Petersham ribbon, also known as Petersham grosgrain, Petersham facing, or simply Petersham, is a versatile and pliable type of ribbon known for its ability to shape around curves and maintain a smooth appearance.

Petersham is often used in millinery to create hat bands or hat trimmings, especially for wide-brimmed hats because it provides structure and allows the ribbon to curve along the shape of the hat seamlessly. It’s also used in garment construction, particularly in waistbands, belt loops, and as a stabilizing ribbon in corsets and bodices. Its flexibility and ability to take shape make it an excellent choice for these purposes. Petersham ribbon is equally popular in various crafting projects, including embellishing accessories, gift wrapping, and creating decorative elements in home decor.

Known for its unique characteristics and versatility, Petersham ribbon is thick, stiff, and flexible and is typically made from cotton, viscose, a cotton/rayon or acetate blend, or even from acetate or 100% rayon. Some variations may even use silk. It has a slightly ribbed texture and a flexible, pliable nature, which makes it popular for creating decorative accents and embellishments. The ribbed texture is achieved through a weaving technique that creates horizontal ribs across the ribbon’s surface.

Where did the name come from? It depends on who you ask! One version is that Petersham was named after the 18th century English lord Viscount Petersham who invented an overcoat and breeches made of a special heavy woollen cloth with a round nap surface. The second version is that the original Petersham was manufactured by a company called Panda in the town of Petersham.

Petersham is often compared to grosgrain ribbon due to their similar appearance, but they have distinct differences:

• Petersham has a scalloped edge. Grosgrain has a straight edge.
• Petersham is usually softer and more pliable, making it easier to work with when shaping it around curves.
• Petersham has a crisp feel and can become stiffer when exposed to moisture or heat.

One of the additional features of Petersham is its ability to shape and mold around curves and corners without puckering or gathering. It is woven so that once steamed, it will take on and support the curve of the piece it’s being applied to. This property makes it ideal for hatbands, belts, and other applications where the ribbon needs to maintain a smooth and even appearance when wrapped around irregular shapes. When used for hatbands, Petersham ribbon helps create a structured, tailored look.

Another notable characteristic of Petersham ribbon is its soft, draping quality. It has a more fluid and supple feel compared to standard grosgrain ribbon, which tends to be stiffer. This flexibility allows for a greater range of uses, including garment trims, bows, sashes, and waistbands. It can also be used for crafts like gift wrapping, hair accessories, and DIY projects.

Petersham ribbon comes in a variety of widths, colors, and patterns, offering endless possibilities for creative expression. It can be found in solid colors, as well as prints, stripes, and other designs. The edges of Petersham ribbon are usually cut with a hot knife or treated to prevent fraying.

Tips for working with Petersham

1. Cutting: Petersham ribbon has a scalloped edge and an identical front and back, so you don’t have to worry about which side is facing up when cutting. Use sharp fabric scissors to cut the ribbon to your desired length. Remember to cut on the diagonal to avoid fraying.
2. Shaping: The key feature of Petersham ribbon is its flexibility and ability to take shape. To shape the ribbon around curves or bends, use steam from an iron or a steamer. Hold the ribbon over the steam for a few seconds, and while it’s still warm and pliable, gently shape it to the desired curve. You can use pins to hold the shape in place until it cools and retains the shape.
3. Attaching: Petersham ribbon is typically sewn onto fabric or hats. When sewing, it’s best to use a needle and thread that matches the color of the ribbon. Since Petersham ribbon is slightly thicker than regular ribbon, you might need a larger needle, or a needle designed for heavy fabrics. Sew along the edge of the ribbon, using small and discreet stitches.
4. Hat Bands: To use Petersham ribbon as a hat band, measure the circumference of the hat’s crown and cut the ribbon accordingly, leaving some extra length for overlap. Shape the ribbon to match the curve of the hat’s crown using steam. Sew the ends together to form a loop, and then sew the loop onto the inside of the hat’s crown.
5. Waistbands and Garment Trims: Petersham ribbon can be used as a waistband in skirts or trousers. Measure your waist and cut the ribbon to the desired length. Shape the ribbon to fit your waist using steam, and then sew it in place. You can also use Petersham ribbon as decorative trims on garments, especially around the neckline or sleeve edges.
6. Crafts and Embellishments: For craft projects, you can use Petersham ribbon to embellish accessories like headbands, bags, or shoes. It can also be used in home decor projects to add a decorative touch to pillows, lampshades, and more.

Remember that practice makes perfect, so don’t be discouraged if it takes a few tries to get the shaping and sewing just right. Once you become comfortable with working with Petersham ribbon, you’ll find it to be a versatile and elegant addition to your creations.

