Korker Bow Tutorial!!!!

Yep!  I promised a tutorial and here it is!  If you have any questions should you decide to try this, please feel free to ask!  I will help you out in any way I can!

Here is what you can make! (the bows not the model LOL)

You will need:

 1/4  inch dowel rods ( I buy a pack of 12)

June Ribbon Club Assortment

 wooden clothespins

Baking sheet

hot glue gun

preferred hair clip

The best size dowel for making Korker ribbon is a 1/4” dowel.  You can experiment with other sizes, but I prefer this one.   You will also need clothespins for securing the ribbon to the dowels. For this example I am using  the July Ribbon Club Assortment, but I typically use 3/8 grosgrain ribbon for a simple Korker bow.

1.  Preheat your oven to 275 Degrees  and then begin wrapping your ribbon around your dowels.   Simply secure one end of your ribbon to one end of a dowel using a clothespin.  Wrap to the opposite end, cut, and secure the end.  You now have both ends secured  around the dowel. Wrap all of your dowels with your ribbons in the same manner, then place all of them on a baking sheet. Put the ribbons into your pre-heated oven and let 'em cook! 
*appx. 25 minutes should do the trick*

When you pull them out of the oven, let the clothespins and dowels cool for about 10 minutes, and then you can remove the ribbons.  It should resemble this:

  My dowels are 12 inches long, which gives me 12 inch long curls of ribbon.  It is now time to begin cutting.
You can cut in 3 inch, 4 inch or 6 inch lengths…it all depends on how full you want your bow to look.
For this bow set, I chose to cut 4 inch lengths of ribbon, so EACH curl of ribbon got cut at the 4 inch mark.

Once I have all of my ribbon cut, I then  separated the strands evenly to create 2 complete matching bows.  OR…..You can add ALL strands together and create a very full and poofy bow!

I use size 10 cotton crochet thread and quite literally tie a secure knot in the center.  I wrap the cotton thread several times around the center, tying knots as I go.    The more times your wrap the thread and tie a knot, the tighter and more secure your ribbons will be.

  
You will then use a 6 inch piece of  ribbon to wrap around the center and secure in place for the center knot.  You simply tie a knot in the length of ribbon, and wrap it around the same spot as the cotton thread…securing it in place with hot glue. 

Here, I have already wrapped my ribbon and secured my preferred clip in place using a glue gun.  Be sure not to get glue on the moving parts of your clip!    You will want to seal the ends of your ribbons at the cut marks to prevent fraying.  I prefer a heat seal, so I use a lighter…but you can use fray check if you prefer that method.

Now that you have your ribbons sealed, secured, and the center knot in, it is time to add any embellishments your heart desires!  Bling, buttons, beads…pretty much ANYTHING can be added to the bow at this point…by simply sewing or gluing it on.  I chose to add in the feathers for a little extra "Umph" to this bow.  

You can see how I simply glued short feather pieces between ribbons by simply placing a dab of hot glue at the base and sticking in a 1 or 2 inch piece of the feather boa.  The hot glue seals in one end at the base, and by adding a TINY dab of hot glue on the exposed end of the feather piece, then you secure your feathers from falling off. 

Once I had my korkers completed, I presented them to Skye, who COULD. NOT. WAIT. to put them into her hair!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make a SUPER SIMPLE korker bow for your sweet little girl!  If you have any questions, please ask..I will help you in any way I can!


Have a FANTABULOUS day!