Hobbycraft Workshop - Ribbon Weaving

Hi guys!

Last Saturday, we attended the thoroughly enjoyable ribbon weaving workshop at Hobbycraft. Hobbycraft offer numerous crafting workshops every month, covering a range of different crafts - this was one of them. 


Our weaving "instructor" was a lovely lady named Adele. She'd already created a woven piece for us to use as inspiration (loving the rainbow colours here!).

The equipment needed is actually fairly basic, but it's amazing what lovely results you can achieve.



All you need is a piece of cardboard (we were given a piece of Hobbycraft canvas board for the workshop, but you could use any piece and size of sturdy cardboard), some double-sided sticky tape (we used a roll of 1-cm-thick tape), a pair of scissors and some ribbon in different colours. Again, this ribbon was quite narrow, but if you're using a larger piece of cardboard you could use much wider ribbon too.



You start off with your piece of cardboard, with the back facing up. You then apply double-sided tape along each of the edges.



It's then best to prepare all your ribbons so that you're ready to weave. You can use any colours you desire, but it's probably best to choose a set of colours for the long, vertical ribbons, and another set of colours for the shorter, horizontal ribbons - just to achieve a cool effect. 

Cut each set of ribbons to a length that ensures they can be folded over the back and stuck to the tape - so perhaps a good 2 - 3 cm longer than the longest edge, and the second set of ribbons also a good 2 - 3 cm longer than the shortest edge.

We each chose different colours. I (Mum) chose a selection of 3 x 4 lengths of different blues for the long side, and 3 x 4 lengths of different pastel colours for the short, horizontal weave. Zakiya chose some gorgeous colours! She opted for a mix of deep reds, purples and a lovely turquoise/teal colour - I much preferred her choice of colour palette.



So, with all your ribbons at the ready, you first of all peel off the top edge strip of double-sided tape. You then start to place your ribbons (with the good/shiny side facing upwards) side by side in the pattern or order you prefer, until you reach the end.




Once you've finished the top edge, your work will look like this.

You then peel back just a tiny bit (the width of a ribbon) of the tape on the back of the piece at the very top right from where your first ribbon is going to be woven across. Then flip the piece so that the good side is facing you. Now you can start to weave your horizontal ribbons in the colour order you prefer. First of all, tape down the first ribbon on the reverse of the card (good side of the ribbon facing up) and then start to weave it over and under the vertical ribbons on the good side of the card. When you get to the end, stick the ribbon down on the back as taut as possible.


It's a little awkward at first but becomes much easier as you start to add more of the horizontal ribbons, as the vertical ones start to lie down better. Each time, you repeat as for the first one, by peeling back just a small amount of the vertical double-sided tape on the back of the piece, so that you can stick down each ribbon as you go - and make sure to alternate the weave for each ribbon (if you started off by running the ribbon over the top of the first ribbon, you make sure your second row starts with your ribbon running behind the first ribbon, and so on).



It really is quite therapeutic once you get going! 



You continue until you've filled up the board. 

You then remove the final width of double-sided tape from the base of the piece, pull taut all your vertical ribbons, and then secure them firmly against the tape. You can now add a couple of ribbon tabs to the top of the piece so that you can hang it, and you might also want to cover the back (where your ribbon ends will look a bit unsightly) with felt or card for a neater finish.

For just £2 each, this Hobbycraft experience was absolutely brilliant and we both had a lot of fun. We've got ideas for some bigger pieces too! 

Keep crafting x

Where to buy

Bright mixed ribbons 2M 18 pack
Pastel mixed ribbons 2M 18 pack
Canvas panel 17.8 x 12.7cm 3 pack
Double-sided sticky tape 12mm x 25m

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