Boutique Hair Bow Tutorial

Since I've never been one for keeping secrets (especially not ones that can save people lots of $$) here's a quick tutorial on how to make a hair bow. I hope that some of y'all will find this useful (Dena, I hope you don't lose any business by me doing this!). If you want to share the love with other moms feel free to link.

Supply list:
- 1 yard of ribbon of your choice & width, unwired grosgrain does best (I like ebay for fun unique ribbon, I've even bought from Bobo in China, but it did take a couple weeks for the ribbon to get here)
- a couple inches of coordinating ribbon in narrow width (1/4") to wrap around center of bow
- fine gauge wire
- hot glue gun
- hair clip of choice (Alligator/pinch clip or barrette clip for older girls. Pinch clips can be found at Sally's Beauty Supply stores or Ebay and barrette clips can be found at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.)

- wax paper (not just to keep a clean surface but also for attaching the completed bow to the clip)
- lighter
- if you tend to be anal you can lightly starch your ribbon and with a cool/warm iron press it... it will make for a better looking bow! I did starch my ribbon prior to starting this bow.
Step 1)

Take the ribbon (I'm using 1 1/2" ribbon in this tutorial) and make the shape shown above, always be sure to keep the "right side" (ie- printed side up in center). Make sure the long side of the ribbon is in the back with the longer side of the ribbon hanging down to the left.

Step 2)

Bring the long side of the ribbon up over the existing ribbon so that the long side of the ribbon is now up and to the right.

Step 3)

Take the long side of the ribbon (that is up and to the right) and bring it back down BEHIND the top piece of ribbon in the center of the bow. The long piece will now be hanging down towards the center of the bow.

Step 4)

Take the piece of ribbon that was hanging down towards the center/left bottom and bring it to the upper left side of the bow. This would be a good time to make any adjustments to your bow to be sure all the loops are even.

Step 5) Turn your bow sideways (horizontal) and in the center carefully fold the bow (see picture above). For wider ribbon you should fold it so that there are 3 peaks in the center.

Step 6)

Using your fine gauge wire tightly wrap the wire around the center of the bow and twist it on the back side of the bow and trim off the long pieces. Press the wire down so it's not sharp.

Step 7)

Singe one end of the smaller ribbon (I always use a long candle lighter-- fray check is expensive and I've found it to not work as well) to prevent fraying and starting on the back of the bow where the wire is tightened and cut off, glue one end of your small ribbon. Wrap the ribbon around the center of the bow. Trim off excess ribbon and singe again and glue down on back of ribbon. It's important to completely finish the bow prior to attaching it to the clip. Especially for the alligator clips. Some clips are made with the center ribbon wrapped around the entire clip and this causes the clip to not close entirely and the clip won't stay in as well. This way the "seal" on the clip is tight.

Step 8)

Tear off a piece of the wax paper and fold it over several times. Clip the alligator clip to the wax paper and load the clip (the angled side) up with hot glue. And stick your bow to the glue covered clip. Allow the glue to dry completely and then peel away the wax paper that is in the clip. Trimming away any excess that can be seen from the front of the bow. This should leave a very smooth and even surface inside the clip so that it will hold the hair! Trim and singe the ends of the ribbon with the lighter... be careful though... just barely get the end of the ribbon near the flame... the ribbon will turn black if burnt.
Step 9)


Place the bow in your daughter's hair and try not to eat her alive! :)