Sweet Ribbon Hair Bow

Do you ever look at boutique shop bows and say to yourself, "I can make that!"?  Well, I did.  I was looking at some of the boutique bows and they were just so over the top and I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I decided to make my own in the colors I wanted for my sweet little daughter.  They're so easy to make, too (if you have the patience for it).

Anyway, I was helping my friend make some hair bows for her 3 daughters who were going back to school.  She likes simple bows that aren't overly huge or over the top with flair.  I showed her how easy they were to make as I made 2 different hair bows for each of her 3 daughters.  I figured it would be a good tutorial to post for those who want to make their own bows customized to the style/colors/size that they want.

Let's get started by talking ribbon... If this is your first time making a hair bow, I highly recommend starting with grosgrain as it is the easiest the work with and holds the bow shape really well.  Satin (which is what I'm using in this example since it's what I had lying around at the time) is very pretty, but keep in mind that it is a bit flimsier than grosgrain, so it isn't going to hold a stiff bow quite as nice.  For everyday use, I recommend grosgrain; For special occasions, satin works well.  Also, usually I opt for 5/8" or 1" ribbon, but depending on the age of your daughter and the size of the clip you are covering, you may decide to opt for something bigger.

Ok, so let's get started with my favorite bow.  This is my "go-to" bow when I'm making hair clips since it's very versatile and can be for dress down or for dress up.

Leave your ribbon on the spool to begin so you can play around with what size you are wanting.  Take the end of your ribbon, size it to the total width you will want the entire bow to have and fold it back.

The length from the start of the ribbon to where your fold is will be the horizontal width of your ribbon when complete.

Now, fold your ribbon over again at the point where it is almost even with the start of the ribbon (allow for a little extra room on your end since you will likely need to fray check it and cut it).

Now, fold again (even with your first "top" fold) and come back.

Alright, now one last fold (again, even with your last "bottom" fold) and back up.

Now, cut your ribbon (again, allow for a little room to be able to fray check and cut the end).  This will be your bow.  To recap, you should have 4 folds and one of the ends should be at the "bottom" and the other end should be at the "top").

Now we just have to make it look all pretty.  Start by trying to better organize the ribbon in your hand like so:

Now for the tricky part... pinch your ribbon in the middle and "fluff" out the bow so that there are 4 distinct loops (should look like butterfly wings).  This may take a bit since it's hard to hold the center and work with the ribbon at the same time, but keep at it until you have it looking the way you want.

Now, that we have the bow the way we want, we need to secure it in the middle.  This is much easier if you have a third hand (ie: someone to help tie off the middle for you)... but if nobody is around to volunteer, then my favorite way of securing the middle is by taking a length of thread and wrapping it around and around until it's tight then tying off the 2 ends of the thread to keep it secured.

Voila!  Alrighty, now let's cut the ends and fray check them.  You can cut the ends straight, on an angle, or you can do a "V" shape... whichever you feel suits the style of your bow.  In this case, I chose a "V"...

Now, for some extra flair, I decided to add a little bit of white to the mix.  I followed the exact same steps above only with my little 1/8" white ribbon (I liked the look of it next to my 5/8" yellow ribbon).  I then attached it to my yellow ribbon by tying them together with thread.

 

Now to make a center.  You can make this in any color you like, just use a smaller size ribbon (in this case 1/4").  Tie a simple knot in the ribbon like so:

Now, I take a dab of fabric glue, place it on the knot and put the knot in the center of the "good" side of my bow.

Allow the glue to dry before working with it further.  Once dry, flip your bow over and wrap the center ribbon around the back and glue in the center back.  Cut off the excess as you are doing this.

Once the glue has dried on the back, you can now connect the bow to you clip.  I prefer to use alligator clips that I like myself (with 3/8" ribbon).  I will show you how to line an alligator clip in a later tutorial... it's super easy, I promise!  Place a dab of glue on the back center of your ribbon and connect your ribbon in the top groove of your alligator clip.  I usually use another alligator clip to secure it while it is drying.

Once it's dry, it is ready to wear!  You may need to "fluff" it on occasion by placing your fingers in the loops to make them poof out, but it should last you until it's lost or destroyed by the little monsters for whom they are made. :-)

The Notions Fascination Playmat: Final Details

So, we’ve officially done all of the major things that needed to be sewed by creating the VELCRO POCKET, BUTTON POCKET, SHOETIE LACES, and ZIPPER POCKET, but I have to say that I felt I wasn’t ready to just stop there.  I wanted to make this extra special and fun so that it would be something that my daughter wants to play with.  

