|  | | | Flower Hour | | | Maintained by: | | Floristry, Wrapping & Crafts store. A huge range of cellophane wraps, cello card envelopes and gift bags, paper and kraft bags and a big range of floristry supplies. Ribbons, bows, florists foams, confetti rose petals, lavender, cinnamon, gift bags and more, along with great prices and service. | |
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| Free guides & 'how to' articles
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Classic candle arrangement using our gold and red berries. It looks fab but is so easy to make, just don't tell your friends! Click the image for our free guide |
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The great giftwrap guide! All you need to know about boxes, baskets and more. Click the image for our free guide |
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How to make a handtied bouquet. See our new picture guide by clicking here |
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Fantastic pew end decorations. Read our step by step guide by clicking here |
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Make these traditional florists bows - find out how by clicking here |
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Fun, loopy bows, perfect for decorating your gifts - find out how by clicking here |
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Introduction to wiring a corsage, great for beginners - find out how by clicking here |
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Decorating for a wedding on a budget - read our guide and find some handy tips here |
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| Welcome to our step by step guide to making a Traditional Florists Bow.
These are the original, large, luxurious puffy bows, made in beautiful soft sheen florists ribbon. While it's now more usual to use pull bows, these traditional bows are visibly different and have a hand made charm all of their own.
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They are really simple to make, do a couple and you will have acquired the knack for ever. Enjoy! |
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Step 1: You will need: Florists Ribbon, Scissors and a ruler if you want to be very precise. We don't! |
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| Step 2: Cut a piece of ribbon about half a metre long. This is going to form the tie and 'tails' or streamers of the bow. Split a thin strand off lengthways, about half a centimetre. Put to one side, but leave it handy. |
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| Step 3: Without cutting the ribbon from the roll, make a loop about 4" long. That's just over half the width of the full loop you will make. |
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| Step 4: Holding the layers together, wind on more ribbon until you have 7 full loops of ribbon about 7" wide. Cut the ribbon from the main roll, leaving the cut end slightly overlapping the midpoint. You can see from the picture below where the cut ends should be. |
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The cut end showing on top in the picture left will be at bottom of the bow. The other cut end is safely inside the innermost loop. |
| Step 5: Without creasing the folds, bend the loops roughly in half to find the midpoint, and make a small cut each side to mark the middle. |
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Opening it up flat again, make a v shaped cut at each side as shown. You're aiming to leave about one third of the width in the middle uncut. The notches are to let the bow loops gather more easily. |
| Step 6: Now take the thin strip of 'tail' that you prepared earlier and tie it tightly around the middle of the bow. Pinch the thickness of ribbon as you tie it off, to help it form a nice crease. Make sure this knot is really tight, a good old fashioned granny knot is called for, as this is the tie that holds your whole bow together! |
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Step 7: Starting with one of the outside loops, ease it away from the main thickness. |
| Now hold the bow firmly by its tails with one hand, and put your first two fingers through the loop you've just separated. While pulling quite firmly on the loop, twist it up and anticlockwise 180 degrees. It's this twisting & pulling action that picks up and puffs up the loops. It's easy to do, just make sure that you always do it with your fingers inside the ribbon as this stops it from creasing. |
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| Step 8: Work round the bow, picking up the next loop from the stack, twisting and pulling the loops into position. Vary the degree of twist slightly to get loops at all angles around the bow. As you're working it will look rubbish partway through, but don't despair. Just keep twisting and adjusting until you're happy with the results. |
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If you want to add extra tails, ringlets, streamers or the like, do it now. You can split the remains of the piece you cut in step 2 into 3 or 4 long pieces and add those, use some contrast ribbon or cut some wide tails rosette style - whatever suits the look you are aiming for.
Turn the bow over, lay your extra bits and pieces over the tie, and tie again. If you've added long thin tails, you can curl them or leave them as trailing streamers. |
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The completed bow - totally unique, special and very classy!
Variations: You can vary the look with two colours (use two complimentary coloured reels and wind the loops on together), add organza 'tails' to trail down behind the bow, or anything else that takes your fancy. Once you've learnt the basic method, the real joy in crafting is to experiment and create in your own unique style. |
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| You don't have to, but we would love it if you bought your Florists Ribbon from us. We offer 27 beautiful colours, all in a lovely satin finish in our shop. Click any of the colours below to find it.
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Happy bow making, and look out for more great makes coming soon!
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Flower Hour
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