DIY: felt bows

Hello there all,

Whenever I draw a cartoony-sillsy version of myself, I draw myself with a bow. For example, this picture of me as a cuttlefish.

 However, I, personally, had no bows! What a travesty! Therefore, I went on a binge and made myself some felt bow barrettes. When I wore them, I got multiple compliments, so I thought: why not share the how to with other people  while making a batch of bows for some of my loverly residents at work.

Here is where I originally got the idea. However, I modified it slightly by using hot glue and making them bigger for my needs.

What you'll need:

• felt in colors of choice
• barrette clip-y doodads
• hot glue gun and glue
• stencils from the template found here (you can easily make your bows bigger/smaller than this) The ones that I made are slightly bigger). I traced the template instead of printing them because we don't have a printer.
• scissors
• pen/marker/chalk
• Hands that hot glue won't destroy

Let's make some bows:

Trace the stencils onto the felt then cut the pieces out.

With the longest piece (the piece of that kind of looks like a mustache), gently fold one side over into the middle and glue it down to the middle. You should have a loop on one side after this step.

Fold the other edge over and hot glue that section down into the middle. Your bow should already be taking form, and you should now have two loops.

Hot glue the first shape that has two loops onto the smaller shape that looks like two attached Pac-man (seen above). You should have the creases from the first made shape facing down and glue that part to the Pac-men.

With your smallest piece left, wrap this around the two other pieces and hot glue it down to the rest of the bow. I think it is best to do it in the middle of the bow and underneath where it wraps under.

Hot glue your finished bow onto a barrette.

You could easily modify this for several things: bowtie, beanies, socks, headbands, sweaters, ornaments, magnets, etc. Everything can have a bow and just be a smidge cuter.

Good luck with your bow making and may everything you own be bow-tiful.

-Autumn