Dear SRE Brad,

I am a genuine newbie to SRE. I've checked out several books, bought the
Artful Ribbon, and bought several kits on ebay and various sites. I'm
puzzled by what seems a large distinction between embroidery where you thread
the ribbon through a needle and pull it through the fabric versus laying the
ribbon on the surface and stitching to a backing with thread. I want to do
SRE on the bodice of my wedding gown (no rush -- I'm not even engaged yet!)
and I'm not sure what type to concentrate on learning. Machine embroidery
directions focus on the "stitch to a backing method" but most other
information seems related to the "ribbon threaded through needle" method.
Perhaps machine embroidery is blasphemy to the purist, please forgive me.

Julie

Dear Julie,

My, oh my, SRE Brad has not ever seen so many issues come up in such a small paragraph. Marriage plans (without an intended, no less), handwork vs. machine work, technique, concentration, and the ability to learn, all seem to scream for attention in this simple and unassuming email.

Have no fear, Julie, SRE Brad is here to set you on the straight and narrow, although, even SRE Brad will not touch the marriage issue with a 10 foot trolley needle. (If you don't understand that reference, well then, by all means get thee to google.com and do a search).

SRE Brad thinks the major issue you have is silk ribbon embroidery by machine vs. silk ribbon embroidery by hand, and you may be wondering if there is a preferable technique. There was a day, a long, long time ago when people had leisure time, and after a day of killing their meals, the quaint folk would sit around the firelight and stitch beautiful motifs on their hankies, clothing and cushions (among other things). This brought beauty into their otherwise, drab lives. That was then.

This is now, 2001, the new millennium, we are on the go; Tae Kwon Do Practice, Soccer Practice, Dance Practice, Gymnastic Practice, Tennis Practice, Swim Practice (who knew a 4 year old could be so involved?). We do not have time to sit around leisurely sewing flowers on our underpants. So, we buy a machine that will put that flower on in a matter of minutes. Is it not as beautiful as the handwork that your ancestors created?

This is an age-old issue. There are "purists" out there in all fields of needle work that would never touch a machine, preferring to labor 6 months to finish a project. My first quilt teacher told me she never did any hand quilting, always machine. She said that she felt that she could create quilts that were just as beautiful in one quarter of the time. Julie, SRE Brad feels that you need to look at your life. Are you sitting around waiting for Mr. (or Mrs.) Right to come knocking on your door. If so, then you certainly could be stitching your wedding gown by hand while you wait. If you are a busy, busy, busy, little worker bee who barely had time to write SRE Brad, then you better look into working with a machine. It does make it go a bit quicker.

Of course, SRE Brad could point out that you are limited in your stitches that you can accomplish by machine, so if you are looking to put on beautiful hand rolled roses, you will have to do at least part of the work by hand. You should be comfortable working with all the settings on your sewing machine before you attempt to do silk ribbon work and make sure that your sewing machine is in good working condition (regardless of the age or style of your machine). Silk ribbon embroidery by machine is usually achieved through either tacking ribbons on the top of the fabric or putting the ribbon in your bobbin and doing bobbinwork. This is a skill unto itself and you should know beforehand that your machine is capable of handling this type of work.

You will also find there are very few books on the subject of silk ribbon embroidery by machine. Nancy Bednar wrote Silk Ribbon Machine Embroidery (published by Sterling Publishing Company, ISBN #0-8069-94393-2), which covers the basics: supplies, bobbinwork, couching from the top, mixing in other mediums, and a fair amount of stitches. Probably the most prolific writers on the subject of machine embroidery are Betty Farrell and Marie Duncan. The two women have written three books on the subject, (all published by Krause Publications) Ribbon Embroidery by Machine (ISBN # 0-8019-87830), More Ribbon Embroidery By Machine (ISBN #0-8019-90475), and Celebrate the Seasons with Ribbon Embroidery by Machine, (ISBN #0-8734-16236). All of these books take you beyond the basics and are very good sources of information. You can also find limited information on the internet on the subject. Probably the best is the source of article on silk ribbon embroidery machine is on the Threads Magazine website. You can read http://www.taunton.com/th/features/design/silkribbonem/1.htm as a starting point.

