Embroidering on Ribbon

Embroidered ribbon is a terrific way to add personal flair to your projects. Whether you're embellishing a pillow, wrapping a gift, or adding charm to a tote bag, learning how to embroider ribbon will make your projects even more special.

Project Needs & Notes:

- Medium-weight (2.5 ounce) cutaway stabilizer
- Temporary spray adhesive (like Gunold KK100)
- Ribbon

The ribbon used in this example is 1 1/2 inches wide. A long and thin design (such as a border design) with a 1 inch height fits comfortably.

Cut a piece of cutaway stabilizer a little larger than the hoop.

Spray the cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive (like Gunold KK100), then smooth the ribbon on top.

Hoop the ribbon.

You can see that only the ends of the ribbon are hooped. The temporary adhesive used previously helps to bind the ribbon to the stabilizer to avoid shifting and misalignment.

Embroider the design.

Trim the excess stabilizer away.

Because the sides of the ribbon can't be hooped, you may see that they get a little wavy. This is not unusual.

Embroidered ribbon is also terrific as trim for tablecloths, decoration on dresses, or as hair bows!