Friday, March 9, 2012

Simple Trick to keep your ribbon from fraying for good, from Fabric Envy


If you're anything like me you hate, I mean HATE ribbon fray! About four years ago my friend Sarah shared this quick and easy tip with me for heat sealing your ribbon. All it takes is one simple, inexpensive, and very hot item: a wood burning tool.


Who knew? If you're cutting a lot of ribbon or making bows it speeds up the process a bunch because it cuts and seals the ribbon at the same time!  Three cheers, I ♥ time savers! Plus you'll get a really nice, crisp and clean, professional looking edge.

Seriously this is all you need to do:

  • Plug in and turn on your wood burning tool. It will come with several different tips just use the chiseled edge tip. It's the one that comes already attached. 
  • Lay your ribbon out and on a heat friendly surface (I cut mine on a piece of table glass, or you can use a cutting board. It just needs to be on a surface that you wouldn't mind getting some burn marks on. 
  • Measure out where you want to cut/seal the ribbon, start at the top and apply pressure in a downward motion--just like what you would do if you were using an exacto knife or box cutter.
  • Bam, that's it you're done!  
I made this simple cheesy video if you want to actually see it done. I've included some tips for making no-slip ribbon covered alligator clips too. 

You can pick up a wood burning tool at Walmart or any craft store for around $10.00.  Hope you enjoy never having to deal with fraying ribbon again!

Also, a great big thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway this week.

The winner of the Hello Luscious and Freshcut FQ Bundles is:


      
I love Hello Pilgrim! Lizzy is one of my favorite designers!

Congrats Maureen!!!!



Don't forget in Honor of National Craft month we'll being participating in a giveaway each week in March. Check back on Monday to see what's up for grabs. Feel bad about not winning? Use coupon code: 10fabricenvy for 10% off your order all month long.

Happy Crafting!

7 comments:

  1. Yay!!! I'm always the giveaway host, never the winner! WOW! My email is maureencracknell@hotmail.com

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    1. Congrats, Maureen! You're a winner in my book every day.
      But I'm glad you'll get to feast on some free fabric!! Maybe it will inspire some more awesome improv pieces!

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  2. Awesome tip!! (Yes, I HATE frayed ribbon, too.)

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  3. I heat seal mine with a match, just have to be careful not to singe the ends. Don't want them all black and melty

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  4. Hello, seen your tip on twitter and had to come on over and check it out. Great tip. I've just recently started experimenting using ribbon in my jewelry designs but I hate it when it starts fraying. So I will be giving this a try. Thank you for sharing.

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  5. Great tip indeed! Found your blog via Craft Gossip and now I am following!!

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  6. Can you wash the ribbon after using this sealing method without it fraying?

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