.

Gather your thread. Once you are at the end of your ribbon, pull the thread all the way through the ribbon so that it gathers, similar to a curtain. You want it to bunch in order to create a blossoming effect.

Double knot your thread. Make sure you leave some excess thread for you to create a double knot before you cut it from the spool. Gather the ribbon as tightly as you can and double not the thread to hold it in place.

Glue the ends of your ribbon together. Glue the ends of your ribbon together by overlapping one end of the gathered ribbon over the other end, as if you were bending a curtain rod into a circle. Make sure that you apply the glue to the underside of the flower so that it is not visible. Wait for the glue to dry and flatten out your flower.

Glue a button at the center. The gathered ribbon should form a circle at the centre of the flower. You may glue a button or two buttons, one on top of the other, at the center of your flower to cover the glued portion of ribbon. You may also glue fake gems or anything else that you feel makes your flower bloom. Get creative. Puff out the outer petals to give your flower the blooming effect. The tighter you scrunch the inner circle of the ribbon, the greater the bloom effect.

Creating a Ribbon Rosette

Cut your ribbon and felt. Cut two circles from your felt. Each circle should be about two inches. You may also trace an old spool of ribbon to help you create a smooth circle. Then cut around five feet of ribbon. Be sure to use ribbon with wire in its construction. Use thicker ribbon for a greater blooming effect. Be sure to pull a bit of the wire out of the ribbon and fold it over so that it doesn’t pull through the ribbon when you gather it. Choose felt that complements the colour and pattern of your ribbon. You can buy both at your arts and crafts store or dollar store. The length of the ribbon depends on how large you want to make your flower. For a very large flower use about two arms' lengths worth of ribbon. For a smaller flower, use about half an arm's length of ribbon.

Pull the bottom wire and gather the ribbon. Pull the bottom wire from the other side of the ribbon. You should be pulling on the same side that you kinked the wire. Gather the whole ribbon by pulling the wire in one direction and the ribbon in the other. Push as you gather the ribbon to push the gathered bunch of ribbon along the wire.

Glue the ribbon down. Fold the raw edge of the ribbon down and glue it onto the felt. On the outside of the circle, glue the ribbon so that it covers the edge of the entire circle. Don’t put too much glue. Glue about an inch at a time. To add extra ruffle, gather more ribbon as you glue. You can also pull out more wire if the ribbon is gathered too tightly. This is entirely personal preference.

Create a spiral pattern. Continue gluing to create a spiral pattern around your circle. Cut off about two inches of ribbon once you reach the center of the flower. This will create the center of the flower.

Fold the ribbon into place. Place the raw edge of the ribbon down and squish the ribbon. The wire in the ribbon keeps the ribbon in place so fuss all you want until you get the look you like. Once you’re happy, lift up the petals and dab some glue at your desired points to set your look.

Seal the ribbon. Glue the ends of the ribbon to keep it sealed. If you are using the flower as part of a bouquet or on a headband, you can also glue the ribbon down onto the stem or headband.

Creating a Grosgrain Pleated Ribbon Flower

Place glue on the circle. Use a liberal amount of glue to place a large dot on the middle of the chipboard circle. Have about 18 - 24 inches of grosgrain pleated ribbon ready.

Place your ribbon down. Roll the ribbon into a spiral in your hand until you have a half inch spiral. Place this onto the large spot of glue. Press down to make sure it catches and is secure.

Continue adding ribbon. Add more glue to the chipboard as you continue to spiral the ribbon around the circle. Wrap the ribbon around the chipboard circle until you come to the end of the ribbon. Trim the excess ribbon and tuck the end into the rest of the spiral.

Glue a button onto the center of your flower. Glue your button in place to create the center of the flower. Glue your bottom at the centre of your spiraled ribbon. Make sure the bloom puffs out towards you. You may also glue leaves at the back of the flower for added effect. You may also cover the chipboard with a piece of matching felt or mist the chipboard piece with paint that matches your ribbon before gluing your ribbon onto it.

Creating a Floral Wire and Tape Ribbon Flower

Choose your ribbon. You may choose ribbon of any width; however, you will need to vary the number of ribbons to adjust for ribbons with thinner or thicker width.

Cut strips of ribbon and lay them on top of one another. If you’re using a thin ribbon, cut about eight pieces that are about six inches long. Arrange the ribbons so that you make a star like shape where each ribbon is layered at the center. Evenly space out these strips and stitch one or two stitches at the center to hold the strips in place.

Bring the ends to the center. Fold each strip in half and stitch the ends of the ribbon to the center. Continue to do this with each strip to create the petals of your flowers from the folded loops of ribbon. You want to fold the ribbon lengthwise to create two loops at either end of its centre. All loops should meed at the same place, the centre of your flower.

Create the center of your flower. Glue a button at the center of your flower to create the center. You want to use the button to cover where you have glued all the ends of the ribbons together.On the back of the flower, slide floral wire through the stitches. Secure the flower by bending it in half. Use floral tape to wrap the wire and create the stem. Either stitch to secure the button or use hot glue.