Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tutorial - Lining Barrettes with ribbon

Today I was putting the bats on barrettes, so I thought I'd go ahead and type up how to ribbon line a french barrette. This step really makes the barrettes look better, in my opinion- and it's super quick.
The first step to lining the barrette is to take it apart.
Next, measure your a piece of ribbon that will just fit between the end pieces that stick up. Heat seal the ends of this piece before putting it on the barrette. (I like to do this with a wood burning tool, but a lighter will also work.)

Remove the middle piece and set it aside for now.
Now, glue the piece to the center. You can use any glue you like, but I like to use hot glue. (Mainly because my fingers need the abuse....)If you use glue that takes a while to set, you might need to hold the ribbon in place with an alligator clip while it dries.

Then, bottom side up, glue the end of a ribbon piece to the bottom of the end of the barrette. Again, a glue gun will yield immediate satisfaction and crispy fingers.
Flip the barrette over (top side up) and continue gluing the ribbon around the end and across the back.
Then, flip the barrette back over (top side down again) and glue the ribbon to the other edge underneath.
Now you can put the little extra piece back. But first check that the edges match up nicely, and peel off any extra hot glue strings ( and finger pieces).

Now you can glue on your little bat (or whatever). You're going to want to hand sew this also. (Trust me!) but gluing will hold it in place nicely while you do.
MaryKay is slowly trying to dig herself out from under a mountain if fabric, one tutorial at a time.

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