Wrap the stems in a damp paper towel so they don't dry out too quickly. You will need at least 15 stems but you can use as many as you like as long as they are an odd number. Get some narrow ribbon of your choice (5mm), a pair of scissors and a blunt darning needle or toothpick.
Cut off about 56" (142cm) of ribbon and tie the lavender together leaving a long tail and a shorter one of about14" (36cm). You are going to work with the long tail and leave the shorter one laying along the stems
Now the fun part! Bend all the stems back on themselves so that they are facing in the opposite direction and laying over the flowers. They should look like umbrella spokes circling the flowers . At this point you could pull off the leafy bits that are still attached to the stems,or if you are lazy like me leave them as they are going to get trimmed off anyway,
Taking the long tail of ribbon start to weave in and out, over & under, round & round. You will be working in a spiral gradually working down the stems. It is a bit fiddly to begin with, I find it easier to lift the stems and ease the ribbon under them. I did try threading the needle and using that to weave the ribbon in and out but I ended up with the ribbon all tangled up. Use the needle or toothpick to ease the ribbon into place once you have woven it. You can also adjust the tension, but don't go for perfection, that way madness lies!
When you get to the point underneath the flowers you could either tie the two ends of ribbon in a bow and trim off the stems or . . . .
leave the short tail of ribbon laying alongside the stems and wrap around with the long tail. I tied the two ends of ribbon in a tight knot, trimmed the stems and then tied a knot at the ends of the ribbon to form a hanging loop. You can hang this in a wardrobe or closest or place in a drawer.
Not only pretty but useful too as lavender is a good deterrent of moths. Next job is to run up some lavender sachets so I can use up the lavender I picked last week.
Have fun, bye for now
Jane
