To make the ribbon bows used in the Halloween Princess Set, you will need:

• 2 lengths of ribbon – one twice as long as the first
• A 4 pronged kitchen fork – size not important….it’s only acting as an extra pair of hands
• A piece of strong cotton for tying off
• A pair of scissors
• A lighter (optional – for sealing the ends of the ribbon to prevent fraying)

Take the piece of cotton and place it between the centre prongs of the fork.

Next place the shorter of the two ribbons behind the fork.
Bring the ends loosely around the fork and thread through the centre as shown below:

Bring the cotton up and tie firmly around the folded ribbon.

Slide off the fork and trim the cotton.  Voila! A tiny bow!

For the long bow, take the longer of the two pieces of ribbon and fold it over the cotton in the middle of the bow.

Stitch or glue in place – I usually use a hot glue gun for this step and add a button or bead to the middle of the bow.

Finally, trim the ends (at an angle) to the desired length.

If you are concerned about fraying, hold a lighter flame CLOSE to the ends of the ribbon…..not too close or you will burn the ends instead of melting them a little.

Now for the confession.  While a fork is a great little tool for making one or two bows, in reality, it’s not the most practical solution.

If you are making loads of bows in different shapes and sizes, why not make a bow blob!?

Copy the following onto card and use it in the same way as the fork!
Do let me know how your bows turn out :)

(C) Thomasina Cummings Designs