The Hair Bow

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Hello, all of my blog friends! Guess what? My weekend has had an early start! Yes, there are definite perks to working at a Christian college. Good Friday, here I come.

I have been seriously lacking in creative projects recently, so I decided that in honor of my new niece I would share one of my absolute favorite crafts to make: hair bows.

So....here are the simple steps to making adorable, professional looking hair bows for all the little girls in your life (speaking of which, I'm pretty sure every pregnant person I know is having a girl). Yes, I'm spilling all of my secrets. Feel special.

The Simple Hair Bow:
Supplies:
-Scissors
-Hot Glue Gun
-Jewelry Wire
-Fray Check
-Hair Clip
-Wax Paper
-Ruler or Yardstick
-30 inch long piece of 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon
-8 inch long piece of 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon

Step 1: Drape the longest piece of ribbon over your hand, wrapping twice so that the ends of the ribbon face opposite directions.

Step 2: Place the folded ribbon on a flat surface.


Step 3: Gather and pinch the center of the ribbon to create a bow. (Sorry about the blurry picture....I looked after I had finished the bow.) Wrap the center of the bow with jewelry wire to hold in place. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect right away, you can pull and mess with the ribbon once the wire is in place to get it looking like a bow.


Step 4: Take the 8" piece of ribbon and fold one half over the other.


Step 5: Create a knot by pulling the top half up through the center loop.


Step 6: Place and hot glue the knot over the center wired part of the hair bow.  Wrap ribbon around the back, hot glue, and trim off the excess ribbon.


Step 7: Hot glue the top of an alligator clip or hair clip and attach the hair bow. Be sure to place wax paper in the hair clip so you don't glue it shut!


Step 8: The last and probably most important step is to fray check the ends of the bow. We don't want unraveled ribbon, people. Fray check is your new bestie.


Ta-da! A cute and simple hair bow.


The 3-Layered Hair Bow (my favorite)

If you like huge hair bows, this bow is for you!

Supplies:
-Scissors
-Hot Glue Gun
-Jewelry Wire
-Fray Check
-Hair Clip
-Wax Paper
-Ruler or Yardstick
- 3, 19 inch long pieces of 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon
-8 inch long piece of 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon


Step 1: Take one piece of 19" long ribbon.  Overlap as shown below.


Step 2: Pinch the center of the ribbon and hold in place by wrapping jewelry wire around the middle.

Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for the remaining 19" pieces of ribbon. Your bows should look like this when you finish.


Step 4: Stack the 3 bows on top of each other. I usually stack them in a clockwise direction so that they don't lay directly on top of each other. Wrap jewelry wire around the center of all 3 bows.


Step 5: Repeat Steps 4-8 in the above directions to make a center knot and complete the bow.

And you should get something like this when you're done!


Love :).

Have a very Happy Friday!

80 comments:

  1. Wow, thank you!! I will definitely do that!

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  2. nice work. only you dont really need glue to stop the ends from fraying. running a lighter against the ends works too. the flame sightly melts the ribbon so it wont fray. :)

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  3. just saw your tutorial on pinterest. fabulous bows! best and prettiest i've seen on the interwebs!!

    you made them so much easier than i did for my daughter back in the '80s. LOL

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  4. Thanks for tutorial. WIll try! :)

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  5. I love your bows. Very easy to follow the instructions! Can't wait to try them.

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  6. Love the tutorial. I have been making bows for years (selling and for my lil girl and gifts) and I always enjoy seeing a new approach. Might I suggest dental floss for tying the bow as a cheaper and stronger option that won't have a wire possibly poke through. My other alternative to tying is embroidery floss, it's cheap and strong too! :) Happy bow making!

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  7. Great tutorial! Thank you so much for posting! We are bow
    fanatics and it is so rewarding to make them myself!!!

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  8. Love it! Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Thank you! I just whipped one up to match my baby's Easter dress!

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  10. I second the lighter method for the ends. It's fast, permanent and you don't have to wait for it to dry.

