Bunting Inspired Ribbon Buttons

I love the 4th of July and this time of year I start thinking of all things red, white and blue.

The look of a classic bunting is on my mind.  So this morning I pulled out some of my supplies of ribbon and fabrics and started to play around.

This little bunting inspired ribbon button was the result of my fun.

Maybe I’ve let my imagination run wild… but I think these are perfect for:

• hair clips
• embellishing headbands
• embellishing flip flops
• napkin rings
• lapel pins

Here’s how to make them:

You will need:

• 10″ of a 7/8″ or wider ribbon – grosgrain or other stiff style ribbon works best
• 7/8″ button cover kit
• small scrap of fabric

Follow the instructions on the button cover kit to cover your button in fabric of choice.  It only takes a scrap of fabric to make a cute button.  I think a small print fabric works best. If you want to see a step by step tutorial, I wrote about covering buttons here.

Cut a 10″ length of ribbon.  Move needle position on sewing machine all the way to the right.  Using a long running stitch, stitch along the edge of the ribbon about 1/8″ from the edge.

Carefully pull thread to gather the ribbon.  It starts making a circle immediately.

Once it’s gathered evenly and fairly tightly, hot glue the ends, right sides together.  Be careful to not glue the ends of your thread.

Make any adjustments to the thread to make sure it is even all the way around.  Tie the ends of the thread together to secure.  I couldn’t take a picture as I did this step… it took both hands to tie the knot.  Trim away any excess thread.

It should look like this.

Run a bead of hot glue around the back of the button and adhere the ribbon.

Hey look, you can easily make an award ribbon… by just hot gluing equal length ribbons to the back.  Be sure to apply fray check or use a match on the ends to keep from fraying.

Now what to do with the finished button?  I think I’ll make 20.

Make a few hair clips.

How about attaching one to a headband?

Or slip elastic through the back of the button to make easy napkin rings.

These little ribbon buttons are versatile, easy and fun… a perfect summer project.