You can adapt many handwork patterns to machine; you just have to be a little creative with some of the stitches. SRE Brad does like to beat everyone over the head, though with the idea that in Silk Ribbon Embroidery, you do not have to follow the pattern exactly as written. That is part of the allure of the art, to open yourself up, to let your creativeness shine through.

Ultimately YOU will have created whatever is on your wedding gown. No one can take that away from you. People will be in awe of your skills as an embroidress, regardless of how you created the final product. When admiring someone's handwork, SRE Brad would never look down upon him or her simply because of the way in which they created it. That would be rude.

You may also want to look into Ribbonwork, which is different than either silk ribbon embroidery, though the two can be combined quite well. As opposed to silk ribbon embroidery, where you pull the ribbon through the fabric, ribbonwork (usually in larger width ribbons) is fashioned "off" the fabric, often on crinoline or buckram. You then apply the individual flowers to your base, i.e. your gown. Helen Gibb is a wonderful source for this type of information and you can view her recently overhauled website at www.helengibb.com.

No matter which method you choose, make sure you practice, practice, practice. You certainly want to be completely comfortable with whatever technique you choose. SRE Brad would certainly not want you to learn either method on your $1200 Vera Wang wedding gown. Find scraps of bridal fabrics to work with, preferably the same type as you desire for your gown, and try out both hand and machine work. If you choose silk ribbon embroidery by machine, you may be able to add more to your design than you originally planned, due to the speed. Be creative and have fun.

Good luck with the wedding plans!

Dear SRE Brad,

I hear a lot of complaints about Hanah and Artemis bias cut silk ribbon bleeding. I also hear the same complaint about silk threads. I have not had that problem, but I soak all of my ribbon and thread prior to use. Am I just lucky or is my compulsive need to read directions finally paying off?

Rissa

Dear Rissa,

SRE Brad is not a mental health professional and therefore cannot speak about your compulsive behavior, but if you find yourself constantly reading the small print and the "voices" are telling you that you must soak things, SRE Brad would suggest that you seek a therapist. I hear they have some wonderful medications for such problems nowadays.

That taken care of, Rissa brings up a very good question about pre treating your threads that you use for your embroidery. Something, SRE Brad feels is not discussed very much but should be (SRE Brad loves bringing those dirty little secrets out of the attic).

Rissa specifically brings up Hanah and Artemis bias cut silk ribbon (for SRE Brad's take on bias cut silk ribbon click here) and the problems with color bleeding. SRE Brad wrote to the company that makes Hanah and Artemis and specifically asked them about the colorfastness of their products. The answer that SRE Brad received was that even though they do treat their products for colorfastness, they do recommend that you prewash the bright colors because they bleed.

So, what does this mean for you, the consumer? Like everything else we do in this crazy world of embroidery, there is no hard and fast rule to pre washing. If you are worried about that beautiful red rose that you worked on for 3 hours might bleed on the lily white silk moiré that you paid 20 bucks a yard for, you might want to take a moment to pre wash the ribbon before you start. If you aren't worried about it, then, hey, don't come crying to SRE Brad when it looks like your two year old took his watercolor set and "Helped out, Mommy".

Of course, you could be like Rissa and just read the directions.

Dear SREBrad,

OK, I have a question. I was taught (by noted author & designer Esther Randall,
from whom I took a class) that it's easier and just as OK to begin your stitching
length of ribbon by just tying a knot at the end, just like with thread. Yet, I always
see instructions for some fancy kind of loop stitch at the beginning. Does it matter
which method we use? And while we're at it, what is the preferable way to finish
off a length of stitched
ribbon?

Cathy Flox

Dear Cathy,

My, my, my, we are quite the namedropper aren't we? Noted author & designer, Esther Randall. Obviously you were not on a first name basis with, noted author & designer, Esther Randall, or you wouldn't be calling her, noted author & designer, Esther Randall, you would just be calling her Esther. SRE Brad does not know, noted author & designer, Esther Randall, but SRE Brad does know many designers (on a first name basis, so there) who are both noted and are authors. SRE Brad could drop a few names that would make your hair curl.

