DIY Bows: Great for Softball or Cheer

Bows are great fun! They are super easy to make and girls just love them. Tutorials for bow making on the other hand can be hard to find. Often times they don’t seem to come out right or the measurements just don’t seem to add up.

Well if you are looking for a great tutorial for DIY Softball or Cheer Bows, look no further. Here you will find step by step instructions on how to make your very own bows.

Here’s the story…

So my family is really big into Softball. All except Kirklynne, my 8 year old daughter, who is more of a soccer player. The crazy part is she is pretty good at softball, it just doesn’t interest her at all. My 10 year old daughter, Alizabeth, is totally opposite of this! She eats, breathes, and lives for softball, and totally dislikes soccer! Yes I know this is kind of funny especially when neither me nor my husband know anything about soccer. 

There is one major up side to this situation… the two sports are played at totally different times of the year in our small town. This means no scheduling conflicts and that is a win in my book!

This year the Little League asked my husband to coach my oldest daughter’s team during regular season. Of course if my husband coaches, that kinda made me feel obligated to be the team Score Keeper. Ok so if you are a mom, I’m sure you know exactly where I’m coming from!

It didn’t help that no one else on the team had a parent that knew how to keep score… or were they better than me at saying “No!” Either way this job fell on me. This would normally not be a huge deal except for the fact that I have a two year old toddler running around, who refuses to sit still for more than 3 seconds at a time! Timothy is a huge hand-full to say the very least. Fast forward a few months…

Well let me tell you it was a crazy season! I learned to put the terrorist  toddler in a stroller and have my eight year old daughter push him around to keep him quiet.

Oh I’m sure I got lots of people thinking I’m MOTHER OF THE YEAR for that one. *Sighs sarcastically*

I also learned another lesson, when your husband is a decent coach they may ask him to coach All-Stars. Yeah you know where I am going with this one! So the ‘tradition’ here in our small town is to have the coaches wife either make or get someone to make signs for the dug-out for each player. (Look out for my post on this idea)

I was actually excited, I love crafting and this is right up my alley. Then as I’m talking to another coach’s wife trying to line out all the duties that come with the job, it was brought to my attention that the girls would love to have bows instead of visors or headbands. Well how lucky can I get, two DIY Softball projects! So here it is, just for you!

Special Note:

I thought I would mention this little tid bit for anyone trying to make more than one bow. So you don’t make the same mistake I did and have to make another trip back to the store!

If you are needing to make lets say 13 bows all about 8 inches long then logically you need 390 inches of ribbon!  That is 13 bows times 30 inches of ribbon per each bow. There are 36 inches in 1 yard. So that means a 3 yard spool of ribbon is 108 inches.

I knew I needed 390 inches of ribbon so I divided 390 inches by 108 inches and that gave me about 3.6. So I naturally grabbed 4 spools of ribbon at 3 yards each and figured I would have more than enough! Right!  WRONG!!! I was short by 1 bow and only by a few inches.

Don’t make my mistake!

You should figure out that each spool of ribbon at 3 yards will give you about 3 bows. (108 divided by 30) So if you need to make 13 bows you actually need 5 spools! Yeah I know that was a lot of math for something so simple, but I didn’t want you to just take my word for it. I wanted to show you exactly how I came to my conclusion. Now if you need to make a different amount you know many spools to purchase!

Yeah I totally had to go back to town. Then when I get to the store, they were out of the ribbon. So I went to a different store who also was out of the same color ribbon. So my stupid math error got me multiple trips to town before finally finding what i needed! Lesson Learned!

Supplies Needed for 8 inch wide Bows:

• 30 inches of Ribbon (I used 3 inch wide grosgrain ribbon)
• scissors to cut the ribbon
• 4 inch zip ties 
• ponytail holders ( I prefer the ones without a metal piece)
• hot glue gun
• glue sticks
• 4 inches of smaller Ribbon (I used 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon. This is to cover the tie and ponytail)
• an iron and board or Cricut Easypress Mini
• a scrap piece of cardboard about 6 inches wide. (The length doesn’t really matter.)
• Candle, Wood burner, or Fire striker (This is to seal the ribbon edges)

Step 1:

Measure out 30 inches of ribbon. I placed tape on the table so I did not have remeasure every time I cut a new bow. This was so much easier!

