How to Make a Bow by Hand
- 1). Cut the 2- or 3-inch ribbon to 22 to 24 inches in length. Coat the ends of the ribbon with clear nail polish to seal the ends and prevent fraying. Allow the nail polish to dry before proceeding.
- 2). Mark the middle of the ribbon with a pencil.
- 3). Turn the ribbon over so that the bottom side is exposed. This is easiest to tell with patterned ribbon. If the ribbon is the same on both sides it doesn't matter which side you use. Bring one end of the ribbon to the middle of the ribbon. Face the ribbon so that both back sides face up. Repeat for the other end of the ribbon. Hold the ribbons in place with your thumb. You should now have a figure eight shape.
- 4). Pull the center of each loop toward the middle of the ribbon. Fold the top side of the ribbon this time.
- 5). Clip the loops in place with an alligator clip. Apply a tiny dot of glue between each layer of ribbon with the hot glue gun.
- 6). Tie thread around the center of the bow to gather the loops together and tightly secure the bow.
- 7). Stack different sizes and thicknesses of ribbon together to make a larger bow. Glue each layer together with hot glue.
- 8). Tie a 1-inch thick ribbon around the center of the other ribbons to secure the bow.
- 9). Remove the alligator clip through the back side of the center loop and secure with a glue dot. The bow is complete.
