Embroidered & Monogrammed Ribbon Keeper Box

Your ribbons will look ravishing, and they'll stay organized in a Monogrammed Ribbon Box!

Turn an ordinary photo box into something quite extraordinary for your sewing and craft room! Beautiful, yet functional, this ribbon box features a dramatic Jacobean flair and dazzling heat-set crystals.

Do not keep this stunning and practical project to yourself. It will make a wonderful surprise gift for a fellow embroiderer. Filled with delightful ribbons of all sizes, textures, and colors, it's a personalized gift every crafter would love to receive!

The finished size of this project is 12 x 5 x 8 inches.

Supplies & Materials:

Supplies needed:

Photo box
Fabric for cover (enough to cover top including outside and inside edges)
Polyester batting Cut-away stabilizer
Temporary spray adhesive
Permanent spray adhesive
Air-erase pen

Grommets and grommet tool (3/8 inch grommets used here)
Craft knife
Hammer
Hot glue
Hot-fix crystals (optional)

The designs used in this tutorial include:

A Jacobean Alphabet Design Pack (5 Inch Height)

Jacobean Floral Corner

Gather Materials:

Lay the cover fabric right side up. Lay the cover face down on top of the fabric, with several inches showing on all sides. Use an air-erase pen to draw a line around the box cover.

Note: For this example, we chose a silky and shiny taffeta to match the luxurious style of the Jacobean monogram and designs.

Rectangular olive-green framed box with white base placed on a pink fabric surface. Hand holding a white marker near the box corner.

Measure the depth of the box top's edge. Multiply that measurement by 2, and mark that measurement out from all sides of the traced shape.

(Example: The edge of the top in this example is 2 inches deep. So, we marked a line 4 inches out from the traced box top in all four directions.)

This is the fabric allowance you will need to wrap around the cover, outside and inside.

Bright pink fabric laid flat on a table with a black metal ruler and a white pen marking rectangular lines on the fabric for cutting or sewing.

Measure and mark the center of the cover by measuring each side and dividing in two. Draw lines connecting the marks you made on each side.

These lines will be used for hooping. The center is where both lines meet.

Hand holding pencil drawing rectangles on bright pink fabric with a black metal ruler for measuring. Fabric appears textured with slight wrinkles.

Use embroidery software to merge two corners and a letter design. Create a template of the design by printing it at full size. Trim around the design to make it manageable.

Poke a hole in the center of the design and align it with the center point on the fabric. Make sure the design fits well within the marks for the top of the box cover.

Click here to see instructions on how to merge embroidery designs together using embroidery software.

Black and white embroidered monogram letter "R" with decorative floral motifs on white fabric, placed on pink fabric background with drawn grid lines.

Start Embroidering:

Hoop the fabric with cut-away stabilizer that has been sprayed with adhesive.

Attach the hoop to the machine, load the design, align the needle directly over the center point on the fabric, and embroider the design.

Pink satin fabric hoop mounted in a white embroidery frame, with crosshair markings drawn on the fabric for alignment, on a pink background.

After the design has been embroidered, carefully trim away the excess stabilizer.

Close-up of hands cutting pale pink fabric with orange scissors, revealing embroidered monogram with floral and scroll design in green, purple, blue, and cream thread.

Cut along the outer lines you marked on the fabric.

Hand drawing lines with a blue pen on pink fabric next to a metal ruler and an embroidered multi-color ribbon keeper pattern with floral designs.

Lay the cover on top of the batting, mark, and cut out the shape.

Use more than one layer to create a soft top. The example pictured has three layers of batting.

Hand cutting white batting with orange-handled scissors over a wooden table, next to an empty rectangular green and white box.

Lay the fabric right side down and spray the back with permanent adhesive.

Hand holds blue and yellow spray can over pink fabric with embroidered design of two white birds flanking a floral letter "M" in the center.

Lay the batting on top, carefully aligning it inside the marks for the top of the box cover.

Hand pressing white batting onto a rectangular piece of magenta fabric on a wooden surface. The hand has three silver rings.

Spray the top cover with permanent adhesive and...

Green rectangular box placed on a wooden surface with a hand holding a blue and white spray can near the box's corner.

...place it directly on top of the batting.

Press it in place.

Hand pressing green-edged rectangular box onto pink fabric laid flat on a wooden surface, showing process of covering box with fabric.

Spray the edge of the fabric with adhesive and...

Hand spraying adhesive on pink fabric with white batting underneath, next to an empty green box frame on a wooden surface.

...smooth the fabric over the edges of the cover. Pinch the corners of the fabric together.

Partially assembled rectangular box covered in pink fabric with white lining inside, resting on a wooden surface, hand holding one corner.

Trim about one inch of fabric from each corner. Add a drop of hot glue on the inside edges, and smooth the fabric in place. Add another drop on the inside corners of the box, and press the fabric corners in place.

Hand holding blue hot glue gun applying pink ribbon around corner of plain white rectangular box frame on brown wooden surface.

Optional

Add heat-set crystals to the design for extra sparkle.

Pink satin-covered box with hand-painted and embroidered floral and bird designs in purple, green, gold, and white on the lid, placed on a wood table.

Place the lid on top of the box and turn it on its side so you can position the grommets along the long sides of the box.

Plan the grommet placement for even spacing, just under the bottom edge of the box cover.

Note: In this example, the grommets are a centered a little more than one inch apart, with 8 grommets over the span of 12 inches.

Rectangular fabric-covered box with green sides and pink top edge, featuring metal grommets aligned along the pink edge; ruler placed on top.

Mark the center of each grommet onto the box.

Repeat on the other side of the box to make a double-sided ribbon box.

Hand using a blue tool to push a pink fabric through a silver grommet on a green surface with pink trim, on a wooden table background.

Remove the cover of the box and set the grommets aside. Use a craft knife to carefully cut a hole just large enough for the grommets to fit into snugly.