So, noted author & designer, Esther Randall said you can just knot the end of your thread, did she? And you doubt her? And you expect SRE Brad to contradict her?

Ok, I will.

I know all my dear readers are probably sick of hearing SRE Brad say it, but if there is one thing SRE Brad hopes to teach you gentle students of embroidery, is that THERE ARE NO HARD AND FAST RULES to embroidery. Just the other day on the silkribbon mailing list someone shared a beautiful rose that they had stitched. Someone else asked how do you do that. After countless emails, we all discovered that even though everyone might call it by one name, the ways to stitch it were numerous. Just because someone wrote in a book that this is the way to stitch this rose, does not mean that is the ONLY way to stitch that rose, you can achieve the same look by going at it in different means. This is called your STYLE. Use it, show it, and most of all be proud of it.

So, what is SRE Brad trying to say here, (funny, Mrs. SRE Brad often says that very same thing)? Sounds like SRE Brad is saying, "sure, knot away" and that is what SRE Brad thought until he consulted wyldmn, list facilitator of the silkribbon mailing list (how is that for name dropping?)

Wyldwmn explained to SRE Brad that, sure knotting the ribbon will show up on the top side of the fabric like the moon and its craters, but the real issue with doing a regular old knot is silk.

Think about it, silk is slick, smooth, and shiny, that is why we like it. What are some of the characteristics of something that is slick, does it hold together? NO. So what happens over time to a silk knot? It will un-knot. And if you have a pillow top with a bunch of knots on the back side, be sure that all that stuffing rubbing on the backside (please try to keep you mind out of the gutter) will only un-knot that knot even faster.

So what do you do? You create the "knot" that most of us in silk ribbon are most familiar with, you thread your needle, pierce the end with the needle, pull the ribbon into itself and before you run the ribbon all the way through, you pass the ribbon through the circle of fabric. Voila! A "knot" that won't un-knot.

Another well known technique is to leave a tail on the backside and pierce that tail with the other stitches as you go along, this is also a good way to end your threads. You can also take a needle threaded with a single piece of floss or thread and tack down all your tails as you go along. Wyldwmn, says that she keeps a set if needles threaded with leftover pieces of threads and floss just for the purpose of tacking down those tails.

What have we learned here? Besides the fact that wyldwmn is a very wise soul, it may be faster to make a regular old knot at the end of your ribbon, but it pays to take a little extra time to make a silk ribbon "knot" or to tack down a tail.

Otherwise, everyone will be "admiring" that silk ribbon piece with all the threads sticking out of it.

Dear SRE Brad,
Have you used bias silk ribbon for your emboidery work? Any tips on use as silk ribbon embroidery?
No Signature Given

Dear Person who did not sign their name,
First of all, SRE Brad would like to say that questions that people put their name on get top priority on being answered, but since this is such a good question and it goes along with a current swap on the silkribbon mailing list, SRE Brad made an exception and answer yours whoever you are. That off of my chest, let us get to work.

Those of you who may not be familiar with bias silk ribbon are missing out on one of life's great pleasures. The two better know brands of bias silk ribbon, Artemis and Hanah are both made by the same company in sizes 7/16", 5/8", 1" and up. Some people choose to make their own bias cut ribbon from recycled silk blouses, scarves, or remnants, but that is a different question altogether. Bias silk ribbon has a completely different hand and feel to it than woven ribbon. The colors available commercially are exquisite and has a richness that is unequaled in woven ribbon. While you will find woven ribbon in both plain and hand dyed colors, the colors in the bias ribbon have a very different look.

