August 18, 2013

Ric Rac Ramblings


If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will have worked out that I love embellishments on my designs. One of my favourite things to use is Ric Rac braid. It is available in all sorts of colours and sizes and there are so many ways to use it.  But, how do you attach it???

Years ago, the only way we ever attached Ric Rac, was by sewing it straight down the centre by machine, and that is certainly still a very useful method:


If you look closely at the small pocket in the photo above, you can see that I worked a couple of French Knots under each scallop on the fabric, just to pretty it up a bit.

If you've been making the Apples of Gold free block-of-the-month quilt, you may have been using this method of attaching the Ric Rac, as I have.  I'm putting this photo here because it shows a different effect that is achieved by having a space between the ends of the braid, so that the frame is not completely boxed in:


Another easy way of attaching Ric Rac, is by hand stitching diagonally across each section of the braid to form a zig zag pattern.  You can use a contrasting thread for a decorative effect:


... or use matching thread which is a purely functional way to keep the Ric Rac in place:


One of my favourite methods is to work a French Knot in each section of the braid.  This method works well when the Ric Rac has pronounced 'zigs and zags':


I love the effect of the contrasting dots:


An extension of this idea is to work 'dashes' along the centre of the braid as well:


I've couched the pink ric rac in place with gold beads down the centre in this example:


To achieve a rope-like effect, I have worked diagonal stitches over the Ric Rac in only one direction on this table runner:


Jumbo ric rac is great for making a scalloped border effect:


The jumbo ric rac in the example below was perfect for couching with diagonal stitches and then embroidering little rose buds in each section.  My absolute favourite:


One method I intend trying some time is to work a long chain stitch on the Ric Rac with some embellishment flowing from that onto the fabric. I'll show you when I get round to doing it!

A commissioned quilt project has filled most of my days this week and no doubt it will fill a few more next week as well!  My night hand-stitching time has seen me complete the stitching on a couple more of my PASSES, (Projects at a stand still), but there are more than enough photos on this post already, so I'll show them off some other time.

Happy stitching!
Val

20 comments:

Ondrea said...

Val, you are certainly a wealth of information. Thankyou.

Susan said...

A very handy reference too for us. Thanks Val.

KaHolly said...

What a great post!! Some of these ideas for attaching ric rac are ingenius!! You're a Ric Rac Guru!!

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

Thanks for the great information. I have only just attached my first ric rac this past week... I love the look.

Gina E. said...

You know how much I love ric rac too! Thank you very much for posting all those ways of using it; I should print this off and file it with my ric rac stash so I don't forget where it is! When I was using ric rac to embellish CQ blocks, I had a lot of fun using a variety of stitches to attach the ric rac to the surface. I would tack it down first to hold it in place while I was doing the fancy bits, so it took a lot of time, but worth the effort :-)

Sherry said...

I so enjoyed this post. So many wonderful ideas....thank you

Joan said...

Thank you for sharing so many great ways to attach and embellish ric rac. Your projects are beautiful.

sunny said...

You're clearly a genius when it comes to using ric rac. Thank you soooo much for sharing! I can't wait to get out some ric rac.

Allie said...

I've done almost all of these, but not tried the beads yet, how glorious - love it!

Angelia Lanouette said...

Thank you for this wonderful post. I tried to use some ric rac on a project recently and got so frustrated trying to figure out a neat way to attach it so I didn't use it. I love all these ideas...now I will certainly be using ric rac. Thank you!

bri68 said...

Love ly ways to attach ric rac
Thanks for sharing them to us
My preference goes to the one with french knots
Thanks for Your Nice visit to my blog

Christine M said...

I love ric rac too. Thanks for sharing information on attaching it Val.

Quilt Kitty said...

So many ways to make everything more beautiful. I love them all. Thanks for sharing Val. xx

Createology said...

Your stitchings are pure delight. Sew many ways to embellish and attach ric rac and they each are beautiful. Thank you for sharing sew many techniques. Your finished pieces are very pretty. Creative Happy Hearts...

Utili said...

Was für ein toller Post, mir gefällt einfach alles, es ist alles mit viel Liebe dargestellt und liebevoll gearbeitet.

Liebe Grüße
Uta

Marie said...

Que n'ai je pas plusieurs mains!
le ric rac peu faire des merveilles,surtout entre les mains de Val,ici nous n'en trouvons pas de plusieurs largeur,cela est bien dommage.Bravo pour ces jolis travaux comme toujours de petits bijoux
Douce semaine.
Bisous MChristine

Carla Fiedler said...

What great ideas, and all in one place! Thanks for sharing!

Regina vicentini said...

Olá Val!
Detalhes preciosos dos seus trabalhos! Eles mostram o seu amor pelos bordados e costuras!
Um abraço!

Katia said...

Lindíssimos os seus trabalhos! Parabéns pelo capricho e bom gosto.
Amei cada um!
Um beijo! Seja muito feliz!

Flora's DIY said...

Flora's DIY
Some great stuff on your blog... I have only just started a blog (@age 71,shhh) but have always wanted to.. I have been following you for a long time but never left a comment... Love this BLOG... ~~Flora~~