Bow Making 101

	Bows! This accessory can easily make or break a costume. Learn how to make gorgeous bows that hold their shape! You'll need the following: Fabric of your choice Medium or heavyweight interfacing Chopstick Scissors Hand sewing needles Sewing machine
	Step One: Cut Your Fabric and Interfacing Cut a rectangle of fabric. It can be any size you like - keep in mind that you will fold it in half and gather it in the center to make your bow. Make sure your bow is proportionate to the character/person wearing it. Cut a matching piece of interfacing. I prefer to use heavy weight interfacing so the bow stays nice and stiff.
	Step Two: Sew it Together! Pin the two rectangles together. Run a straight stitch around all four edges of the rectangle.
	Step Three: Fold and Pin! Fold your rectangle in half. Pin it together in preparation for sewing. When sewing the edges together, make sure to leave about 4" - 5" unstitched - you'll need this opening to turn the rectangle inside out. Do not put this opening close to any of your corners. Ideally, put it in the middle of the top edge. See where the pin cushion is? That is where we put the extra opening.
	Step Four: More Sewing! Sew the three (unfolded) edges together. Make sure to backstitch at the ends and corners. Don't forget to leave that extra opening!
	Step Five: Clip The Corners! Clip your corners and trim the edges to reduce bulk. Try to keep a 1/4" to 1/2" seam allowance.
	Step Six: Prep It! Get ready to turn it inside out.
	Step Seven: Turn it... ...inside out!
	Step Eight: Making it Look Better It doesn't look so great right now - but, we're going to fix that.
	Step Nine: Chopstick! Using your chopstick, sharpen your corners a bit. Be careful not to poke the chopstick through - this is why the back stitching at the corners is so important.
	Step Ten: Make it Pretty! Iron it!
	Step Eleven: Prep the Opening Now, we're left with the opening we used to turn it inside out. Iron these edges so that they match up with the rest of the rectangle. Note: If you decide you no longer want a bow, you could get some stuffing and make a pillow at this point...
	Step Twelve: Close the Opening Close up the opening with some hand stitching. Since it is in the middle of the top edge, the center band of the bow will cover up most of the hand stitching - so, if you're not good at hand stitching, no worries. Nonetheless, try to use an invisible slip stitch.
	Step Thirteen: Prep for Cinching Now that your rectangle is all closed up, do a wide straight stitch by hand up the center of the bow.
	Step Fourteen: Cinch It! Cinch up the bow.
	Step Fifteen: Wrap It Up! Wrap the thread around the bow and tie a knot.
	Step Sixteen: Cut It! Cut any excess thread.
	Step Seventeen: Creating the Center Band Now, we're going to create the center band for the bow. Cut another rectangle. The band for this particular bow is about 1.5" wide.
	Step Eighteen: Fold and Sew! Fold the rectangle in half and sew it together.
	Step Nineteen: The Tube Now, you have a tube. I use a fabric tube turner to turn narrow tubes like this inside out. It is a narrow, metal stick with a small hook on one end and a large loop at the other.
	Step Twenty: Turning the Tube Inside Out Make sure the small hook catches the end of the tube.
	Step Twenty-One: Still Turning the Tube Inside Out Pull it through!
	Step Twenty-Two: Make it Pretty! Iron it!
	Step Twenty-Three: Wrap It! Wrap it around your bow!
	Step Twenty-Four: Pin and Sew It! Once you've wrapped it around twice or so, cut off the excess, fold over the edge, pin it, then hand sew it into place.
	Step Twenty-Five: Finished! Here is the finished bow!
	Applications This bow was made for a Maya Fey costume. Her bow is a bit droopy, so we stitched the two bottom corners together and added a tail.