Frayed Ribbon

I’ve spent the past few weeks peeling, cooking and freezing 500 pounds of tomatoes.  Ok, so I’ve definitely exaggerated on the 500 pounds – but if you’re the one doing all that peeling and cooking, you can call it any amount you want!  Anyway, I’ve have these photos on my desktop for a few weeks now and finally have some time to get this little tutorial for the frayed ribbon posted … before I start the tomato process all over again next week.

I found this idea for a cute pocket card somewhere on the internet last  year, it has become one of my favorite ideas to play with and the frayed ribbon looks beautiful with this.  I’ve also found that the new In-Color ribbon from Stampin’ Up! is so incredibly easy to work with for this process.

First:  Take a piece of ribbon approximately 8” long and cut off one of the binding edges as shown in the photo below:
Next, begin pulling out the individual fabric strands and set them aside in a nice little pile.

What you do with the leftover scrap piece is up to you … I sometimes toss them in a jar and use them under layers for a “fringed” look … sometimes I just throw them away because my collection has grown too large.

Take the pile of ribbon strands and twist them around a few times, like you were making a rope (this makes it a little easier to poke through your hole).  Fold it in half and push it about halfway through the front of your eyelet (or punched hole).  Now take those loose ends hanging out the front of your eyelet and push them through the resulting loop, carefully adjust and tighten the loop and trim the top of the strands to your desired length. 
If you don’t want the looped finish, you can just twist the strands at one end, poke them through your hole, pull about half of the length through and tie the front and back – just like you would do with a regular piece of ribbon.  Again, trim the ends as desired.


Did you follow all that?  It really is a super easy technique that gives a wonderful and different finished effect.  I hope you give it a try and would love to see your end results!