Obviously bias silk ribbon is cut on the bias (although there is bias ribbon available that is woven on the bias with a finished edge, SRE Brad is reffering to bias cut ribbon, in this answer ) This gives the ribbon, among other things, a stretchiness. This stretchiness and the easily frayed edges will temper how you use the ribbon. Generally you want to use even shorter lengths than the standard 12"-18", SRE Brad recommends 6"-8", and you want to use a nice big chenille needle to make a bigger whole (and thereby cause less abrasion, see below question on needle size). You may even want to use an awl to pierce the fabric first (remember to practice safe sewing, kids! Awls can be a dangerous toy, don't ask me how I know). SRE Brad has used bias ribbon to weave in and out of a wreath of peonies (see photo), even though it appears to be one continuous ribbon, SRE Brad has used short ribbons for each section and tacked them on the back.

Click For Larger View

Many people choose to use bias ribbon to construct flowers "above the fabric". Using different techniques, such as rolled roses, gathered flowers, prairie point leaves, and boat leaves a person can construct the flower then tack it onto the fabric. As SRE Brad mentioned, there is a swap currently running on the silkribbon mailing list that ties nicely into this. The theme of the swap was pansies and many of the participants chose to construct their flowers in this manner. Jean Bowman has graciously agreed to share two pictures of her pansies.

Click for Larger View

Rolled rose are especially beautiful when they are made with bias ribbon. Noted author and member of our mailing list, Helen Gibb, uses bias ribbon in the construction of many of her flowers. Helen shares the following picture and information.

Click for Larger View

SRE Brad says, "Get out there, find yourself some bias ribbon and go to town! It will add a dimension and style to your embroidery that you never thought possible." Many of the vendors on the Online Vendor Directory carry these ribbons. For more information on Helen Gibb, go to HelenGibb.com.

Dear SRE Brad,
A newbie might ask: What needles should be used with different ribbons? Should a hoop be used? What size ribbons are available? What size ribbons are used with specific stitches?
Doris

Dear Doris,
You have certainly posed some good questions for what you term a "newbie", of course those of us who know Doris, know she is not a newbie by far! But, at one point, all of us were new to the art of silk ribbon embroidery and we all had these questions (those of you who were afraid to speak up, just remember, the only dumb question is the one not asked) so I think this question is a perfect way to start ASK Sre Brad.

What needles should be used with different ribbon? Well, the rude answer to this would be that it's not the size of the needle but the motion of the stitcher! But, SRE Brad doesn't want to appear rude, so I will give you the nice answer. Needles generally used for silk ribbon are Tapestry and Chenille. The general rule of thumb is to make sure to use a needle with a large enough eye so that that your ribbon just slides through without folding over and not any bigger. This should create a large enough hole in your fabric for the ribbon to pass through with the least amount of abrasion (which causes those unsightly frays!). If you are stitching on a piece of fabric with a particuliarly tight weave, then you may need to go up a size larger on your needle.

Should a hoop be used? Like most things in silk ribbon embroidery, there is no right or wrong answer to this, it's entirely a personal thing. SRE Brad will say that if this is the first time you are trying silk ribbon embroidery, then you might want to use a hoop to help with your tension. When SRE Brad was a wee little stitcher, he was taught without a hoop, but now he realizes that there are just some fabrics that need to be kept in place!

What size ribbons are available? The standard silk ribbon sizes are 2mm, 4mm, 7mm, and 13mm, although SRE Brad has seen some as big as 32mm (hold all comments, please). SRE Brad is unsure of why we use the millimeter markings and does not know how they translates to inches, but I suppose if enough people were to ask SRE Brad, he would research and get back to you on that one.

What size ribbons are used with specific stitches? SRE Brad really had to think about this one before he answered, because he wasn't sure if there was a right or wrong answer. You use the size of ribbon that you feel gives you the best look for whatever you are creating. I suppose purists would say, "Oh Mr. SRE Brad (SRE Brad always makes purists address him as Mr.), whenever you do a spider web rose you should always use a 4mm ribbon." SRE Brad says phooey, use what you want. Most of you are probably used to using 4mm ribbon all the time but SRE Brad says, "Get thee out there and try some different sizes, nature isn't all one size, nor should your embroidery be!"