Stitch ‘n weave embellishment techniques refer to a variety of decorative techniques that involve combining stitching and weaving methods to create unique textures, intricate patterns, or unusual designs on fabric.  Decorative yarns, threads, cords or ribbons are woven through pre-sewn machine stitching, twisting, turning, looping or knotting if desired. 

Stitch ‘n weave could include couching, laid work, raised embroidery, Brazilian embroidery, and lastly, thread weaving, which is the focus of this article. The process typically involves stitching or embroidering onto a base fabric and then weaving additional threads or fibers through the stitches to create added dimension and texture, resulting in visually stunning designs. This combination of stitching and weaving allows for the creation of intricate patterns, raised surfaces, and interesting visual effects and are often used in textile arts, embroidery, and surface embellishment.

The machine’s stitched patterns can be abstract, specific design shapes, or used for borders (Figure 1). It can be done using various weaving techniques, such as over-under weaving or wrapping threads around existing stitches. Unlike couching, the yarns can be exchanged for new colors and textures next season by gently pulling out the original yarns and weaving in new ones. These patterns of multiple-stitched rows can also be a tone-on-tone design element without the weaving. Add the thread weaving at a later time and your friends and colleagues will think you have a new garment!

Use this embellishing technique on both ready-to-wear and made-to-wear garments.

Stitching Choices

Suitable machine stitches for this technique have a wide stitch width (3mm or wider) without an intermediate stitch, as they swing across the stitch width. To showcase the weaving, stitch with machine embroidery thread that matches or blends with the fabric background. To add a bit of sparkle, use metallic thread. Heavy stitches like the rickrack or triple zigzag, blanket, ladder and satin block stitches will be more visible than those with less stitch repetition. Light stitches include the standard zigzag, universal or elastic casing stitch, blind hem, and some overlock or overedge stitches (Figure 2).

Weaving Materials

Use any decorative yarns, threads, cords or ribbons that can be woven under the machine’s crosswise stitches. If they can be threaded through a double-eye needle, they probably can be used to weave. There are several companies that package 5-10 yard assortments of yarns in a particular color grouping — these cards have plenty of yarn for an average project. If the yarns are slim, twist and weave two together. Add ribbon or other cords to the blend for texture or to give a color punch.

Weaving Notions

Use a double-eye needle for the weaving process (Figure 3). The flat, blunt end makes the needle easy to feed under the stitches, especially those with repeating stitch patterns. Any yarns, ribbons or cords that can be threaded through a double-eye needle can be used for stitch ‘n weave.

Other notions include:

• Water or air soluble marking pen to mark the basic design stitching lines on the fabric
• Sealant to keep the cut ends of the thread or yarn from fraying
• Tear-away stabilizer to place under the design area when stitching

Stitch ‘N Weave Basics

Always check your stitch and yarn combination for compatibility before starting the actual project. And make sure to test drive using your weaving materials with various stitches on your project fabric.

Stitching

Draw the design lines on the fabric right side with the marking pen. Then place tear-away stabilizer underneath the design area.

Stitch with machine embroidery thread in the needle and all-purpose or bobbin thread in the bobbin. If the project’s underside will not be concealed by a facing, use matching thread in the bobbin for a neater look.

After stitching, secure the thread ends. The tear-away stabilizer can be removed before or after the weaving is completed.

Weaving:

Thread one end of the double-eye needle with yarn and weave the unthreaded end over-and-under the long stitches. Use one or more yarns — whatever will feed under the threads.

Work with strands approximately 18″ in length or shorter and keep one end of the single strand close to the threaded needle eye. Or, for a border, stripe, or as a trim on a garment edge, use short pieces of yarn with the same length tails and weave them between two stitched rows, cutting the yarns to remove the needle (Figure 4).

To secure the strands when beginning to weave, loop the ends over one or more of the machine stitches, similar to a backstitch (Figure 5). Weave short spans, pulling the strand(s) through looping or knotting as desired.

Backstitch near the end of the weaving to secure the finishing end. The finishing ends of the yarns can be woven into the design and hidden, or they can be left free for a fringe effect.

Use a seam sealant to prevent the ends from fraying or to keep chenille-like yarns from losing their fluff.

~This is an edited and updated article containing some content originally written by Sallie J Russell and inspired by her book, Dynamic Dimensional Designs (printed with permission). 

When it comes to pillows, if you follow the “rules,” bed pillow sizes are as follows:

• Standard bed pillow: 20″ x 26″
• Queen bed pillow: 20″ x 30″
• King bed pillow: 20″ x 36″
• Euro square: 26″ x 26″

However, rules are made to be broken!

Custom Size Pillows

It can sometimes be a challenge when you need to fill the headboard of a king — or even queen — size bed.

• • One solution is to create a “custom king” measuring 26″ high x 36″ wide
  • You can also expand the concept to include “custom queen” that are 26″ high x 30″ wide

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