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  11. Thanks for this tutorial. You made it so easy to follow and the bows turn out great. I just made a couple to stick on my shoe clips. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. These bows are so neat. I will definitely be trying this method. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. Wow! Thanks for the simple directions. I am going to go and make these right now. I bought the ribbon for another blog, but it was too difficult. Thanks again.

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  14. Wow! Thanks for the simple directions. I am going to go and make these right now. I bought the ribbon for another blog, but it was too difficult. Thanks again.

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  15. Love how simple this is!!!!!

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  16. How long should it be with 7/8 in ribbon?

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    Replies
    1. I used the same amount with the 7/8 ribbon and it turned out great!

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    2. Just saw it amazin

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  17. What a wonderful tutorial - thank you for sharing it with us!

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  18. My grand-daughters and I thank you, Katy, for your wonderful tutorial.

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  19. This was great. I am so going to make this. Simple sweet and easy to follow!

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  20. You rock thanks a bunch
    Suzie BEE

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  21. I have three little girls so I definitely needed an easy way to make bows myself and some people that make them are too stingy to share their techniques on how to make them so thanks a bunch!! :-)

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  22. Just made 1 it turned out great

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  23. My daughter needs to make bows for her cheer camp and we wre definitely using this tutorial. Thanks so much.

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  24. You can also use a wood burning tool to cut the ribbon, it melts the ends and prevents fraying.

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  25. Thanks I will make some for my Great grandbaby i kept her for her mom

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  26. Hi! Thank you for the bow tutorial! I have a video that makes bow making difficult and your pics and explanation make it very easy! I have a 3 yr old girl and girl/boy twins so i will be making lots of bows! Thanks Again=)

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  27. thanks for shoing us how to make this bows

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  28. omg! you just saved my life! i'm making this my weekend goal. make hair bows for my daughter riley.

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  29. thanks for the tutorial. will try to make some.

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  30. I love this! I have a whole lot of ribbon lying around so I definitely need to try this!

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  31. Your bows are adorable! This is a great tutorial!

    I found your blog via Pinterest and will be following via email!

    Helen
    Blue Eyed Beauty Blog

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  32. This is by far the most simple tutorial on bow making I have ever seen! Thank you for sharing your talent!

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  33. I am trying to make my first bow (using your first example). I am confused as to how to get both of the bow ends on the bottom? When I follow your directions, one ends up on the bottom and one end at the top.

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  34. Thank you so much for this! I've gone bow happy! My daughter doesn't have enough hair for them yet but she is stocked! I also used the 7/8 ribbon same amount for the layered bow and it turned out great!

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    Replies
    1. You can clip these bows onto a crocheted headband until your daughter has enough hair!

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  35. A touch of clear nail polish works just as good as the glue to stop the ends from fraying. Plus the cheap stuff works well.

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  36. Pretty!! Thanks!!

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  37. Where is a good place to buy the aligator clips? I'm super excited to try these. My girls will love them!! And I'm sure they are much cheaper than the $5 bows I bought for my girls over the weekend!

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    1. I buy mine from: http://www.hair-hardware.com/alligator-clips/
      They are cheap and shipping is fast! I'm going to go try this bow out right now. Thanks for sharing. :)

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    2. sallys or any hair store

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  38. Thank you so much for sharing! You make it seem so much simpler!!

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  39. I loved the bows!!! The directions were so easy to follow, and the end product was great!

    - 11 year old girl

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  40. Best bow tutorial I've seen! Thank you very much for sharing! xo

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  41. great tutorial. Have u seen the pony tail bow that uses the crinalin tube. Its almost like a korker. I saw one and I really want to make one. but the lady that made it wouldnt share the instructions.

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  42. This makes for a fun time

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  43. thank you for sharing! They are amazing!

