How to Make a Bow

You have never been successful making a bow but want to learn how, here you go.

 

Description

In this tutorial, Save on Crafts' expert crafter Sherry will teach you how to make a bow that can be used to accent floral arrangements, wreaths, gift wrapping, or signs (as pictured above). Estimated time for learning is < 10 minutes.

Before we begin…

In our tutorial below, we will provide the measurements we used to create the bow pictured, but you can easily adjust the size of your bow loops and tails to make a smaller or larger bow. 

Materials

• Scissors
• Floral Stem Wire, 26 gauge ( i would use a 20 gauge wire because a 26 gauge wire is to thick to get a tight grip on the bow to fluff it up and making your center wire is very important to the construction of the bow
• Wire cutters, they also help you turn and twist the center wire for a tighter grip.
• Wire ribbon

Bend a piece of floral stem wire in half so that it forms a U shape, and set aside.

 

Starting with the end of your ribbon, measure 18 inches and hold the ribbon here between the thumb and forefinger of whichever hand is closest to the end of the ribbon (this will be your “holding hand”).

 

 Measure the next 12 inches and pinch with the thumb and forefinger of your opposite hand. Now bring your hands together to form a loop with the ribbon. Grip the loop between the thumb and forefinger of your holding hand.

Now measure the next 12 inches and pinch with the thumb and forefinger of your free hand. Fold the ribbon over (as though you were shutting a book), and pinch with your holding hand.

After you have made your first two loops, you should see a figure 8.

 
 Measure another 12 inches and fold the ribbon over to form another loop. Now you’ll have two loops of the same size on one side of your thumb and forefinger, and one loop on the other side. Continue forming new loops in the same way, until you have at least 4 loops on each side

For the final loop that will be in the center of your bow, measure six inches and create a loop where the top of the ribbon curls under the thumb of your holding hand

Insert the floral stem wire through the central loop on top of the bow. Bend the loose ends of the wire around the bottom of the bow and through the U part of the wire to form a knot. Pull to tighten.   You should use your wire grips to turn the wire.

Now separate the loose ends of the wire and pull opposite of each other to tighten. Twist the two ends of the wire in a clockwise motion several times to secure.

 Fluff the loops of your bow to create a full appearance. Cut the tails of your ribbon as desired.

Until We Meet Again

Claudia

Note that these pictures are not my own and that they were found on several different websites.