Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hair Bow Tutorial

I have been loving these bows - I think they just dress my girls up a little more than the small clip barrettes we were using. These are simple to make and ribbon choices are endless. I also think these would make a cute gift for a little girl's birthday or stocking!

Thanks to my sweet friend, Grace, for teaching me how to make these and for allowing me to share the details with all of you!! Mine aren't quite as professional looking as hers are - which I will attribute to the fact that she's made more than I have!

Start out by tying a knot in one end of the ribbon. Trim the other end so that the knot is in the middle.

Next, thread a needle and have it sitting handy. Any color thread will do as it will be covered by ribbon when we're finished. Now, grab your ribbon and make a loop to one side:Now a loop to the other side:

... and repeat for desired number of loops. Mine are three on each side:

Here is where you need the needle. Poke it through all the layers of the ribbon in the middle somewhere and then you can sort of maneuver the loops around to lay the way you would like them to.
Stitch a little "x" in the middle to hold the loops where you want them. Now, wrap the thread around the middle and pull a little to cinch the middle in so it looks tied at the end. Secure the end by stitching through some of the ribbon and knotting the end.

Put a drop of hot glue in the center of the bow. Place a clip in the glue, but hold the clip open and fold one end of the knotted piece around into the glue. The knot should be in the center of the other side of the bow - see finished bow above.

Repeat by placing a drop of hot glue on the end of ribbon and folding over the other end. Let it dry before closing the clip so it doesn't glue shut!The only other thing to do is to melt the ends of the ribbon so they won't fray. Grace taught me this fabulous trick as well. And, really you can do it whenever in the process works for you. You obviously don't want to catch the entire bow on fire! For grosgrain ribbons, just hold the cut end near a flame and you will see the edge melt a little. For obvious reasons, I could not photograph this step!

Hope this makes sense! Leave a comment with any questions or if you make bows - show a picture on your blog and come back and tell me about it! I'd love to see what everyone comes up with!

Note: these small clips were purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply. They are about $2.00 for 12 clips.


18 comments:

Bonnie said...

Very cute and I have all the supplies on hand!

Wendi said...

My Megan wears bows every day. They can be quite expensive. I can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful bows! Thanks so much for sharing how to make them. I am going to try and make some for my daughter. She will love them.

Amy said...

Great job, Monica! Be forewarned, making these can be addictive.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this tutorial. Your pictures are so clear and helpful. I am going to get some clips on my next errand trip and try to make some. I also have a little girl'sbday coming up and thought these would make a nice gift. I am not sure exactly what to do when stitching the X through all of the layers, but I bet it will become apparent once I am working on it.
Angie

Lynette said...

Thanks for sharing, I will definitely be making these!!

~katie~ said...

Darling! Thanks for the instructions!

Mandy said...

I was hoping you would put a tutorial up on how to make these. They are so cute and now seem easy to make. Thanks!

Liisa said...

Thank you for posting this! I look after several little girls so this will make perfect little gifts for them!
Blessings,
Liisa

Anonymous said...

These are so cute and I love how they look in the little ladies' hair! :) Love you, Mom

Charlotte Cushman said...

Very cute! char

Jamie - Family Focused Fun said...

These are super cute! If I had any little girls I would definitely try it! Maybe for my nieces someday!

Monkey Girl said...

Thanks for the well-written tutorial on making an adorable gift for girls!

Miranda said...

Hi, Monica. Just wanted to let you know I linked your tutorial on my site. I have a lot of crafty friends with little girls. If this isn't okay, please let me know and I will remove it! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this tutorial! My DD will not keep clips in her hair, but she likes headbands. I recently saw someone selling headbands that were covered in grosgrain ribbon and then had these bows on the top of them, now that I know how to make the bows I can make my DD some custom headbands!

Timalee

Kimberlee said...

Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Isabelle insists on wearing bows nearly everyday! I could spend a fortune on them! But I have tons of extra ribbon laying around and I am ready to get some of these done very soon!

hair bows said...

What a fun craft! Thank you for posting that! I can't wait to see more of your creations!

MimiRob said...

What a blessing...I've always wanted to know how to make these, and you've explained it very well--thank you! (^_^)