Lately, my daughter has had a fascination with the plastic connector in her car seat.  No, I don’t want to teach her how to get out of her car seat just yet, but I know she loves to play with the connector, so I figure that the plastic side-squeeze clips were close enough, but not quite the same as the one used on her car seat.  You can find these at most craft stores, but I just pulled out one of my dog’s frayed old collars and cut the clip away from it (making sure to wash the clip very well with dish soap).  I then connected the clip and threaded through some grosgrain ribbon on each side, topstitching it in place.  Next, figure out how far apart you want your ribbons to be when you attach them to the inner placemat (allow enough room for some play with the clips).  We will be attaching these to the placemat by creating two button holes big enough to fit the ribbon in on each side.  Allow for about an inch of ribbon to be inserted into the button holes on each side.  Now, I just size my button foot to the width of my ribbon, marked on the placemat the location of where they should go, and created two button holes.  Cut the button holes open and Fray Check the edges.  Insert the ends of your ribbon into the button holes and topstitch it down by stitching along the button hole thread.  Do the same for both sides.

I also decided to add a snap closure to the upper left corner of my playmat.  I had an old preemie-sized bib from when my daughter was born (way before she really needed a bib).

I had no intention of using it again, and it had a snap closure on the back, so I cut the two back bib flaps off and sewed them onto the playmat (SUPER easy).

I wanted to make the pockets I had created a bit more interesting for my daughter if she happens to get one open.  I figure that since I have 3 pockets, I would leave one alone and create a bit more interest for the other two.  I decided to work with the Zipper pocket and the Velcro pocket for this.  For the zipper pocket, I found an old appliqué from one of her old outfits (a little stuffed butterfly about as big as a quarter).  I cut the little butterfly off and attached it to some matching ribbon.  I then laced the ribbon through the zipper pocket and folded the end under the edge of the inner placemat (so that it will be sewed down once I attach the outer placemat by topstitching around the entire thing).  I did something similar on my Velcro pocket, only I actually created a little flower from fabric.  

To do so, simply cut out large circles of fabric, then cut those circles in half.  Each half will become one petal, so make however many you want.  Then, just take your half circle, fold it in half with right sides together, and sew along the straight edge.

Turn the petal back right-sides-out and repeat with next petal.  When you have all your petals, hand run a gathering stitch through them around the un-sewn edge, pull tight, and tie off.

Then, just use a fabric button to cover the middle (either sew or glue the button on) on both sides so that when your child pulls the flower out of the pocket, there is no bad side.

You can jazz your up however you would like... again, this is just a tutorial, so please, make it yours!

Once you have everything done that you want on your playmat, finalize the entire thing by sewing a button on the outer placemat to ultimately hold it closed.  Then, on the other end of your outer placemat from where you sewed your button, pin some elastic (I used a hair tie) in between your inner placemat to the outer placemat at the edge.  Now just top stitch around the entire placemat.  It should all stay in place and you should be able to close your playmat by folding it in half and wrapping the elastic around the button.

If you have any questions or need clarification, feel free to send me an e-mail!  I would love to hear from you if you are attempting a playmat of your own.

The Notions Fascination Playmat: Zipper Pocket

Sorry for the delay on posting this next step… it’s been a busy few days.  Anyway, I’m here now and ready to post how to make the ZIPPER POCKET!

This was actually rather easy, even though I saved it for last with this sense of dread for dealing with a zipper.  I wanted to use a big and easy zipper, so I went out and bought a short plastic sport zipper… something that will be easy for my daughter to grab and pull on and that would open with no problem.

As far as your fabric goes, you will need 3 triangles of fabric.  Cut them the way that they will ultimately lie (cut the outer pocket and the inner pocket with wrong sides together and cut the back of the inner pocket so that the right side will show when the pocket is unzipped).  Basically, if you lay out all your triangles with right side facing up, there should be one triangle that is opposite from the other two.

Ok, so now, take the triangles that will be your pocket (the one that is the outside of the pocket and the one that is the lining) and place them right sides together.  Stitch around the triangle, but leave a small area unstitched in the corner for turning.  Turn the pocket right sides out, fold the unstitched corner under, and iron flat.

Now the tricky part - hold your zipper up to your newly created pocket flap.  Mark a small dot where the actual zipper starts and a dot where the metal ending is for the zipper.  

Using scissors, carefully cut a straight line through your triangle, connecting the dots (you should cut through both pieces of fabric so we can hide the zipper between the two).  

