How to Make Hair Bows
Making hair bows to grace the heads of little girls or young women is easier than you may think. Using simple ribbon, here is a quick and easy way to make hair bows.
How to Make Hair Bows
What You Need
First, gather your materials and tools. You will need ribbon that is approximately two and a half inches wide, as well as some matching ribbon that is roughly 5/8 inches wide. The ribbon needs to be flexible, so get something like satin, sheer, or grosgrain ribbon. You would also want to have some short pieces of wire handy. Floral wire works fine and can easily be cut into the lengths you will need. You will also need a ruler or yardstick and a pair of scissors. For the final supplies, have some plastic barrettes or hair combs on hand, and a small hot glue gun.
Making a Tuxedo Bow
Measure out one yard of the wider ribbon, and cut the section. To begin forming the bow, hold the ribbon face up and measure approximately one inch. At the one inch mark, twist the ribbon a half turn and then measure an additional four inches. Fold the ribbon over to make a loop, holding the ribbon between your fingers in order to keep it in place. Repeat this process, just going in the opposite direction.
When the second loop is complete, you can move on to making another set of loops. These will measure three inches above the one-inch twist, rather than four inches. Align the next set of loops so that they overlay the larger first set of loops. When they are all in place, use the floral wire to cinch the middle of the loops. At this juncture, trim off the excess wire and cover it with a short section of the narrow matching ribbon.
The tuxedo bow is complete and can now be hot-glued to the barette or hair comb.
Making a Pinwheel Bow
Cut a section of your larger ribbon, a length of about forty inches. Hold a four-inch section face up, twist it a half turn as you did with the tuxedo bow, and form a loop. Repeat the process, using a three-inch section to form a second loop. Repeat the process at least one more time, although you can add as many layers of three and four inch loops as you like.
Use a piece of floral wire to cinch the middle, then measure out about five inches and cut the tails for the bow. Using your fingers, feather out the loops to create a pinwheel effect. Once the loops are in place, hot glue the bow to a barrette or hair comb.
Adding Your Own Touches
Adding in additional loops will help to make the bows fuller, which will look nice with longer hair. You also can hot-glue in small accessories, such as hearts, silk daisies, or anything else you would like to add. The tails of the bow can be as long or short as you would like them to be. Use your imagination and you can come up with some variations on these two basic bows that will be sure to delight the little girl in your life.