Step 2:

Iron the ribbon and make sure there are no creases. Be very careful not to burn or scorch the ribbon. It doesn’t take much ironing at all.

Step 3:

Fold the ribbon in half from end to end and iron the crease. The crease is now marking the very center of the ribbon. This will come in handy later when you are actually folding the bows.

Step 4:

Take the 6 inch wide scrap piece of cardboard and cut a notch out of the center. This will let you see the center of your ribbon and make an even bow.

Step 5:

Line up the center of your ribbon, this is the crease you made when ironing, with the notch. This is important to get the right sized bow and will save you loads of time when making sure your loops are equally sized as well.

Step 6:

Fold one side of the ribbon over the other and use a small piece of rolled scotch tape or double sided tape to hold the ribbon together. The ribbon will look like those ribbons you see for breast cancer awareness and things of that nature. You know what I’m talking about.

Step 7:

Remove the cardboard from the ribbon and flip the bow completely so that the loop is now in the front of the ribbon. I then taped the edges of my ribbon tails to make it easier to fold. Now I don’t have to worry about them moving around.

Step 8:

Fold the top of the ribbon to meet where the tails intersect. (The cross point) You can add another piece of scotch tape or double sided tape to hold the ribbon in place. (See last picture has the piece of tape rolled up at the cross point.)

Step 9:

Using one hand fold the ribbon in half. (This first fold is your center for the bow.) Begin to fold the ribbon back and forth from this point, accordion style. 

This is the most difficult step in my opinion and takes some practice, but since you taped the ribbon in step 8, it will be nothing to start your folds over until you get them just right

Step 10:

Lay a tie wrap (also known as a zip tie!) with a ponytail holder through it on the table. Attach a plastic zip tie wrap around the center “accordion” you just created. Tighten the tie so that the ribbon does not undo or come apart, but DO NOT tighten all the way.

Note: Make sure that the large head piece of the tie wrap ends up in the back of the bow, this will make it much easier to hide.

Step 11:

Open each ear of the bow to make sure they are even. I then make sure the tails are even as well. If anything needs to be adjusted, now is the time. You can pull on each side to move them around a bit. Once you are satisfied with the shape of the bow pull the zip tie as tight as you can & cut the excess off.

Note: Make sure the pony tail is in the back of the bow and the head of the zip tie is as well! I like to put he head of the zip tie more to bottom of the bow, towards the back always.

Step 12:

Fold each ribbon tail in half and cut an angled slant into it the tail from the fold to the edge. I like to put another piece of tape to hold the ribbon together, this makes cutting so much easier! Repeat for the other tail.

Now seal the ribbon edges so they do not fray. I like to use a candle to do this. Quickly pass the ribbon over the candle and it will melt and seal the ends. If you have a wood burning tool, the flat tip works nicely as well. I have also used a fire striker, but it can be a bit tricky to keep on while moving the bow around.

Note: Make sure not to get too close to the flame, it will burn the ribbon or leave black all over!

Step 13:

Now remove the all the tape you put on your ribbon. I also like to fluff the bow and measure from the top of the ear to the bottom of the tail, just to verify I have an 8 inch bow.

Step 14:

It is now time to make the center of the bow. You have so many options here! I like the tall knot in the center. Measure out about 4 inches of smaller ribbon. Make a knot in the center of the ribbon, but do not pull it tight.

Spread out the ribbon so that it sits flat on top of each other. You can make so many variations of this by pulling the ribbon tighter, I recommend trying it out a few different ideas and picking the one you like the most.

Step 15:

I like to put a dab of hot glue on the front of the bow and place my knot in the right place.  This helps keep things in place and the knot wont move around. Next fold the ribbon edges on top of each other, taking care to cover the zip tie, and hot glue it in place. You can stiffen the bow now if you prefer a stiffer bow.

You now have a really cute cheer bow! You can add embroidery or decals to the tails to customize them or leave them plain, either way you have a way cool cheer bow that you didn’t have to drop serious cash on!

Did I mention these make cute gifts!!

I want to see your bows! Post pictures of your beautiful bows so we can all admire them and maybe get some inspiration!

If you like this article please be sure to share the love!

As always, Thanks!

Candace

Interested in more DIY Projects?

Check out these:

Cute DIY Dugout Player Sign [7 Easy Steps]

DIY Cash Envelopes

DIY iPad Case

Start your Journey to Financial Freedom by learning how to create a Simple Monthly Budget