I've got a really fun project to share with you today. A linen blouse enhanced with ribbons. I found the blouse at a discounter and then I was surprised with a bag of ribbons bits that were to be discarded. Oh what to do? The what to do with the ribbons has turned into one of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe. The final addition were some beautiful ribbon embroideries stitched on a trusty Bernina! The bonus for you today is that there are full instructions on line, just click here for the .pdf file.
I had created the blouse for myself and then the editor of Designs embroidery magazine caught a glimpse of it and decided she needed to share it with her readers. So it appeared there first and they have since made it a free download.
I used the pin stitch on my sewing machine and a large needle, size 100 or 120. Don't use a wing needle because it can damage your ribbon. As always steam the ribbon to shrink. Then pin the ribbons in place and sew around them.
Once the ribbons have been attached, it's time to embroider the designs. I picked colors for the designs from the colors in the ribbons.
The blouse also has a new hem along the bottom. It's been stitched with a satin scallop stitch and made more secure by catching a thin cord into the stitching.
When the sleeves were shortened, two decorative elements remained - the cuffs. I took one and added a piece of ribbon. Then stitched over the ribbon with an embroidery motif that creates tassels. Isn't that superb?
Can you believe they were going to throw these ribbons away?
Added a bit of ribbon around the collar.
Here's another close up of an embroidered motif.Be Creative! Oh and stay tuned next week for a give away!
I love that blouse!
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