My kitchen walls were in need of something fantastic. I was inspired by a ribbon craft I think I saw in Living magazine where they took satin ribbon and simple embroidery techniques to make different fruits, flowers, and plants. I have held on to the article for several years and now that I need it, it is nowhere to be found. Even searching the Martha Stewart site for the last hour has still left me empty handed. So, if I find a link to it I will come back and post it. In the mean time, here is my own twist on that craft project. I wanted to embroider an artichoke out of satin ribbon.
First:
1
1. Start with a real artichoke. Take more pictures of it than you’ll ever need.
2
2. Pick the picture that is most like what you want your embroidered ribbon to look like.
3
3. Crop the image and make any tweaks needed so that it is the exact size (when printed) of the desired end result. I wanted my artichoke to be big, so I blew it up quite a bit. Print out a copy of your picture. It doesn’t need to be pretty- the most important thing is that it is clear and has enough contrast that you can see the outline of every detail you want to capture. Tape the image up on a window (or use a lightbox if you have one) and outline each petal with a fine tip black sharpie.
4
4. Now take a blank piece of paper and trace the outlines that you just made on the printout. You are ready to start embroidering your artichoke.
5
5
5. Using a water-soluble ink pen, trace your design onto your fabric. I used 28-count aida, but I ended up needing to cut holes in it in a couple of places, so don’t be afraid to be adventurous in your fabric selection. You just need to be able to see through it enough to trace your design.
6
6. Take your choice of ribbon and thread it through an upholstery needle.
7
7. Do your best to match the size of ribbon to the shape of each outline on your design. I started at the top of each petal outline and ended each “stitch” near the bottom of each outlined petal. It doesn’t need to look perfect- later we will be stitching each petal exactly where it should go with thread. Leave each “stitch” a little loose so we can tweak them later.
8
8. By alternating sizes and colors of ribbon, we are almost done. If you look closely, there are several spaces where you can see the aida through the ribbons. I didn’t like the way this looked, so I used a regular needle and thread to pull the edges of each “petal” where I wanted them to go and sewed them in place.
9
9. Time to frame. I framed mine using an inexpensive frame I got at Michaels. It didn’t look too hot because all of the ribbons were smashed under the glass. So I will be going back to find just the right frame- I’m sure I can find something inexpensive that will work. In the mean time- I took the glass out of that first frame I bought and have this artichoke hanging in my kitchen. It is awesome. :) For another wall, I will be using this same technique to make a bunch of asparagus. Enjoy!
Email from Chris:
“Hi Kerri,
We are having an interview from 4-5:30pm today. I will be here until 6 tonight so we can debrief after the interview.
Love you,
Chris”
My response:
“Hi Chris,
We are having a wild ruckus here from 4 – 7pm. Tails will wag, fur will fly, and you will unfortunately miss most of the fun. Get here as soon as you can. We will be picking our family mascot at approximately 6:30 pm.
Regards,
Mrs. B”
Leave A Comment