I recently saw this wonderful gift bow tutorial from The Container Store. (Open the PDF called Guide to Gorgeous Gift Presentation).
When I tried making these bows myself, I found that it was a little bit difficult to keep all of the layers together, so I made a couple of slight changes.
You can use many different kinds of ribbon and make different variations (check out the original link for some great ideas). I used 1 inch wide sheer organza ribbon. I am also a huge fan of Christmas turquoise.
1. Wrap your ribbon around a 4 inch embroidery hoop (just the outside piece) about 10-15 times. I ended out wrapping 13 times.
2. The ribbon slides around easily and is a little bit difficult to cut. Measure and mark the center and then cut out triangles on both sides. You may have to do this in layers (first the top half, then the bottom half).
3. Using a small piece of ribbon (or a twist tie, pipe cleaner, piece of wire, etc.), tightly tie around the center. If you are using ribbon, make sure to tie it so that the ends tie in the back where you first started wrapping.
4. Make sure the hoop is open. Slide the tied ribbon off of the embroidery hoop. Notice how in the picture below the bottom is up. You may want to trim those three loose ends now to keep them from sticking out later.
5. Make sure the bottom is down. Start with one side and carefully pull out the innermost loop and twist it away. Keep pulling out the inner loops and twisting in opposite directions. I ended out alternating and pulling about half of the loops to the right and half to the left. Repeat this same process for the other side.
6. At first, the bow might look a little flat. Keep pulling and twisting the loops until you are happy with how the bow looks. You can also hold the bow by the back middle and shake it out to fluff it.
WOW! The bow looks great and easy to make!!
This looks great. Thanks for sharing… pinned!
AWESOME trick for an equally awesome bow! Thanks so much for sharing….
Grandmother Carolyn
Oh wow! You are a genius! Thank you for this great idea.
Love it! They would be also so pretty on the Christmas tree. Thanks for the tute
I truly needed this tip! I NEVER knew how people made bows like that! I am so glad I found you through Brookes party at "Get Outta' My Head". I am one of her "Monday Party Gals". We all party together. I know my readers would love this and would love meeting you. I would love for you to share it! Love, Me This is too cute! I found you through Brookes party at "Get Outta My Head". I am one of her Monday party gals! Head on over to my party! My readers would LOVE to meet you! Love, Me http://youaretalkingtoomuch.blogspot.com/2011/12/meet-me-monday-14.html
This is SO adorable!! Hoping you can link this up at my turquoise lovin' party going on right now!! (red during the holidays too) http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2011/12/turquoise-lovin-16.html
Great tutorial, thank you!
Beautiful bow, cleverly done. LOVE the color and floofiness. Pretty!
Thank you so much for sharing this, just linked to your post, always wanted to know how you make those dang ribbon bows!
http://rubymurraysmusings.blogspot.com/2011/12/creative-gift-wrapping-ideas-bows.html
Love this! Was just wondering the other day how to make pretty bows. Tried doing it myself and failed miserably! Now I know! Thanks!!
mine did not turn out this way AT ALL.
nevermind! got it!
great and easy directions.
mine didn't turn out like that
Thank you for the tutorial. So easy and beautiful..
Tip: It’s easier to make the cut, if you:
Take the ribbon off the embroidery hoop
instead of cutting a V in the center,
cut the corners off both sides on the top and bottom
then align the cuts in the center and tie the ribbon tightly in the middle of the cuts (which now look like a V)
I had saved this in my bookmarks several years ago. This is a good way
to make a bow. However, when making pew bows for my son’s wedding
I needed to make large bows. I could not hold all the ribbon in my hand.
I found something at Walmart called a Bowdabraw Bow Making Kit. This holds the ribbon for you. Each bow was 16 inches across and 26 loops. This is very easy to use, especially when making smaller bows. This Bowdabra comes in two sizes.
When making wedding pew bows for my son’s wedding I was wondering how I was going to make the bows big enough and hold all the ribbon in my hand. One day I was in Walmart looking in the craft section and found something called a Bowdabra. The come in tow sizes. It allows you to make the bow with the ribbon all in one length or to make it graduated in length. I made 20 bows in graduated lengths each bow containing 26 loops. There is no way without the Bowdabra that I could have held that many loops in my hand of 1″ sheer glittered silver ribbon. The bows are tied off in the center with a wire that is placed in the center of the Bowdabra before beginning the bow. Then again you just separate the ribbon as suggested above.
Very cool that sounds amazing!