Y
ay! Another super easy, super quick, and super cute project makes the Nikki, In Stitches Top 10 Countdown! I did have to give you a better picture than the ones in the original post. (Santa, thank you again for bringing me a new camera. How did I ever think those pictures were acceptable??) This little flower can go anywhere…on a card, atop a wrapped package, in the corner of a picture frame, maybe even on a pinback.
Enjoy…again!
Nikki, In Stitches
********ORIGINAL POST********
September 12th, 2009
Last week at my monthly quilting class, we were taught how to make ruched flowers. They will eventually find their way onto yet another Christmas quilt that I have started (pictures coming soon…I hope!). We made them with a strip of fabric, and because of possible fraying, had to do a few folds to hide any raw edges. The whole time I was thinking I could definitely come up with a better, easier way to make these. And of course, I was also sitting there wondering what else I could use them for. It hit me last night. Why not use ribbon? No folding necessary since there are no raw edges to hide! I played around with some pink and green ribbon, my two favorite colors, 
and that led me to the very large stash of pink and green papers that I have accumulated, and before I knew it, I had a cute card with a ruched ribbon flower embellishment. (Don’t you love when you find a completely different purpose for your newly found favorite technique?) Below you will find a tutorial on how to make the flowers. Feel free to ask any questions, and if you can think of any other uses for these goodies, please share!
Enjoy,
Nikki, In Stitches
Materials:
36″ of 5/8″ wide ribbon
Needle
Coordinating embroidery floss (1 strand) or any heavy thread that will not break when pulling to ruche ribbon
*Note: I used black embroidery floss in the pictures below so it would stand out.
Directions:
1. Mark the wrong side of your ribbon, moving from right to left. Along the bottom edge, mark every inch. Along the top, first mark 1/2″ in, then mark every inch the rest of the way across. If you’ve done this correctly, your marks should be evenly staggered the entire length of your ribbon, as shown in the picture provided.
2. With a long piece of thread (approximately 36″), hand baste from mark to mark, creating a zigzag pattern, stopping occasionally to gather (“ruche”) the ribbon. Stopping every eight to ten inches to gather your ribbon is recommended. Any longer and you risk breaking your thread. Also, put a hefty knot at the start of your thread so that as you pull to gather it doesn’t pull through your ribbon.
*The trick to the hand basting is to be consistent in your stitches. If you look at the picture provided, I always do three stitches along each diagonal, and I was always sure to start by inserting the needle from underneath the ribbon and to end with the needle coming out the top. I found this method made it easiest to gather the ribbon.
5. Pull the thread tight to form a circle of petals. Knot the thread, but do not cut it, to hold the center loop of petals in place.
9. Continue until you have tacked the entire tail in place. Take a few extra stitches on the back of your flower to hold your ribbon end in place. Knot and cut the working thread.
10. Knot and cut the gathering thread.
11. Embellish center with a button!
I love making baby quilts for my friends when they are expecting a new arrival, but sometimes there is just not enough time. I have so many projects that are unfinished, so many ideas for crafts I could do to decorate my new house, not to mention chasing my son and dog around most of the day, that making a quilt sometimes just isn’t in the cards, but I still want to make something special. There is something about receiving a homemade gift that is different. You can feel the time and love that went into it. And, I want my friends to know that I cherish them enough to make them something from my heart.
The tendency of the Entrelac stitch is to stretch rather easily and you will notice your backing will pucker a lot, and your quilt will not be anything close to square, if you don’t take the time to block it. The crocheted blanket pictured here needed minimal blocking just to square it up. I then back them and bind them just like they are a quilt. There is no need for batting. The heaviness of your knitted or crocheted top usually ensures the blanket will be warm enough. I use minky fabric for the backing, and flannel lined satin for the binding. These are the perfect combination for a baby to snuggle up with. I do tack the backing and top together in a few spots just by hand with a needle and thread. I cut my binding very wide (sometimes up to 10”), which makes it quite difficult to work with, but I like the look of the wider binding, and it gives the babies more to hang on to. I attach it exactly like a 
Thank you to everyone that commented on my bracelet, and thank you for all of your ideas and suggestions for future posts. I now have ideas and projects to keep me busy for months and I hope to cover all of the areas that you asked me to address. Now, drum roll please….
If your stitches are too tight, your beads will be too dense, pile up on themselves, and eventually it will be impossible to continue crocheting. If your stitches are too loose, your beads will come through to the inside and you will not get the nice full look you’re trying to achieve. I try to use a normal tension on rows where I am attaching beads, and a slightly looser tension on rows that I am just straight single crocheting. This tends to balance out the rows with the density of the beads.
Using the large eyed beading needle, string approximately 40 – 45″ of beads. (Please note, more is better in this case. You don’t want to get through all of your beads and realize your bracelet is not long enough. If in doubt, string more.) Vary the sizes, keeping in mind that you will attach these in groups of two or three. In order to keep the beads from piling up on themselves, try to attach beads in groups of varying sizes, i.e. a large bead with two smaller, two medium sized beads together, etc. I use a variety of beads from the smallest seed beads to large specialty beads. Leave a long tail of thread, but keep in mind that you will have to continually slide your beads back along the thread as you crochet.
towards bracelet as far as possible. They should now be touching the bracelet itself. Wrap the yarn over the hook and pull up a loop. Continue single crochet stitch as normal. When you yarn over and pull of the loop, you trap the beads, and they are now secured to the front of the bracelet.
Weave in all thread ends. Attach clasps to each end of bracelet.
1. With right sides together, sew 1 white tonal rectangle and 1 brown paisley rectangle together to make Unit A. Press to the darker fabric. Make 4 Unit A’s.
2. Draw a diagonal line on the back of each green houndstooth square from corner to corner. With right sides together, place 1 green houndstooth square on top of 1 white paisley square. Stitch 1/4″ on each side of the drawn line. Cut the square into two triangles by cutting on the drawn diagonal line. Press to the houndstooth fabric.
together. With practice, you will be able to judge which direction to press, but most patterns offer suggestions. When in doubt, press to the darker fabric to avoid any color showing through your finished quilt.
