Most people who know me, know that I am a bow fanatic. I love them. I love to buy them and have bought many but, I have also made quite a few too. Such as the bows in the two pictures below. These curly bows are called korker bows. They have always been among my favorite, so I tried to make some before my little one was even born. They are super easy. Here’s what you do.
You will need wooden dowels, (I used wooden knitting needles.) You are going to wrap the ribbon around the dowels, so you need the size of dowel to match the size of curly you want.
Next you need ribbon. The really tiny ribbon makes really tiny curly and the same with the big ribbon. I usually go with about 1/4 inch or 1/8 inch ribbon.
You also need a squirt bottle, liquid starch, clothespins, wire, fray check and a cookie sheet. Mix 3 parts water with one part starch and put into your spray bottle. Twirl the ribbon completely around your dowel, so it looks like a little snake has wrapped its body all the way from the top to the bottom. Clothes pin the ribbon on at each end. (When you wrap, you want the ribbon to be fairly close together so your curlies aren’t spread really far apart.)
Spray the dowels with ribbon on with the spray bottle. Bake in the oven at 250 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool.
Pull the ribbon off and cut them into segments. Fray check both ends of each segment. Pull together a small bunch of them all laying the same way. I used about 20ish for each one. Slide the wire underneath the ribbons and pull it tight around them until you have a little poof. Slide a barrette or clip into the wire and then secure the wire by sliding it through the all ready wrapped part. The wire needs to be TIGHT or the ribbons will fall out. This part may take a little trial and error. (update: My sister-in-law says she sews hers together. I have never tried it but she says it works great! Also she uses a lighter to heat seal her ends instead of fray check. I can never get a lighter to work right but it is worth a shot!)
Afterwards you have a darling bow that looks like you spent a fortune on it.
I secure these bows by sewing them all together. I just alternate colors and stitch them together. Then I hot glue them to a ribbon lined clip. I've never starched mine though, they haven't fallen apart yet, but I guess they might. I also heat seal the ends with a lighter, I think it works better than the fray check, and it doesn't discolor the ribbon like the fray check can. Just my two cents!
I think the world is probably safer if you use fray check instead of a lighter. 😉
I pointed out to Mark today that as much as he says he wants a little girl, he would hate it because I would always be making her bows and dresses. This did nothing to dissuade him. 🙂
I love it! Korker bows are my favorite 🙂
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Very cute, and it's a nice way to customize an accessory with just the right colors!
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Stopping from SITS! This makes me wish I had a little girl to dress up!
Cute! And even if you don't have a little girl, they'd be reat for gift wrap, or as an eyecatching corsage or shoe embellishments.