How long should ballet ribbons be

Fold the heel of the shoe down to meet the sockliner as shown above. Mark the inside of the shoe along the creases with a pencil. Sew one end of elastic in a square pattern over the pencil mark, using a whip stitch on the sides and a running stitch along the bottom and the top near, but not through, the drawstring.

About a half inch of the elastic should be attached on each side, stitches should be about an eighth of an inch long. Pin the other end of the elastic and try the shoe on for comfort before you finish sewing. It should be taut but not too tight. Ribbons add support but should never be so tight that they hurt your Achilles tendon or restrict the movement of your ankle.

With your foot flat on the floor, grasp the inside ribbon and wrap it over your foot and around the back of your ankle. Continue wrapping the ribbon around to the front of your ankle and back around again, stopping at the inside of your ankle.

Then wrap the outer ribbon over your foot and around the back of your ankle, bringing it around to the front to meet the first ribbon at the inside of the ankle, just between the bone and the Achilles tendon; the knot will go here, never directly on the tendon. Tie the ribbons securely in a double knot — never in a bow! The knot should be invisible: if it makes a bulge when you tuck it in, trim the ribbons.

Order delivery times for in stock items are currently weeks longer than usual. Backordered items will take additional time. Thank you for your patience! Phone You now need to try your pointe shoes on. When you are doing up your pointe shoes you need to tie up your ribbons with your foot flat on the floor with a bent knee. Always start with wrapping the inside ribbon first followed by the outside ribbon and finish by tying them in a knot just under the groove on the inside of your foot by your ankle bone.

DO NOT tie your ribbons on the back of your achilles:. Write on the back of each shoe a simple R and L for Right and Left and adjust your drawstrings to make sure that the shoes feel snug.

You will have four ends of your ribbons that may need cutting if they are too long. I always leave about cm in length so there is enough spare ribbon to tuck them under after tying the knot. Once you have cut your ribbons they will now be different lengths, which is why you need to label the shoes R and L before cutting your ribbons. To stop the ribbons from fraying you can cut a small triangle in the end - simply fold the end of the ribbon in half and snip upwards.

If you plan to sew pointe shoe elastics onto your pointe shoes you might find it easier to sew onto the shoe if you turn the heel of the pointe shoe inside out:. The position of the elastic should be behind the ribbon and angled in the same direction, so as to wrap around the front of your ankle to help stop the pointe shoe slipping off your heel. You might also be interested in a Pointe Shoe Sewing Kit Sewing elastic on pointe shoes can be tricky.

Some people will not need elastics and some dancers will benefit from the added support and stability. Many teachers advise all their beginners to use elastic from the get-go, but my ballet teacher always said to wait and most importantly, to make sure to do it right. Sewing ribbons is far easier than sewing elastic and if elastics are sewn too tight it can damage the soft tissue around the ankle.

Honestly, unless your teacher says to put them on immediately I would wait. If you find your shoes slip at the heel try a heel loop. Sometimes your shoes twist a little or gape. If so try lowering the loop to just behind the ribbons or the criss-cross option. Cut your length of ribbon in half and then each of these pieces in half again.

You should now have four equal pieces. Seal the ends of your ribbons to prevent fraying. To do this, very carefully burn the ends of the ribbons, just until they begin to blacken and melt. You can also paint the ends with clear nail varnish to seal.

Fold the heel of the shoe forward into the shoe from the point where the insole ends.