Jumbo Hair Bow Tutorial

Right after I had my little girl, I bought a hair bow…I know who works for a ribbon company and buys a hair bow? Anyway, I saw this bow and seriously couldn’t stand not to throw it in my cart because it was beyond adorable and it was FULL, fluffy and JUMBO! I loved it and knew it would look so absolutely adorable on my little, and I was right. I always got comments on how the bow was almost bigger than her tiny little head. It was the cutest ever! Mary, from Little Mama Bowtique also has a thing for gigantic bows and is sharing a super cute Jumbo Hair Bow tutorial with us today! I am so excited for this Jumbo Bow and know you are going to love it too! Enjoy!

Hello everyone!! Mary back from Little Mama Bowtique with a fun Jumbo Hair Bow tutorial. Before I get into everything I just want to give a huge shout out to Michelle, our Blog Coordinator here, because she is just simply awesome!! She is the most patient and accommodating person, and she does an awesome job of putting these blogs together so give her some sweetness in the comment section!!

So summer is just around the corner and my “little” girl is turning 4 this summer…4, yup kinda in denial. Since she keeps getting bigger I figured we needed some bigger bows, so this tutorial is all about the go big or go home. I wanted something basic and bright that we could put together with her wardrobe for summer. I’m really busy right now so something I could cover in a day was perfect for me.

Supplies you will need:
Mix of or either 2 1/4″ Ribbon & 3″ Ribbon

Now silly me also forgot to order matching center ribbons…so don’t forget that!! Luckily my insane amount of ribbon I have was either a close or actual match to what I needed but you will need to order coordinating colors in either 3/8″ or 7/8″ width to cover your middles, I will show you both.

Other supplies for this tutorial include:
• A piece of cardboard (like a side of a box will do)
• Needle & Heavy Duty Thread
• Scissors (and don’t use your nice craft ones on the cardboard!!)
• Glue Gun
• Clips of choice I used 60mm French Clips for mine, my daughter has thin hair I would use 80mm for thick hair and 3/8″ ribbon to line it with.
• Measuring Tape
• Lighter

So the “XL” template I have used in the past measures 7″ and makes about a 5″ bow, which could be used for these. In fact for the 2 1/4″ ribbon I prefer using the 7″ template but for the 3″ ribbon, I wanted something a bit bigger…remember I said we are going big!
I’m going to start off by showing you how I make my templates, it’s easy and if you have some cardboard laying around (like I always do!) then it’s free!! This 9″ template will create a 7″ finished bow.

Start off with a piece of cardboard, measure out 9″, I drew a line and then cut.

Measure the middle (4.5″) and then cut a slit down the middle. Then trim off any excess cardboard off the top, it doesn’t need to be super tall mine probably measures about 5-6″.

Cut your ribbon at an angle and heat seal it with a lighter.

Place your ribbon end over your 2nd half of template like this:

Wrap around twice, the 2nd time ending on the opposite side of template. Place a pin in the middle down your opening that you cut. Cut your ribbon at an angle again and heat seal.

Carefully slide your ribbon off your template, making sure your pin stays in place. Bring the inside loops up and the outside down to form a small “X”, we don’t want to spread these loops out as much as some of the other bows I’ve made.

Grab your needle and thread, sew down the middle, weaving in and out so that you see your ribbon from top view 2-3 times. This will give your bow nice creases and help it lay nicely.

Pull your thread tight and wrap it around the center 3 times. Pull your needle from the top to the bottom after and knot the thread in back a couple times.

Grab your french clip and line the back with 3/8″ ribbon, the color doesn’t have to match as you will not see it when the bow is worn.

Attach to back of your bow, I like my opening of clip to be placed on left, but you can place either way.

Attach your center ribbon starting in the back, attaching underneath the clip mechanism. Bring around and glue other end again in back. For this one I used 3/8″ ribbon. But, I prefer the look of the 7/8″ ribbon in the middle with a knot (you can see my group photo for examples).

For my white bow I spread out the loops a little too much when I was forming the bow, so I tried to make sure I didn’t do that again with the rest, I like them a little more “scrunched” if you will, it just seems a better for this bow.

I had to make my daughter her umm 4th bow holder for these because she was out of space on the others…probably a sign she shouldn’t have anymore LOL. The colors I made here from left to right so you can purchase these fun colors too are: White, Yellow, Light Coral, Creamsicle, Tutti Frutti, Tahiti Rose, Ocean Blue, and Lavender in 3″ ribbon. The 3rd row are made with my 7″ template so you can see they are a tad smaller, perfect if you want to downsize a little and at the very bottom of my 3rd row is the Banana Cream ribbon in 2 1/4″ with the 7″ template, so in love with that pretty yellow!!

While I was taking pictures of my daughter Lilly modeling my son, Aiden, jumped in and wanted a picture together so in honor of Mother’s Day here are my babies, my world. I am treasuring this photo because being mom and photographer never is this easy!! Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful mamas out there. I hope you have a wonderful day!! Thank you all for joining me!!

Thank you Mary for sharing this adorable Jumbo Hair Bow! I am in love with that bow and all of the different colors you choose to make them in! Thank you also for the shout out! You are AMAZING lady!

Don’t you just love big bows? I think they are so fun in fullness and fabulousness and think all of our little girls and all of the little girls we know need one or two or 12! Here are a few more incredible bow tutorials where the bows are big and the smiles on your faces after making them, even bigger!

Are you ready to make some big bows? Grab all of your bow supplies right here at The Ribbon Retreat! We have ribbon galore in many different colors, designs, widths and even some with sequins, ruffles, and glitter. Make sure you stop by and check out our entire ribbon supply and all of our other bow making supplies and crafty supplies. Find everything you need right HERE!

Happy Creating & Happy Jumbo Hair Bows!