sewing ribbon belts

here I am in a narrow belt of my Granny Squares on black.

I posted a while ago with that great photo of the mannequin at Vogue Fabrics wrapped in circles of ribbons around the waist, and today they wrote about me writing about them on the Vogue Fabrics blog. Occurred to me that I hadn't shown you the belts I have been making all fall.  Here they are on display at the TSA conference in Nebraska last month. (sorry the photo is so very yellow!)

To make a belt, I cut 1 1/4 yard (that is about 45") of ribbon, and select the same length of a coordinating grosgrain ribbon in the same width.  May Arts offers a great grosgrain ribbon in the 2.5" width, which is particularly hard to find.  (Most of my ribbons are 1 1/2" wide, and it is quite easy to find 1 1/2" grosgrain in a variety of colors) One could also back a belt with fabric, or with another coordinating LFN ribbon, of course.  I lay the ribbons back to back, and sew carefully down each side as close to the edge as possible. When that is done, I heat up my woodburner pen tool, lay a metal ruler across the end and cut carefully with the hot knife, which evens and seals the cut so that it will not ravel. Repeating on the other end, I then lap one end though the buckle about 2", fold it down and sew in place by machine.  I take it over to the ironing board and steam press it on the wrong side, using a medium heat setting.  Polyester ribbons will shrink rather dramatically from the application of direct heat so I don't press on the face of the ribbon, but a good pressing on the back makes it lay flat and gives it more suppleness.

purse project by K Andrew Designs

Blogland is so wonderful.  New friends all the time.  Yesterday K. Andrew left a generous comment on my blog post and I went off to hers to see what she is making with my ribbon, and found this charming purse, made with Mistletoe and brocade dot ribbons. 
There is even a tutorial and a giveaway contest involving it!  Please go check this  blog out -- full of ideas.  And please feel free to send me links to your own posts involving LFN Ribbons.

Vogue Fabrics

Vogue Fabrics in Evanston & Chicago, IL has got to be my all time favorite fabric store.  I have been shopping at the Evanston store since I was in seventh grade and beginning to sew.  We would make pilgrimages up from the northern suburbs and pore over all manner of useful and exotic fabric, always being sure to hit the remnant room to collect an armload of bargains before heading home to the sewing machine.  I sewed addictively and it was sewing that led me to a life and career in textiles.

I was thrilled when they began carrying my line of artist's ribbons, which they still proudly label as "designed by hometown artist Laura Foster Nicholson" years after I decamped to southern Indiana.  Loyalty begets loyalty, I guess.

When I was at Crate & Barrel offices last week showing my new designs for next fall, one of the buyers told me that Vogue had displayed a wide range of my ribbons draped on a dress form in the window.  Here it is, with a reflection of Evanston in the background.  Thanks Katie!

LFN at the Land of Nod

these photos courtesy of Land of Nod

I have been waiting for today -- my first Land of Nod  products went live on their website today!  For those of you with grown kids (and no grandchildren yet) Land of Nod is a partner company of Crate & Barrel and I have been working with the for a couple of years now developing designs for rugs and bedding.  I have always loved their style and it is particularly fun to design furnishings intended for children but with a certain sophistication.  Above are two tufted wool rugs, which come in 3 sizes and these two colorways.

these photos courtesy of Land of Nod

Above here are a coordinating Christmas tree skirt & stocking made of  linen appliqued with felt, based on the bright banners I filled the windows in the New Harmony Contemporary Gallery Shop last year.

I have also designed several bedding sets for Land of Nod, which I believe will come out in early spring 2011.  Fun!

on a lighter note...

From pirates to Santa: sounds like Disneyland!  Just got word that the Santa ribbon we have worked long and hard on (so much detail to fit into a tiny textile) has been ordered and if I am good as gold, Santa will deliver him to me before Christmas ... keep your fingers crossed!

approval sample of 1.5" Santa Ribbon, courtesy Renaissance Ribbons

with all this exposure there is always a danger....

LFN Textiles Orange Suzani Ribbon 2.5" wide

...and I am not talking about the Social Network movie.  This week I got a cheery note from my British sister in law telling me she had seen my ribbons on a vendor's stall at a show in London, and she gave me the URL.  I always like to see who sells my ribbon so I looked it up and was horrified to find 11 of "my" ribbons, actually knockoffs of popular LFN ribbon designs.  Utterly recognizable designs, but poorly woven, colors off, narrower widths and yes, cheaper prices. I include four of my designs which were among the knockoffs, and there were 7 others at least. (these are my designs, not the copies, pictured)

LFN TIny Christmas Cakes ribbon, 1" wide

most people think only Gucci bags and music get pirated or knocked off.  They enjoy getting designer goods at a cut-rate price and think it doesn't really hurt anybody.  I am here to tell you that any creator is likely to suffer.  Copyright laws exist but are difficult to enforce, and most copycats know that minor changes are enough to render a design "new " and original enough.

This is the third instance in as many years that I have uncovered knockoffs of my designs, always by accident when someone tells me they have seen my ribbon somewhere (last year was a shoe manufacturer who actually got samples from us and then had the designs printed more cheaply).

LFN Big Bee ribbon, 1.5" wide

The damage this does is twofold.  Of course, I am not being paid for my designs.  It also introduces a cheaper, less well made item, which is detrimental to the reputation of my beautifully designed ribbons.  Their prices undersell mine which causes its own harm.

Having things manufactured abroad, notably in Asia, exposes one to this kind of piracy much more easily.  One never can blame the little guy who is buying these ribbons, not knowing the harm done; but it is really difficult to trace the source and it is nearly impossible to prosecute.

Auricula Ribbon, LFN Textiles, 1.5" wide, brown ground

I would like to ask you, my supporters, to keep an LFN watch out for me for a while.  Let me know whenever you see ribbons you think might be mine, for sale in stores abroad.  I am particularly on the hunt for the British distributor right now.  We are pursuing our own investigations at Renaissance Ribbons, but I could use your help.  You can leave comments here or email me at laura@lfntextiles.com.  Thanks!

PS: I have now heard from the shop owner who was unwittingly carrying these ribbons and she quite reasonably asked me to remove her photos from this posting, which I have done, so I am only showing the original LFN designs, not the copies.  You may use your imagination, they were similar enough but the widths and colors were slightly different.  Others copied include Allium, several colors of Palmette and Suzani and Poppy.

I should add that the shop owner was mortified and quite lovely about taking the offending ribbons off her website.  She purchased them Asia and saw them everywhere there.  It is frightening -- but some people have pointed out it is the way of the world and I should feel flattered and keep moving.  The answer is always new designs.  Not sure I agree, but what else can you do?

Spoonflower Conquest!

I have been entering Spoonflower's Fabric of the Week contests occasionally when the theme matches something in my portfolio. Last week I was surprised and delighted to find out that I had won the Gourd contest!  My prize: $100 worth of Spoonflower fabric, so I was able to print out a number of designs in my portfolio.  As you might imagine I design far more than I can afford to print -- so this is a great boon to me.  I think I will make aprons out of my fabrics, there seems to be a demand for them at our New Harmony Coffee House & General Store.  It is so lovely to be selected from a field of talented peers, and to be chosen by peers.  Thanks, Spoonflower!