Ribbon Bunching Tutorial

To bunch ribbon like I did for the ribbon and rhinestone ornaments, you will need a ribbon, needle, thread, and scissors. Use your preferred method to keep the ends of the ribbon from fraying. I melted the ends of my ribbon instead of using Fray Check or nail polish and really liked the results.

Tie your thread to the edge of the ribbon to stop the knot from being pulled through the ribbon when bunching, then use a running stitch to sew from one edge of the ribbon to the other on an angle. This creates a zig zag down the ribbon as seen here:

The above picture is just for the big picture. Don't wait till the end of the ribbon to start bunching. Start bunching after you've sewn a few zig zags. This makes it easier to bunch.

When you get to the end, pull it tight and again tie your thread to the edge of the ribbon. If you are creating a circle, stitch the two ends together. Once you have a circle, you can glue on your embellishments, similar to the construction of the yo-yo ornaments.

This was 11" of ribbon that was 1.5" wide and it produced a 2.5" bunch.

To create a rhinestone ornament, you will need:

• 24" of 1" wide ribbon
• 3 4" pieces of 1/4" wide ribbon
• 1 6" of 1/8" wide ribbon
• 1 20mm rhinestone 
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Step 1:  Using your 24" piece of ribbon, create a ribbon bunch as shown above, joining the two ends to form a circle.

Step 2: Using the 3 4" pieces of ribbon, create the ribbon wreath as show in steps 2-5 of the yo-yo ornament tutorial, looping each piece of ribbon like this:

Attach the 6" piece of ribbon to the back of the wreath.

Step 3: Apply glue to the center of the rhinestone and attach to the top of the ribbon wreath. Apply glue to the bottom of the ribbon wreath and attach the bunched ribbon.