Most weddings use ribbon in some way, shape, or form. A lot of ribbon that you buy at craft stores for your wedding DIY is probably polyester or nylon. That might not sound as romantic as ‘silk’ or ‘linen’, but it gives us a great advantge – not having to hem it!
Now, there are substances out there like Fray Check (TM) that you can use on most fabrics. It’s a little like clear, very liquidy glue that you dab on what you’ve cut, and it seals the ends in. I find it tends to leave a bit of a mark. Granted, I generally use it on cotton t-shirts, so maybe it would work fine for polyester ribbon. But the other way of sealing man-made ribbon is way more fun. You get to play with fire!
A cut piece of polyester grosgrain ribbon. Left to its own devices, especially if it gets waved enthusiastically on the end of a ribbon wand, it would get fuzzy. The thread would pull out and it would look messy and stringy. Now if I was making things the day before the wedding, I probably wouldn’t bother with this step, but as I’m making them months and months in advance, storing them, changing where they’re stored as I run out of space, unpacking them to look at them and show to people… they’re going to get some wear and tear. This is where my friend the candle comes in.
You don’t want to stick the ribbon in the flame, you just want to get it close enough to the heat that the very end melts a little. If you get too close, it all starts melting. Melt the ribbon just enough to seal the end, and wait a few seconds before you touch it. It will stick to your fingers if you don’t.
In this photo, you can see the melted bead at the end of the ribbon. No more pull-outy threads!
Burning fabric is a little but fun, but also informative. Have some fabric, but you don’t know what the fibre is? Do a burn test! We learned about this in costume class in school, and I remember thinking it was really cool then. But be careful when testing! Don’t burn down your house just trying to figure out if that thrift-store scarf is silk or not. 
I didn’t use this grosgrain in my ribbon wands, but I spent a facinating evening watching the municipal election and measuring/cutting/melting all the green satin ribbon I need for the wands. I’m still waiting for the teal and ivory stuff I ordered to arrive. The grosgrain I was just playing with, but I ended up with some of these:
I love it, but don’t know what to do with it. Clips for shoes? Clips for hair? Boutonnieres? Stick them on stems and make a bouquet? Centrepieces? Scatter them wildly over the tables?
