I hope I don't sound too dumb if I say I've never used rick rack in a project of any kind before.
Well now I'm doing an applique project. Here's the link so you can see it. You might have to scroll down a little:
http://patsloan.typepad.com/quilters...epatterns.html
It's the "Spring Chick" project, and the rick rack serves as the stems for the flowers. I'm using a blanket stitch on the applique pieces, but I don't know how to finish the ends of the rick rack. Do I hem them? I tried sewing them along with the applique blanket stitch, which was a complete disaster. I'm afraid I'm going to have to scrap the whole thing and start over. Fortunately, it's not a lot of fabric . . . yet. It depends on how many times I have to do this. I might decide to not use rick rack and just embroider the stems, as I need to do the feet and the tails of the chickens anyway. The rick rack is kind of cute though.
I just left it for the day and I put a bunch of fray check on it. This is a table runner, and it will have to be washable (by definition). What would you do?