Ribbon Rose Tutorial, Part 1 - The rose

To make one ribbon rose, you'll need:

1 to 1 1/2 yards of 1 1/2 inch wide wire edge ribbon (you can use ribbon that is not wired, but you'll be doing a lot more stitching for the gathering.) Tip: measure in ribon widths - you need about 36 ribbon widths to make one rose. If your ribbon is one inch wide, use 36 inches of ribbon. You'll need 6 - 9 ribbon widths per leaf.

pins

needle & thread (preferrably matching your ribbon)

crappy scissors that you don't mind cutting wire with, but that will still cut the ribbon neatly

3" square of tulle or buckram

ribbon for leaves

Leaving the wire in, turn the ribbon, folding down diagonally towards you. Make a 1/2 inch tail.

Fold it over in half (close the book)

Begin rolling by turning over 1/8" on edge

Then roll loosely to the left to begin making the center of the rose.

After a few rolls, begin to make a couple of small (1/4") tucks so that the "petals" begin to flare out a bit.

Pin the rose center to your 3" square of tulle (pin from underneath)

Gather the rest of the ribbon gripping the tail end of the lower wire and by gently sliding the ribbon along it. Scoot the gathers carefully along the wire so you don't break the wire, until you have gathered the entire length of the ribbon (only on the lower edge - the upper edge is left full.)

Continue to wrap the ribbon around the center, pinning as needed to the tulle/buckram from underneath.

When you get to the end, tuck the unfinished end in under the "rose" so it won't show or unravel.

Sew the rose to the tulle from the back, tacking it down as needed (you don't need to stitch the entire length of the ribbon, just make sure it won't come unrolled anywhere.)

Cut the excess tulle away, so that it won't show. I pinned these to the dress, but you could sew them on, or hot glue them to a barette or headband.

In the first picture, I used the last 4 or 5 inches of ribbon to end in a bud to the side of the rose. Leaf tutorial found here.