ORGANISING MY RIBBON SCRAPS
I have a couple of shallow boxes of spools of ribbon which are organised enough, but I also have a huge quantity of ribbon scraps of varying lengths not on spools. Up until now, they have been stored in a small antique leather case inherited from my grandmother, in one glorious muddle. I’ve always been a bit of a rummager when it comes to storing such things, but recently it started to drive me nuts. It was hard to find what I wanted and the ribbons were likely to get pretty creased.
Vintage cases
I also have a two more vintage leather cases from the same source. These are full of trimmings and lace, and are in an equal state of muddle! I shall probably get around to sorting them, too. I love to see them stacked up on the far side of the studio – they are very decorative and have sentimental family value for me. Notice how the smallest one has an expert mend on one corner. The handle is very tatty and I did think of replacing it once, but decided to leave it with its patina of age.
I have another small leather case on the shelf above, that you can just glimpse at the top of the photo. It is longer and narrower and won’t fit on this stack. These cases were used by ladies in the old days to put their party shoes in. They would go to the ball wearing normal outdoor shoes and carry their best satin dance slippers in the little case, to change into on arrival. I also inherited a bundle of tiny pastel coloured pencils attached to strings with tassels on them. These were used by the ladies to mark their dance cards so that they would not forget which gentleman they would partner with for succeeding dances.
Sorting the ribbons
I’m afraid I forgot to photograph the ribbon muddle before I sorted it, but you haven’t missed much – it was just that – a muddle!
I have left the organza ribbons in a muddle, but separated from the other ribbons in a baggie.
This small case has some dividers in it, as well as some leather loops inside the lid. I think it may have once been a vanity case.
I cut several pieces of card from a cereal box for winding the wider ribbon pieces onto. I also separated out the tiniest scraps which couldn’t be wound, the very narrow ribbons, and the bows, into separate baggies for easy access.
The remainder all went into a plastic storage box.
This box with its hinged lid was designed for storing embroidery threads. It came with hundreds of the little card spools you can see in the above photo which I used to wind on my ribbons. The box also came with removable dividers but for the life of me I cannot find these! I had a terrible job coaxing all the spools of ribbon into the box. It’s a tight fit, and they kept springing out, and as you can see they have a tendency to unwind! At least I can now see what I’ve got and I can pull them out as I need them.
Nice neat ribbon storage at last.
