I have attempted to use fabric ribbon as a border on a cake. I have seen it done a million times and it looks so elegant. I however, had such a hard time! the fabric wold not stay on the fondant with royal icing. So i thinned out the royal, this stained the ribbon. i wound up painting the "glue" on all of the ribbon so that it would stay on and all would be the same color.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get ribbon on the fondant without having to stain the fabric.

I would just use a fondant ribbon...you can brush it with pearl dust if you want it to look like a satin ribbon. Ive seen people suggest a bunch of different ways to attach real ribbon without getting stains on it, but they never seem to be 100% foolproof.

I used ribbon on one cake. It was a pain in the a**. I used the ribbon that has wire in it. So it formed to the cake a little better. Double sided tape inthe back between the ribbon where it meets up. Held on with RI. Never again fondant ribbon all the way. I hope

Slightly dampen the fondant with a paintbrush, it should be just tacky , not wet and apply the ribbon.

I also use double sided tape , it is non toxic and peels off with the ribbon when it is removed.
Or melt down a little fondant with some boiled water and use it sparingly to attach the ribbon , it won't stain.