Silk Ribbon Leaves Tutorial

Well thank you all for your lovely response to my ribbon leaves yesterday! As I was planning to do the other seam with them today, I thought I would show you how they are done.

I don't know why I thought to do the standard Japanese Ribbon Stitch upside down, but I did. Also, instead of piercing the ribbon in the middle, I pierced it on the edge of the ribbon. Check out the photos below to see the whole seam in progress....

I started with a stem stitch out of 4 mm ribbon, being very careful not to pull it too tightly.

This is sure easier to do at home than on an airplane.
I began at the outside of the leaf using 4 mm ribbon, slightly overlapping my stitches towards the center. Keeping the stitches just loose enough, and making sure that curl at the bottom went in the right direction was critical.

Next came the switch to 7mm silk ribbon to complete the leaf.

Again, you have to keep a light touch here when pulling on the ribbon. Also, you have to be careful not to snag any of the completed ribbon leaves around the stitching area...because one false tug and all is lost...the yanked on stitches must be removed and then redone.

Here is the block with the second stem of leaves on it. You'll notice it has rotated 90 degrees to the left from yesterday! I added those teeny flowers at the tip of the first one (and will add them to the second one, too), because this block will have butterflies on it next, and we all know butterflies sip on flowers, not leaves.

One of the reason these leaves look so nice is that they are made with hand-dyed silk ribbon. My friends Barbara Blankenship dyed the ribbon on the left, and Pat Winter the darker green on the right.

Speaking of Pat, I just ordered her book this morning, and am so excited to receive it!

Congratulations, dear Pat, on this accomplishment!