Tutorial: Hand stamped ribbon

I have seen a lot of beautiful handstamped ribbon around. I love that old world feel about it. So with my collection of stamps and some calico, I started playing around and made my own ribbon. I am sure there are plenty of different techniques used but the one I will describe here worked well for me. You can make your own unique ribbons for all sorts of things – wrapping gifts, hair bows, straps for a dress, hang tags, invitations, scrapbooking and lots of other crafts.

What I used:

* Fabric: 100% cotton is best for hand stamping. For my project I have chosen about 25cm of calico (width 112cm - this will be the length of my ribbon strips, giving me about 10 pieces at 2.5cm wide).

* For Tea dyeing: 5 Black tea bags, large bowl, hot water, salt

* Rubber stamps

* Stamp ink - fabric ink if you will put your ribbon in the wash

* Scissors and iron

First I dyed the calico with tea to give it that warm antique look.

I placed approximately 5 black tea bags in a large bowl and filled it with very hot water. The teabags were infused in the hot water for 2 minutes. You can add salt to the water, which will make the fabric colourfast. I saturated the fabric with the water and swirled it around to remove any folds or creases that might cause uneven colours. Once the depth of colour was achieved (I took it out after 30 minutes), the fabric was removed and rinsed in clear water.

The fabric was ironed flat.

I wanted to give my ribbon a frayed look, so I snipped a little fabric at the selvege in 1 inch intervals (the width of my ribbon).

I grasped an edge of the fabric with one hand and with the other hand I tore away strips of fabric, starting from the snips. Any stray threads were removed. If you wanted longer lengths of ribbon, you would just cut lengths parallel to the selvege. You can also create strips on the bias if you wanted to use the ribbon for binding. Pinking shears would give the edge a cute decorative effect.

 

The strips were ironed flat.

Get ready to stamp! I bought these Japanese stamps online from Etsy but you could buy them from all sorts of craft shops. Or even better, make your own! (Lisa from The Red Thread has been teaching some stamping classes for The Craftroom). If you wish to wash your project, use fabric stamp, which can be purchased from Etsy or haberdashery stores like Spotlight and Lincraft.

This is the best bit, where you get to stamp beautiful images on to your ribbon! Go crazy!

Here is a headband I made with beautiful French inspired ribbons from Etsy seller Homestead Treasures.

Check out these other Etsy sellers for more lovely ribbon...

RuPiper Designs

The French Nest Company

Aunaturelle

Happy stamping!