You Will Need

• ribbon
• embroidery thread in a matching colour
• hair clips
• piece of cardboard
• craft knife and cutting mat
• metal ruler
• scissors
• pencil

 

 

 

 

1 Draw a rectangle of 80 x 45mm on the cardboard and cut it out with your craft knife. Cut a slot of 40 x 5mm out of the middle, as in the photo.

2 Multiply the width of the cardboard template by five to work out the length of the ribbon, so 225mm. Cut the ribbon.

3 Fold the ribbon in half to find the middle then mark it. Place the cardboard template on top of the ribbon so the mark shows through the slot.

4 Fold the left-hand side of the ribbon at an angle of 45 degrees over the front of the cardboard template and secure with a hair clip.

5 Fold the right-hand side over the left-hand side in the same way and clip to secure.

6 Now loosely wind a piece of embroidery thread or elastic thread three times around the middle of the ribbon and let the ends hang to the back.

7 Turn the cardboard template over, pull the thread tight and knot it. Cut off the ends of the thread, unless you want to use them to tie the bow to a parcel.

8 Turn the cardboard template over again and cut the tails of the bow shorter, using the edges of the cardboard as a guide.  Remove the bow from the cardboard.

TIP You can make bows in other sizes by cutting the cardboard template narrower or wider. Store all your templates with your ribbons so they are on hand when you are wrapping gifts.

Words and images: Ideas magazine