Cut a long enough piece of ribbon and fold it in half. I don't exactly have a ruler, so I can't say how long my ribbons are. Err on the side of too long until you find a length you like, because you can always trim the ends if you need to.
Unfold the ribbon, then refold into a cancer awareness ribbon, keeping the crease in the middle of the loop.
Step Three: Pick up the ribbon by grabbing the 'x', then pull the crease down to the middle of the 'x'.
One at a time, take the tails of the ribbon and loop them over the top of the bow, gathering everything at the midpoint. It's up to you how wonky you want the bow to look - angling the tails of the ribbon creates different shapes. Play with it!
Now, take a needle and thread and make a running stitch up the middle of the bow to create those cool gathers. I used embroidery floss and it ended up being a great thing because...
...next you gather the ribbon by pulling the floss taut and wrap around and around the bow. Typically, you would tie another ribbon around the middle to finish off the bow, but the embroidery floss adds enough polish for me. (Disclaimer: grosgrain ribbon needed a little more coaxing to actually gather than did satin-y ribbon.)
Tie off the embroidery floss in the back - I honestly cannot say how best to do this. I think I did something different every single time - trim the ends, and primp the loops. Then grab your lighter and seal the ends by passing them through the flame. What?! I know, it sounds scary. The first time I did this was at home, and I stood over a sink full of water, ready to drop the bow before it was engulfed. But there's really nothing to worry about, as long as you keep your hands steady, light the flame, then slowly move the ribbon to where it just barely touches the flame and the frays melt away. Ta da! A bow.
I'm planning to hot glue these puppies onto some barrettes, but I've also just worn them by sticking a bobby pin through the embroidery floss loop. Happy Bowmaking!
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