1. |
2. |
| Step 1. Lay your ribbon flat out on a work
surface. Leaving a tail at one end (which will become one of
the tails on the finished bow). Start to accordion fold the
ribbon back and forth. The length of the folds will determine
the size of the loops on your bow, so you can accordion fold
according to how big you want your bow to be. For the bow in
the photo we left a tail of about a foot and made each length
in the accordion fold about 15 inches. |
Step 2. Continue to accordion fold the
ribbon back and forth. |
| |
|
3. |
4. |
| Step 3. Make at least four loops on each
side of the center (at least that's what we did for the photos,
you could use, two, three, four or even more, just cut your
ribbon length longer or shorter). You should end up with a tail
on the second end that is about the same length as the tail
you started with. |
4. Grab the ribbon in the center of the
loops and tie around it with the florist's wire. |
| |
|
5. |
6. |
| Step 5. Twist the end of the florist's
wire to secure it. |
Step 6. Take the top loose tail and loosely
wrap it around the center wires to make a loop that will be
the center of the ribbon (see photo of bow on wreath). You can
make this loop as small or as big as loose as you like, depending
on how tightly you wrap it. Let the tail drape to towards the
bottom. |
| |
|
7. |
8. |
| Step 7. Bring the wire up through the middle
of the center loop and twist to secure it behind the bow. |
Step 8. Cut the two ends of the ribbons
up at a slight angle to produce a "dovetail" end like
in the photo. Fluff out and arrange the ribbons and loops and
you have a gorgeous finished bow, ready to be attached to a
package, a
wreath, a mantle or anywhere else you want to add a touch
of decor. |
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|
Ribbon Lengths Needed to Make a Bow
The following chart will give you an approximate idea of how
much ribbon length you will need to make a bow. The measurements
are approximate, as you may want to make your bow larger or smaller.
But this should give you a ballpark idea of what it takes to make
a medium-large sized four loop bow.
| Width of Ribbon |
Approximate Length of Ribbon |
| 1/2 inch |
1 1/2 yards |
| 1 inch |
2 1/2 yards |
| 1 1/2 inch |
3 yards |
| 2 inch |
4 yards |
| 2 1/2 inch |
5 yards |
| 3 inch |
6 yards |
|
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