Tutorial- Bow Tying

Hi Stampers!  

I love using bows on my cards and have a hard time making a project without a bow!  Recently, many of you have inquired how I make my bows so I thought I would try to write a tutorial of the different ways to create a bow.

Believe it or not, inexpensive tools that you have on hand can be used to create bows!

For single bows-

I either tie directly right off the roll or use a water bottle.  Tying off the roll- take the ribbon and loop over your left hand finger- tighten to a loop- and hold with your right hand.  With your left hand, bring the tail up from behind and  from the left and over the top of the loop in your right hand and push the tail behind the pinched loop and thru opening to create the bow (just like tying your shoelaces).

If you want to tie a single bow that can attach across the card, a water bottle can come in handy.  I used to waitress (ages ago :-) and had to tie my apron in a French Knot and found that the technique of how I used to tie my apron came in handy for tying bows. 

Take an ordinary water bottle and place the bottle in front of you (I use my lap or the table and have the bottle in front of me with the bow tying area in the front- as if to tie your apron).   Wrap the ribbon around the bottle, take the two ends and start to tie the bow.  Left over right, tighten the knot on the bottle and hold with your finger to hold it tight.  Loop the right end , hold the loop with your right hand finger (holding it tight against the bottle) pull the left end back in front of the right loop and over to behind to complete the bow.  Again, just like tying your shoe!  

Snip the ribbon in the back of the bottle (being careful not to cut your bottle, especially if you still have water in it:-)).  I generally try to cut the ribbon in the back keeping in mind, where I want the bow placement on my card.  If you want the bow to be in the center, then cut the ribbon in the center (so that you have equal amount of ribbon on both sides of the bow).  If you would prefer to have the bow be on one side or the other of the card front, then determine which side you should cut the ribbon in the back to allow enough ribbon to cover the card front.

Fork Method:  You can use a large serving fork (I have a turkey lifter) and use the tongs as a “jig” and this works well for single, double or triple bows!  So search your kitchen to see what you can use:-)

Double or Triple Bows:

Fork Method- As mentioned above, you can use a large serving fork (I have a turkey lifter) and use the tongs as a “jig” and this works especially well for double bows.  

Use the tongs to hold the ribbon as you wrap around and tie in the center.  You Tube has a few videos that you can search for other fork tying methods.

"Fork Tied" Bows 

Homemade Bow Jig- Scrap 2x4 & Nails 

Other jigs- I have a bow maker from years ago that can be used for larger bow making and recently had my husband take a scrap piece of 2 x 4 and nail several 8# finishing nails into the wood.  I wrapped the nails with masking tape and tie the ribbon around the posts (pinching them slightly to release the bow). 

There are other jigs on the internet – my upline recently purchased a few and I acquired one from her that I believe she may have bought from Lee Conrey.  It is a wooden dowel system and works extremely well.    

Now you know all of my secrets for bow making :-) !!  If you have another way to create the perfect bow, let us know...

I hope this has been helpful and have fun experimenting with different ways to create bows!  There is no real right or wrong way, but practice does make perfect!