I’ve made countless bows over the years for a variety of sports teams, and these bows are my favorite! You can make 12 of these for under $20, they’re quick, easy and look awesome.
For this particular bow I’ve purchased 8 ribbons.
(1) 2 1/2 inch ribbon
(2) 1 1/2 inch ribbons
(2) 7/8 inch ribbons
(3) 1cm or less ribbons
Then you’ll either want to buy some pony tail holders or you can make your own with some half inch elastic spandex ribbon.
I’m also using embroidery thread to tie my ribbons together.
When I’m making lots of bows I start by making 1 complete bow as a prototype. This way I can test and tweak things and be sure that I like the fished product. So let’s get started on our prototype.
First cut my largest ribbon to 7 inches. If you have a wired ribbon pull out the wires, you don’t want any kiddos to get poked. I then give this ribbon a V cut on each end and set it aside.
I’m then moving on to my next thickest ribbon, and depending on placement, you’re going to want make sure you are cutting at the correct 45 Degree angle. then you want to measure one side of the ribbon to 7 inches and cut that same 45 Degree angle cut on the other end as if the ribbon had parallel lines cutting it.
Do the same for the other same sized ribbon, only cut the angles the opposite way so that when you place them criss cross their cuts look like a V cut.
Now repeat on your next 2 smaller ribbons, keeping it the same 7 inches length as well.
And here I’m making my pony tail holder, you can skip this step if you have store bought ones. I’m cutting these to 8 inches in length and then just tying a knot at the end.
Now let’s line up our bow, when you get each ribbon in a position you like, add just a tiny smear of hot glue to keep the bow in this position, if you don’t, over time the bow tends to sit flat on top of itself.
Now let’s glue the pony tail holder to the back of the bow.
We are now ready to tie our bow together but instead of just smooshing the bow as you tie it, I like to fold it in the middle and then fold the edges back up to give it a cleaner look.
I then just wrap the thread around the bow and double knot it off at the end.
I’m now going to cut one of my smaller ribbons to 9 inches.
I’m then cutting my last 2 ribbons to 8 inches.
I’m now going to tie my longer ribbon loosely around my bow.
Then I’m going to just tie the last 2 ribbons onto the middle ribbon.
When I get them all in the right place I tighten them and secure them with a small dab of glue.
I’m now cutting little V cuts into my small ribbons, but you can finish these ends with 45 degree cuts which is what I ended up doing to save time.
Here’s my prototype bow and I love it, now it’s time to setup my assembly line for the other 11 bows.
So I’m just going to make all my ribbon cuts and organize them into piles…
I’m going to knot my pony tails as I go to get that part done.
Now I have my piles and I’m ready to build…I’m starting with the base of my ribbon.
I setup my ribbon and glue them into position along with the pony tail holder and then move on to the next.
And now I’m going to tie my ribbons together and finish them off with those top knot ribbons.
Also near the end of my assembly, I realized it was much easier to lay those top knot ribbons on top of the bow before I tie the top knot…
And I’m done! It took me about 1 and a half hours to complete, not bad for 12 ribbons.
