How to Make the Perfect Bow

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I’ve been making bows lately to decorate other crafts. Here’s how to make the perfect bow.

Use this bow to embellish your craft projects. They add a nice finishing touch to many projects.

I can’t “tie” a perfect bow. Maybe some can, I can’t. The easiest way to make a perfect bow is to literally assemble it.

Supplies Needed to Make an Easy Perfect Bow

This is a very versatile bow. You can make it using my supplies but it also works if what you have on hand is not quite the same. You may also find that the ribbon you want to use is not the exact width that I used, but it’ll still work.

Here’s what you need to make the perfect bow.

• ribbon; the width depends on the look you want. I like wired ribbon because as mentioned, I can manipulate it. That said, you could use a ribbon that is not wired as well.
• scissors to cut the ribbon; I use my sewing scissors but depending on the ribbon, regular scissors would likely work as well.
• measuring tape
• glue – either craft glue or a glue gun

Prepare Your Ribbon

To make a basic bow, you only need 2 pieces of ribbon.

1. a length of ribbon for the bow itself. See the formula for figuring out how long to cut it.
2. a 1.5 – 2 inch length of ribbon to be wrapped around the centre of the bow.

To figure out how much ribbon you need for the bow itself, use the following formula:

width of bow (inches) x 2 + 1 inch =
length of ribbon you need in inches

So, for a 5 inch wide bow it would be: 5 x 2 + 1 = 11 inch length of ribbon.

For a 6 inch wide bow it would be: 6 x 2 + 1 = 13 inch length of ribbon

How to Make the Perfect Bow

Starting with the longer bow strip, bring the outer ends into the centre and overlap no more than an inch.

Optional: secure with glue

Pinch the centre to make an accordion pleat and secure with a twist tie or glue. The wider the ribbon, the more pleats you may wish to make.

I prefer a narrower knot and so I fold my knot strip into thirds. You can choose to do this or not. I secure this with glue as well.

Wrap the small piece of ribbon around the middle to hold everything together. Secure with glue.

Fluff or straighten out the bow and you are done.

There is your easy perfect bow!

Variations – a Bow With a Tail

Now that you have the basics down to make an easy perfect bow, you can change it up in a number of ways.

To add a tail, cut an additional length of fabric that matched the one of your original bow.

To add the tail, fold the ribbon in half and put it under the bow before using the middle piece to hold everything together.

Once it’s been assembled, you just have to trim the ends to the lengths that you want.

Make the tail any length you want, dependent upon the look you want.

Variation – Double Bow

You can add multiple loops to make a bigger, fuller bow. I make the loops in different sizes.

Just stack the loops on top of each other, with the smallest on top. Then when you pinch the middle, you are actually pinching all the layers, as one.

Simply continue as you would with a regular bow. You can add a tail if you want. Secure everything in the middle.

You don’t have to stop with just 2 loops – you can certainly add more. If you use a wired ribbon, you can actually shape and manipulate the loops.

Now you can add bows to everything!

I added a bow to this reindeer decoration that I found at Hobby Lobby. I think it adds a nice touch.

Bows make great additions to wreaths as well.

Want to remember how to make the perfect bow? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.