How to Make Hair Bows

If you want to learn how to make hair bows rather than be stuck wearing the same thing as everyone else, you’ll be pleased to know the basics are very easy to master. If you get really good at it, you can even start your own bow-making business. You can at least keep your friends’ hair well accessorized along with your own stylish locks.

Any fancy ribbon can make a great hair bow.

The simplest homemade hair bows require virtually no effort at all. Just go to your local fabric shop, find some trim you like, and tie it up around the head, or braids, in a bow.

For a more standard hair bow, buy clip bases at a craft or beauty supply store, along with a glue gun. Tie the bow as you would a birthday gift and play with it until you think it’s perfect. Glue it to the clip and there you have it – your own unique hair bow, simple and easy.

For those who want to learn how to make hair bows well enough that the bows will draw excited attention, more practice is necessary. The work of bow-making is being taken so seriously, you can buy several books on the subject. This is really only necessary if you want to start up a cottage industry and want to learn a lot of elaborate techniques. The fact is, you can teach yourself plenty of good tricks and if you do so, you’ll get to a point where you can invent your own bows which will make that business grow.

Basic Pompom Bow

Start with some bows that look fancy, but are really very easy to make. A pompom bow, for example, is beautiful when done right, especially if you use a colorful ribbon with some texture. All you have to do is take a long ribbon (five yards should do) and form a nine-inch loop to start (or a loop that will run the length of the finished bow) and then wrap the rest of the ribbon around that loop as much as you like, depending on how puffy you want your bow to be.

Flatten the loops and cut small triangles at each end, then bring the ends together so that they meet in the center, overlapping the triangles. Use either covered wire or needle and thread to tie the ribbon secure at the center, then pull out the loops and twist them towards the center, alternating the sides until you have a pompom. If you don’t want to flatten it to attach it to a hair clip, you can use some extra ribbon to attach it instead to a bobby pin and let it dangle from an updo or it can sit at the top of a French braid.

A starburst bow is also very pretty and easy. It looks best with a thick ribbon about two yards long. Form a five-inch loop and secure it between your thumb and index finger. Bring the ribbon down and then up to make another five-inch loop at the bottom. Do this again, creating two more loops.

Trim the excess and secure the center with wire, glue or thread. From the rest of the ribbon, cut two strips of 14 inches and one of five inches. Gather the 14-inch strips at their centers and tie to each side of the bow. Finally, glue the five-inch strip around the center. Fold in any excess.

Once you get the knack of how to make hair bows, you can start experimenting even further. Add yarn, silk flowers, strips of sequins or other trim to your bows. Glue bows to pins, rubber bands and head bands. Store-bought bows don’t have to be expensive, but the ones you make yourself are priceless.

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