Now, along the dots you drew for the zipper, cut into the fabric on a 90 degree angle about ¼ of an inch on each side to allow a flap for us to fold under.  Use your iron to help you in making sure your newly created flaps are all folded under.  Now, grab some Fray Check and dab some along the rough edges at the top and bottom of your opening to make sure the fabric stays in tact.

Carefully place your zipper into the opening you created for it, making sure that it is in between your two pieces of fabric.  Pin it in place.  

Now, pull out your zipper foot for your sewing machine.  Carefully sew your zipper into place along all sides.  Everything should be tucked into the area in between the two pieces of fabric, so it should be an adorable little two sided triangle.

Alright, so that was your actual pocket, but we obviously want there to be a lining for inside the pocket when it’s opened.  Take that third piece of fabric you cut, fold over the edges to align it with your zippered pocket piece, and pin the entire thing where it will ultimately be going on the inner placemat.

Hooray!  That was the last major thing that you needed to create.  Now, it’s just about the little details.  We’ll go over those extra little things that you can do to really make this special in my next post and then finish we’ll off the entire project!  Stay tuned!

The Notions Fascination Playmat: Shoelace Tie

Ok, so today is a little bit easier... we'll focus on the: SHOELACE TIE.

So, this was basically a rectangular piece of scrap fabric that I found to start me off.  I was going to finish the edges by incorporating a white fabric border, but as you can see in the final result, I decided to scrap that idea when I found a really lovely coordinating grosgrain ribbon instead.

Now, I have had an eyelet tool since I designed my own wedding invitations back in 2007 (I had these pretty little heart eyelets that held the vellum paper onto my Stardream paper backing... but more on that another time).  You can find eyelet tools at many of the craft stores - I believe I got mine from Hobby Lobby.  I bought these simple eyelets from Hancock Fabrics, but again, you can find them at many of the craft stores.

Ok, so to start, mark the 6 different areas on your fabric where you will be wanting your eyelets situated (3 pairs of two side-by-side eyelets).  Once you've marked where you want them, carefully make a hole big enough to fit your eyelet in (I started by piercing through my marks with thumb tacks and moved up from there.  Once the hole is big enough, fit the eyelet in like so:

Now, flip your piece of fabric upside-down to the ugly side where you see the back of the eyelet

Place your eyelet tool (make sure it's the right size tool head for the size eyelets you are using) on the back of your eyelet and, using your rubber mallet, give the eyelet tool a few strong taps at the back end.

I had to use the larger size eyelet tool for the eyelets I used (see above).  Be sure you use the right size!

So, now that you have one eyelet in, repeat for the remaining 5 until all 6 are in securely and you are ready to lace in your ribbon.  I choose a pretty simple yellow and white grosgrain ribbon.  Cut the ribbon longer than you will ultimately need it and lace up in whatever manner you prefer:

Once laced up, tie a pretty bow at the top and cut your excess down to the length you want it to be.  Fray Check the ends of your ribbon to keep them neat and trim...

Decide where you want to put it on your mat and then, take a nice ribbon and hem the ribbon around the edges with a top stitch to secure your shoelace tie to the mat.

It's that easy!  No big deal, right? Right!

Next time, I will post the final pocket: THE ZIPPER POCKET!

The Notions Fascination Playmat: Button Pocket

Hello again, so as promised, I said I would post about the next step for the Notions Fascination playmat: THE BUTTON POCKET! (FYI – I found this step to be the most time consuming for me).

I started the button pocket with a square-sized piece of fabric which become the outside of the pocket. Since my fabric scrap was already pretty small (and I was determined to make it work), I decided to give it some pizzazz by adding a border around it in satin ribbon (which would finish off the edges while maintaining the size). Ironing REALLY helps in getting everything to stay flat and creased. I lined the 3 sides that would be visible (the left, right, and bottom - remember, the top will be hidden by the pocket flap) and then folded back the fabric along the top to hide the edge.

Then, I found a different piece of fabric that was about the same size in width (only slightly wider), but was a little more than twice as tall – this will become your pocket lining. Taking this tall piece of fabric, I pinned it to the top side of the ribbon-lined outer pocket that I had just made (again, wrong sides together) and then folded the sides in so that they would be the same width as my outer pocket (fold them in wrong sides together so that you won't feel the edges when you reach in the pocket).

Top stitch the top side of your outer pocket square so that it should now be connected to the pocket lining.

