Bows Like Mother Made - Tutorial

I fiddled with several different miniature bow making tutorials today. None of them worked for me.

I always make my RL bows the way my Mother taught me years ago. No ready-made stick on bows for me. Bows like Mother made are really easy to do.

First you find a piece of cardboard the size you want your finished bow to be. Wrap the ribbon around the card like this. Any kind of ribbon will work.


Keep wrapping the ribbon around the card about five or six times.



Carefully slide the ribbon off the card, then fold it in half like this.



Now you cut the corner of the folded edge into a point. Leave a little bit at the center. If you cut it all the way through the whole thing will fall apart!



Then you open the fold and use a smaller size ribbon to tie a knot at the center. Be sure that this is tied tightly.



Next you open each loop from the inside, twisting each loop as you go. Twist one away from you and the next one toward you. Your finished bow will look something like this. Pretty, huh?



I used this technique to make a mini bow for my poinsettia. The card was 1/2 inch wide and I used 1/8 inch ribbon.



Sorry for the crummy photo. It's way past my bedtime!

I hope you will try this, at least for your real size Christmas gifts. Handmade bows are so much nicer than the ones you buy in the store.

I need more practice making mini bows but I like how my first one turned out. :D