Curling Grosgrain Ribbon

Good evening Ladies and some Gentleman

I have a LO in progress and would like to add some 3/8" grosgrain ribbon to it. My idea is to 'curl' the ribbon around a piece of doweling to hold the curled shape. Does anyone have an idea - ie. starch or glue to make it hold it's shape. The ideas is similar to the hair clips you may see for little girls. TIA

You could use fabric glue but any glue might come through the ribbon, but if you put a stream down the dowel and then hide that side down.

I might try to use dots as I wrap it around.

There is a product called "Stiffen Stuff" that I purchased at my local fabric store...
It's a spray and and after it dries, it stiffens the fabric so it won't move. I would just spray it, curl it around whatever to get the shape you want and let it dry like that...should hold the shape nicely!

Alison

that's nice to know!

My mom used some kind of starch when making hair bows for me back in the '80s - but eventually you could see a mild white crust on the ribbon from the starch. I don't know if the fabric stiffener Alison mentions would do the same thing.

As always thank you for your input. I've come to expect some awesome ideas from you peeps and am never disappointed. I was worried that whatever I tried with the ribbon it would stick to the doweling. I'll take a look for the 'Stiffen Stuff' tomorrow. Thanks

I used to do the hair bows too. I don't remember what I used. I don't remember seeing the whitish stuff though. Gonna have to think.

I've curled it around a dowel, taped the ends in place, and then given it a good dose of spray adhesive. Let it dry, carefully untape the ends, and slide it off the dowel. It works surprisingly well.

That's not a bad idea, I have some of that on hand and could try it now and let it dry overnight to see how it turns out in the morning Off to experiment...

• kiyawinn Said:

Is this like ******** for fabric?

(sorry....I couldn't resist).

hahaha, I guess sb.c doesn't approve of the little blue pill that some men take.

ROFLM*O

You really don't need any type of glue if you do it like they make korker ribbon which is by putting in the oven for about 20 minutes after you have wound the ribbon on the dowel. Set the oven to about 250 for 20 minutes and it will hold. You can google how to make korker ribbon if you want more directions but I have done it an it is very easy and fun to make all different colors. Good Luck and Have Fun.

How Brenda suggested is how I curl ribbon. I use wood clothes pins to hold the ribbon to the dowel.

Korked, Korking, Korker Had to get that out of my system...

Okay well let's get a few things straight - both of my dds should be SO happy that they are well over the 'bow-wearing' stage, because if they weren't I would spend the next week making a multitude of hair adornments for them. Who knew it was called 'korking'? So, I spent the last half an hour utilizing Brenda's method, but checked on another 'korking' website and first wet the grosgrain and then gave it a quick spray of ironing starch and voila!... 20 minutes later I've got ribbon that is totally 'korked'.

I pulled the ribbon off the dowel that I wrapped last night using the Recollections spray adhesive and although it was no longer tacky whatsoever, it wouldn't hold the shape either.

Thank you to each of you who commented. My as yet, unborn grand daughter's have no idea what they're in for once they have inch long hair - keep a smile M.

Just use fabric stiffener. You soak the ribbon in it, wrap the ribbon around the dowel and let it dry.

wet the ribbon, curl it around a dowel, clip it in place and bake it for a short while in the oven at 250.

Good evening all,

This is the finished LO - thanks to all who participated in it's completion - keep a smile M.

Our First 4th By Momto3infinity

The Layout is Great. All the colors look fantastic and the Korker Ribbons were a wonderful idea and they look beautiful.

I haven't tried it but great question and responses. I love all these ideas!