Now, fold your pocket lining so that the front part of the lining matches the size of the outer pocket square… and the back part of the lining should peak out just slightly above the pocket. Pin along the edges.

Finally, we will craft the pocket flap. This is really your preference for what shape you want it to take, but you want to make sure it will be big enough to come about half way down on the outer pocket once you connect it to the top of the inner pocket’s back lining.

Anyway, I chose to use a rounded rectangle shape. I folded a rectangular piece of fabric in half and rounded the edges. I then cut along the fold, put the fabric with wrong sides together, and stitched along the curved edge. Turn the fabric inside out and topstitch along the curved edge to give it a more finished look.

Now, fold the pocket flap down slightly along the unfinished edge and pin your pocket flap behind the back side of your pocket lining. Keep your pocket and the pocket lining flat, but fold over your pocket flap.

At this point, you can determine where you need your button to go. Mark the ends for your button hole and, following your sewing machine’s instructions, create your button hole on the pocket flap. This was my first time ever creating a button hole on my new machine and it was really easy, but I did need to refer to my instructions. Once you've finished your button hole carefully open it with your scissors and be sure to Fray Check the seams to keep them nice and neat!

Now, just align your button on the front side of your pocket, sew it on, and try it out. Now that everything is working, attach your pocket to where it will need to go on your inner placemat.

Note: Took this pic before doing the button hole... was eager to figure out where I would put it in the scheme of things.

So, we have 2 of the pockets complete… one more to go, but let’s take a break and do the SHOELACE TIE next. Stay tuned!

The Notions Fascination Playmat: Velcro

Ok, so as this is my first ever blog post, please be patient with me!  Let me know if you have any questions or if I'm not clear in my tutorials so that I can clarify.

So, my baby girl is turning one year old in about 2 weeks and, let's face it, she is pretty spoiled and has everything a girl her age could possibly need (since she is the first grandchild for both sides... and my parents as well as my husband's parents dote on her).

Lately, she has been fascinated by her seat belt in the car (I'm praying she doesn't figure out how to undo it since I'm really not ready for that battle yet).  Something about buckles just amazes her, so my mother had suggested maybe getting her one of those dolls that has buttons, snaps, velcro, zippers, etc...  and I thought, "Hey!  I can make her a playmat that does the same thing."  Let me first of all say, I figured this would be great practice for me since I just got my sewing machine for Christmas and it has all sorts of gadgets that my old sewing machine didn't have at all (let me disclose, my old sewing machine was a $20 one from RiteAid that was supposed to just be for quick fixing... I killed the poor thing since I asked it to make a whole lot more than what it was meant for).

So anyway, here is what I came up with:

Playmat Opened

Playmat Closed

Ok, so for the sake of keeping this neat, concise, and organized, I'm going to post the various steps I took to bring this "Notions Fascination" playmat to completion over the course of the next few days.  Since this has lots of working parts, it's easier to do one thing at a time.

So, anyway, I gathered what I would need and set to work.  Ultimately, you will need:

• fabric placemats (x2)
• small plastic zipper
• ribbon
• eyelets (and eyelet tool... with rubber mallet)
• velcro
• buttons (x2)
• plastic connecting clip
• snaps
• elastic
• fabric scraps

For today, we'll start where I started: VELCRO POCKET!

I wanted to do the velcro by making a pocket that would open in the corner.  I wanted the inside to be pretty should she look in there when the pocket is opened, so I made sure to line the inside of every pocket that I created.

I took two triangular scraps of fabric (one bigger than the other and cut at the right corner to allow for turning) and sewed them, wrong sides together, along the hypotenuse (the side that does not hold a right angle).  Once sewn together, I pulled the little triangle to align with the larger triangle along the other two sides and sewed along the sides, leaving the corner open to turn it inside out.  It left for the hypotenuse showing a peak of the inside pocket color.

Next, use fabric glue to attach the velcro to what will be the inside of the pocket along the hypotenuse of the triangle.  Allow the glue to set and then top stitch to lock the velcro in place and make the pocket look more finished from the exterior.

I, then, used a different fabric of the same size as my pocket and put that along the placemat (you do not need to do this, but I wanted the inside of my pocket to stand out and be different from the placemat color).  Align the opposite velcro strip on my inner placemat and, again, fabric glue the velcro strip to where it needs to go.  Once it is dry, just as before, run a stitch along the velcro just to lock it in place.

Pin your pocket on and fold over the edges to the back of the inner placemat.

Phew!  Step one is done!  Stay tuned for the next step, the BUTTON POCKET.