Thursday, October 25, 2012

DIY: How to Make an Elizabethan Ruff

This is it! The week before the big Halloween Party. Which means I must finish my costume forthwith.

And I am in need of one very specific accessory - an Elizabethan ruff collar. These collars look quite beautiful and are surprisingly easy make. All you need is some patience and a whole lot of ribbon.     

First things first, you will need a good tutorial. After looking over countless Elizabethan ruff how-tos, I have found this great video


Materials:
- Ribbon
- Needle and thread
- Scissors
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Pencil
- Matches


Start with the ribbon. I used about 5 meters of 4 cm wide satin ribbon. It looks quite nice, but it's very slippery when you work with it, and if you want a wider collar it may droop a little. If you prefer something more solid, a grosgrain ribbon would probably be better.



Make sure you have enough thread. If you run out in the middle of the sewing project, it's going to be a real pain to tie it off and add another one. When you start sewing the dots together, keep in mind that the ribbon will bunch up. Be very careful and make sure that you do not  miss any pleats. Once you miss one, it's almost impossible to go back.


Adding the neckband ribbon was a very long and painful process. But I'm very happy with how it turned out. I think I'll start making these ruff collars for fun and profit.

 

Sorry about the lighting. I took these pictures in the dead of the night.  

Next week I'll have a longer post about the party and my costume. Stay tuned! 

10 comments:

  1. Wow! Great tutorial-exactly what I was looking for, Thanks so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing! But I miss in the tutorial how to calculate how much ribbon I need :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think they actually mention the length of the ribbon. If memory serves, I used about 2 meters of ribbon, but then I ended up not using all of it. It's best to err on the side of caution and take more ribbon than you need.

      Delete
    2. In the tutorial,she says she used 6 yards.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for this great tutorial. I've made a black ruff for my renaissance gown.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I also like to make Elizabethan Ruff with white satin ribbon.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...