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Los Angeles Ballet Academy

Sewing Ribbons on Your Ballet (or Pointe) Shoes

Congratulations on reaching such an exciting milestone!

Whether you’re in Grade 4, sewing ribbons onto your ballet shoes, or in Grade 5, sewing ribbons onto your pointe shoes, this is an exciting moment for you in your next journey in dance.

To help you along, we’ve found two very helpful video tutorials from the Premier School of Dance and Bloch, as well as a few reminders and helpful hints from our Classical Ballet teachers:

  • For Grade 4 ballet shoes, make sure you purchase the traditional satin ballet ribbon. For pointe shoes, it’s up to you whether you’d like to continue with the traditional satin or try stretchy satin. Play around. Give it a try and see which you prefer;
  • When sewing the ribbon, be mindful to only sew through the lining and not completely through the shoe;
  • When sewing the ribbon to the binding, make certain that you avoid sewing through the elastic that’s underneath!;
  • After you are done, don’t forget to “seal” the remaining end of your ribbon by either brushing with clear nail polish, or burning the end briefly to prevent the ribbon from fraying and undoing all your hard sewing handy work;
  • Lastly, breathe! Unlike professional dancers who burn through shoes and sew ribbons on a weekly basis, our sewing experience is limited, so give yourself some grace!

If you still find yourself struggling or have additional questions, feel free to ask your instructor.