I had never laid eyes on Shibori Ribbon before out host Tanya Goodwin of a Work in Progress posted that she wanted to do a blog hop with this newly discovered stringing material. But once I saw it I knew I was seriously smitten. So I asked to join in. And lucky me, I was one of the folks chosen.
Tanya sent each of us a piece of shibori ribbon about 9 inches long. Here is what mine looked like before I went to work.
Shibori Ribbon
I began by cutting a 2 1/2 inch piece off the end. I did not want to cut the ribbon in half since I was not certain of exactly what I would make.
My first idea was to bead embroider a small oval of the ribbon and use it in one of my handmade bezels
I needed to refresh my bead embroidery skills and reached for my Robin Atkins One bead at a Time book that had been such a help to me when I participated in her Bead Journal project. I cut out an oval in ultra suede and basted the ribbon piece to the ultra suede with a piece of parchment paper underneath to help stablizie the silk and ultrasuede. This "sandwish" worked well. I began by affixing one of my handmade stoneware ceramic beads to the oval and then began to free form bead embroider around it and elsewhere until I felt the piece was finished. Later I realized I might have left more of the ribbon unbeaded to show off the silk better. Below is a picture of the back of the bead embroidery showing my stitch work and the paper used to stabilize it. Not very pretty but I thought it would be informative.
backside of the bead embroidery showing paper used to stabilize the stitches and reduce puckering
Front side of the bead embroidery
Once I had the bead embroidery done
I had to put an edging around it that would hold all the pieces of that original sandwich together. I tried several sizes and stitches with seed beads but they didn't look right. Then I had the great idea to stitch some of the colored ball chain I had just purchased from Ornamentea. The stitching on of the ball chain went along quite well. Even when I cut the chain, it could still get the loose ball to fit in well. Luckily the cloth pendant was flexible and I was able to get everything into the bezel
Bead embroidery on Shibori Silk fitted into the bezel
Then I drilled the stringing hole and finally glued the pendant into the bezel with E6000 glue.
Next step was to decide how to string the bezel. In the end I chose a long strand of antiqued brass very small ball chain.
Shibori Ribbon Bead Embroidery
Since I had quite a bit of ribbon left I decided to make a necklace with it. First I tied about a 1/4 inch of the ends with some waxed linen and slipped them into some brass cord ends --also from Ornamentea-- which I had already filled it up with glue. The waxed lined cord around the ribbon was enough to fill up the cord end and it was easy to make a secure and attractive fit.
Then for stringing the ribbon: I decided on a small gauge antiqued copper chain with a few colorful jump rings attached to the cord ends and one of my own toggle clasps.
Shibori Ribbon necklace with 3 of my handmade ceramic charms
I hung 3 of my handmade ceramic charms from the ribbon. The suppleness of the Shibori ribbon was a boon to them falling nicely .
Thank you Tanya for this wonderful opportunity to try out Shibori Ribbon. I am looking forward to trying it out in a bracelet in the near future. The other participants in this blog hop are listed below. Enjoy some great eye candy!!
Tanya
Maryanne
Alenka
Monique
Carolyn
Mary you are here
Catherine
Christine
Sharyl
Therese
I really love what you did here! The embroidered bezel piece is spectacular ~ a whole scene in that small oval! Your color choices are wonderful. And the 3 charm piece is beautiful ~ I like the blend of textures and colors in that necklace. You make beautiful components, Mary.
ReplyDeletesuch lovely work and what a versatile material it is, it looks beautiful the way it twists when used for stringing charms
ReplyDeleteI love both of your pieces, Mary. First I was struck by how the rainbow spectrum of colors in the bead-embroidered piece bring out the beauty of your handmade bezel! And I also love how your charms let the glow of the ribbon shine. I think you and shibori are a perfect match!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty set of designs, Mary! The embroidery is so engaging, and proves that just the smallest touch of ribbon can really enliven the piece :) The second necklace is a gorgeous and playful way to showcase your lovely components :)
ReplyDeleteWow .. your embroidery piece is amazing .. so much detail! I love how you used the ribbon and your ceramic piece. I cannot get over that ball chain, though. I would have thought it was beads. I'll be rushing over to ornamentea later. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the second necklace as well. I love how your pieces work so well with the ribbon and I bet it does lay fabulously!
Thank you so much for playing!
I love how you mixed the embroidery with a traditional bezeled pendant. The second one really shows off that gorgeous ribbon so well!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pieces I love the freeform bead embroidery in the first necklace and using the ribbon by it's self with your clay charms in the second is a great way to showcase the ribbon in all it's beauty.
Therese
Mary, you are so "uber-talented!" That bezel and your pendant is so awesome! Thanks for showing your steps! I've never done any bead embroidering, so it was a surprise to me to see how you did it! Your second piece is so lovely too, and how nice you can use your own ceramic beads there as well! I'm in awe! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYour bead embroidery is amazing.....love the colours! I really love the necklace you made with the Shibori ribbon.....elegant.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun and beautiful material! I love that you chose to incorporate it into a pendant piece instead of just using it as a stringing material. Very creative!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great shibori necklace! Congrats!
ReplyDeletethis color, Midnight Borealis is a favorite among beaders. enjoyed the way you incorporated it with the bezel and charms/beads of your own making it extra special.
ReplyDeleteI love what you've done. I've been eyeing some shibori ribbon. This might just encourage me to go ahead and get some.
ReplyDeleteThese are so beautiful, Mary! I especially like the 2nd piece and it was interesting to read how you used the wax linen to make it fit nicely.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I admire the bead embroidery, the second necklace is the one I would wear! I love the contrast between the soft ribbon and the charms. And your beautiful clasp fits right in with all the color. Spectacular job!
ReplyDeleteI love both of your pieces, but the secon one is just spectacular! Thse colors are so well dancing together! A really good job!
ReplyDeleteAlenka
Thanks so much Christine!! I so appreciate you visiting and leaving such kind words about my work. I had such fun with this blog hop.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by Pepita!! So happy you enjoyed this look at Shibori ribbon!!
ReplyDelete