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  44. I use a wood burning tool for ends can find them at craft store $10 use a 1/2 off coupon

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  45. I use a wood burning tool for ends can find them at craft store $10 use a 1/2 off coupon

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  46. Love it. Can I pin stuff from your blog?
    Shuttermom77 at gmail dot com

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  47. This looks awesome and I cant wait to try it! i just dont understand your instructions for making the knot...I dont get how to pull the top half through the center hole? do you mean bottom half?

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  48. I love love love how you explain each step! I can't wait to make one for my daughter!!!

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  49. Jamie, in response to your question about step 5 for the first bow, take the end that overlaps the other, bend it back and pull it through the loop. That step was a little fuzzy to me too until I realized what she meant. Hope this helps : )

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  50. This is by far the best tute that I have seen...Thanks so much...

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  51. This maybe a dumb question but I think Im missing something. Do you cut of all of the rbbon ends on the knotted piece and just leave the knot? I dont see how the finished product looks so perfect from where it was left off.

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    1. Don't cut off the ends next to the knot. That is the part that wraps around the back of the bow and gets glued to hold it on. I love this tutorial. These are the prettiest and simplest that I've seen anywhere. I pinned from Pinterest. My grand baby girl is coming in March. I think she's gonna be well stocked. Thank you. Debbie (Hardwarechick)

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  52. wow, i never knew it was that easy:)

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  53. I love your site. Could you please share where you can get reasonable ribbon. I have tried Michaels and PatCatans and it is expensive and not the cute patterns that you have
    Thanks Martha luckylady7929@hotmail.com

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  54. Walmart has 7/8" 9'ribbon for 1.98$ each!

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  55. wow im only and it was so easy

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  56. I've always made bows and loved it, but this is a much prettier, simpler way! I actually don't have the fray check so I just paint the ends with clear nail polish:)This is a great tutorial and I love the ribbon!

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  57. This is the very best bow tutorial i have ever seen! I have made so many ADORABLE bows for my little girl since i found your tutorial! Thank you so much!

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  58. Thank you for sharing! Your tutorial is very helpful!!! Peg

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  59. THANK YOU!!!!!! =) I have made my daughter several bows since I've seen your tutorial.

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  60. Beautiful bows. How did you get the knot on the pink bow looking so smooth? Mine always come out looking twisted or wrinkled and scrunched up. Thanks, J

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  61. where did u buy the ribbon from

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  62. The rapid change of technology would definitely make your business grows beyond your expectation.https://copamundialdebrasil.net/

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  63. I also make bows (for my 3 girls & to sale) & I love the approach you took. I also love the simple, yet detailed directions you gave. I will definitely be trying. As I saw in some of the other comments, there's a few common "tricks" I use as well. I use dental Floss for tying everything together. Works great & very cheap! I also do Trichet lighter. I do have some fray check tho, but haven't used it yet. Some of the ribbon I use doesn't take well to heat, so that's how I ended up with the fray check. Hopefully my tips will help someone. I know this blog helped me! Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Oops....typo! Should say "the" lighter. Lol I'm a little unsure how that crazy typo happened!

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  64. I also create bows (for my 3 ladies & to sale) & I really like the strategy you took. I also really like the basic, yet specific guidelines you provided. I will definitely be trying. As I saw in some of the other feedback, there's a few typical "tricks" I use as well. I use oral Get flossing for attaching everything together. Performs well & very cheap! I also do Trichet less heavy. I do have some arena examine tho, but have not used it yet. Some of the ribbons I use does not take well to warm, so that's how I finished up with the arena examine. Hopefully my guidelines will help someone. I know your weblog assisted me! Thanks! address

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  65. I can't get enough of it so many beautiful details. It's very sophisticated too, which is awesome for a nursery. curvy bust review

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  66. For the simple hair bow - How in the world do you get both ends to go the same direction? I'm stumped and trying to hard. I love your blog and your bows!!!

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  67. wow, so beautiful hair bow. I like it very much.

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  68. Love the tutorial and the hair bows, especially the pink Grosgrain Ribbon one. I have been making bows for years (selling and for my lil girl and gifts) and I always enjoy seeing a new approach.

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