A worthy decoration for any national holiday in our country, no doubt, is the St. George ribbon. This symbol of victory, respect and patriotism is worn by both adults and children. The jewelry is sold in many stores, and for needlewomen the handmade St. George ribbon will be a real pride.
Preparation for work
Before you go to the store for the necessary materials or look for necessary blanks in the bins, it is recommended to determine the type of decoration and the technique in which it will be made. The simplest, but at the same time original option will be a St. George ribbon made in the kanzashi style with his own hands. This technique allows you to embody any fantasy of the craftswoman and make exquisite patriotic brooch, hair clip and even a bracelet from improvised materials. But we will consider the option of making a classic kanzashi brooch.
To create a unique decoration you will need the following tools:
- scissors;
- ruler;
- needle with thread;
- candle or lighter;
- pencil or marker;
- tweezers;
- glue gun.
If all the tools are available, then there will be no problems with the manufacture of the St. George ribbon with your own hands. But if there is no glue gun in the craftsman’s home arsenal, you can use any polymer glue.
Material procurement
Before you go to the store for materials, you should consider how to decorate the middle of your brooch. If there are no skills in making kanzashi jewelry, it is better to opt for a beautiful bead and half bead. But experienced craftswomen who like needlework can decorate the St. George ribbon with their own hands professionally: make a flower, spikelet or other decor element from satin ribbons.
So, for the manufacture of jewelry you will need:
- satin ribbon of St. George 2.5–6 cm wide;
- a large bead (half bead) or a decorative center;
- metal base for brooches.
For those who want to turn their product into a real masterpiece, you can purchase beads of the corresponding colors. From it you can weave the original decor for the center or decorate the edges of the ribbon.
Getting to work
At the first stage of creating a St. George’s kanzashi ribbon with your own hands, you should prepare 5 pieces of tape of 7 cm each. To do this, carefully measure the segments and cut them very evenly. Otherwise, the material will begin to crumble, and the flower petals will not be the same. We light a candle or a lighter and singe the edges of the workpieces. In this case, it is better to use tweezers to avoid injuries and burns.
Take the wrong side to ourselves, form a right angle. Then we lower the second edge, clearly imposing it on the first. It turns out a petal with a sharp upper edge. Next, fold it in half to the wrong side, aligning the edges. From below we fix the resulting fold with tweezers and twist the edges. Solder the lower part of the finished petal over the fire. We do the same 4 more blanks.
Next, we collect a flower of 5 petals, gluing them with polymer glue or a glue gun. In this case, we apply the adhesive mixture only to the middle of the side of the workpiece.
Decoration assembly
We take the remaining tape length of 25 cm, fold and process the edges. Each side should be sealed with fire, after cutting the middle part, so that the so-called “flag” is obtained. Even for those who do not know how to make a St. George ribbon, this operation will not cause problems.
We lay out the tape on the table with the wrong side up, bend the side edges, laying crosswise. At the same time, the edges of the tape can be aligned one length or stop the selection at their symmetrical location. We sew the resulting loop from the ribbon in the center and immediately sew the metal base for the brooch. After the thread we glue in order to avoid unforeseen situations when wearing.
We go to the finish
At this stage of the work, we have already prepared two main elements of the decoration: a flower and a base with fasteners. We connect them with glue and press them at the junction until dry. Thus, a handmade St. George ribbon needs only decoration. We paste a bead or any beautiful center in the center of the flower and enjoy the beauty of our creation.
Even for beginner needlewomen, the process of creating a St. George ribbon with their own hands takes no more than 20 minutes. And an unusual strict decoration will become not only a symbol of patriotism, but also the pride of its owner.