How-To: Stitching Pleated Ribbon

Hi everyone! Well, I have been pretty obsessed with stitching ribbon onto my cards recently. Makes perfect sense because I have been sewing way longer than I have been stamping! Anyway, there are lots of ways to pleat ribbon - many people use adhesive to hold it down; however, I don't use any adhesive - just stitchin'. My buddy from SCS, Banu, asked me for a tutorial, so here you go ...

First, I'll show you most of the supplies I used. The white panel is 2.5 x 3.5 and the purple is 2.75 x 3.75. (I make a lot of 4.25" square cards, so I have lots of 2.5" strips leftover! Perfect for these smaller panels!) I also have a card base, Copic markers, PTI Vintage Picnic stamp set, some ribbon, and ink. (Not shown here, but used in the tutorial: Polka Dot Basics I & II, Spring Moss & Fresh Snow ink, and Chamomile ink - all PTI).

Click on photos for enlarged view.So, go ahead and stamp your image and get to coloring! :-) Notice that I used one brown marker for the basket. To create the shading of the weave, I colored over some spots twice to make it darker. Don't forget to "age" your panel with the Chamomile ink.

Now, cut a piece of ribbon about 3x as wide as your panel. Here I am using grosgrain - my favorite for this, but satin works well too, although its a bit more slippery under the sewing machine.
Now, move to your sewing machine. (I use my regular sewing machine - its a Bernina Activa 210. I do use a different needle (an old one) for my paper projects. Otherwise, nothing fancy/different.)

Leave a little overhang off the image panel. I do 1 to 2 back stitches to anchor the ribbon and then lift my foot, need down as shown:
Now, fold some ribbon under the foot to create the pleat. (Sometimes I rotate my pleat a little to the right or left to give the finished look a little more movement. But I am keeping in straight here.)
Ok, now ... drop your foot back down on top of the pleat. And stitch over the pleat.
Good job! :-) You've done one pleat! Now, let's do it again. Lift the presser foot, needle down.
And make another pleat ....
Continue the process to the end of your panel. I like to do another backstitch or 2 at the end to anchor the threads. Here is my sample all stitched down.
Ok, for the card base, I stamped the littlest dots in Spring Moss ink onto Spring Moss card stock. Then over stamped with the polka dots outline in Fresh Snow ink. Then, I added the sentiment.
Now, attach your image to the mat and then to the card. Here's my finished cards.
Notice the different baskets - just by coloring the opposite weaves. Again, all with one marker. The card on the left with the Ocean Tides ribbon is a little "wonkier" because I rotated my pleats as I was stitching. (Note - rotate before putting the presser foot down.)

Well, I hope this little "how-to" was helpful! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and ask away. I'd also love to see projects you create with stitched ribbon! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Vintage Picnic, Polka Dot Basics I & II
Ink: Spring Moss, Fresh Snow; Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers
Paper: Spring Moss, Lavender Moon, White
Accessories: Ocean Tides grosgrain, Enchanted Evening grosgrain