Making a Bow

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Making a Bow

• Georgia Agricultural Education
• Curriculum Office
• July 2002
• Written by Dr. Frank B. Flanders

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• Probably the most difficult skill that a
  beginning florist or other plant retailer must
  learn is that of bow making.
• The process looks simple, but is actually very
  difficult and is learned through many hours of
  practice.
• There are several methods of making bows
  depending on personal preference and the use to
  be made.

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• The two methods we discuss here we will call the
  thumb method and pot bow method.
• Lets begin by discussing the thumb method.
  This method or some variation of it is the most
  commonly used in the florist industry. Any size
  ribbon can be used making a wide variety of uses
  possible. We have arbitrarily assigned the
  thumb method to this ribbon because the process
  is centered around the thumb during tying.

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• Florists use ribbon from the bolt as needed but
  to give you a better idea of the amount of ribbon
  used, lets cut about 6 feet from the roll. A
  convenient way to measure this is to hold the bolt

in your hand straight out from your face and pull
a length of ribbon back to your nose. Hence the
term nose length. This is approximately 2 feet
and must be repeated 3 times.
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• This length will make a good size bow for
  corsages or small pots. Of course, larger of
  smaller bows can be made using different lengths
  or widths of ribbon.

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• Notice that the ribbon has a shiny side and a
  dull side.

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• Hold the ribbon at one end with the thumb and
  fore-finger of your right hand shiny side toward
  you. Hold your left thumb in position as
  illustrated. Reverse hands if you are left-handed.

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• Lay the ribbon over the left thumb nail (long
  side toward you, shiny side up) with about 2
  inches above the thumb.

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• Pull this 2 inch piece under the thumb and to the
  left with the fingers of the left hand. This
  forms a loop that will hide the wire later.

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• Pull the ribbon half way around the thumb,
  lifting fingers as necessary and holding again.
  The ribbon should now be dull side up and away
  from your body.

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• The ribbon must be twisted to have the shiny
  side showing on the bow. Lift the 1st finger,
  holding with the 2nd, make a ½ twist directly
  behind the thumb nail and catch with the 1st
  finger.

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• The shiny side should be now be up with the twist
  you just made under your thumb.

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• Make a loop about 1 to 3 inches in length by
  pulling the ribbon behind the thumb, lifting the
  fingers as necessary and holding again. The
  ribbon should now be toward you, dull side up.

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• Lift the 2nd finger and make a half twist in back
  of the thumb to get the shiny side up.

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• Make a loop 1 to 2 inches in length as you did on
  the opposite side.

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• To finish the bow, continue this process from
  side to side, twisting the ribbon after each loop
  to get the shiny side up. It is not important at
  this point for the loops to line up exactly or
  look good. Do not give up!

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• When you reach the end of the ribbon, one or more
  streamers should added. Cut a piece of ribbon 5
  to 10 inches in length.

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• Holding the streamer in the middle, shiny side
  up, crush it into the bow at the bottom tip of
  the thumb.

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• Grasp it with the left finger and thumb.

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• Push a piece of wire between the ribbon and
  thumbnail as illustrated.

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• Push the end between the 1st and 2nd fingers and
  under the thumb.

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• Pull the two ends of the wire together behind the
  bow.

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• Twist these wires together close to the ribbon
  until you feel that the wire is holding tightly
  enough to prevent slipping. Take the bow off
  your thumb.

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• Hold the bow up-side-down with your right hand.

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• Without crushing the ends of the bows, slip your
  left hand over the ribbon from behind and pull
  tightly. Twist the wire to tighten the knot.

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• Looking at the front of the bow, streamers
  hanging down, take each loop with your 1st finger
  and shape the ribbon with a snatching/twisting
  motion. If the loops slip, you have not tightened
  the wire enough. Go back to that step.

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• Some florists use only the thumb method or a
  variation of it because it can be used for all
  florist work, whereas the pot bow has limited use.

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• One advantage of the pot bow is that it is easy
  to learn how to make, which makes it especially
  useful for part-time or seasonal help. It is
  also widely used in garden centers or other
  businesses where ribbons are often needed. A
  disadvantage is that it can only be used with a
  9 or larger ribbon, making it useless for small
  work, such as corsages.

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• Begin the bow by cutting 6 feet (3 nose lengths)
  from the bolt. Roll this over the left hand,
  (shiny side up) into a circle about 6 inches in
  diameter until all the ribbon is in the circle.
  Reverse hands if you are left-handed.

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• Fold the two sides to meet in the center to form
  a figure 8.

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• Fold this into equal size loops and crease the
  center with your fingers.

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• Trim each corner of this creased center with a
  pair of florist shears

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• as illustrated.

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• Slip a florist wire or pick wire between the two
  loops and pull to the center.

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• Pull the two ends of the wire together.

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• Twist these ends so that the ribbon is held
  securely

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• as illustrated.

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• Place the first finger of each hand inside one
  end of loops.

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• With the right 1st finger, pull the inside loop
  out to the side.

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• Now pull the loop forward and toward the bottom
  set of loops. This is a critical step. The loop
  must slip into the notches cut previously. You
  can feel it as it slips into place.

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• When it has slipped into the notch, this loop
  should stand out and be parallel to the top and
  bottom loops. Do Not proceed until this is done
  correctly.

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• With your fingers in the same set of loops, pull
  a loop out in the left-hand side and snatch it
  back and into the notch as before.

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• Complete this end of the ribbon by pulling loops
  from alternated sides. Now, turn the other end
  up and complete it in a similar manner.

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• Re-tighten the wire from behind if necessary.

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• The ribbon can be shaped if needed by moving the
  loop with a snatching-twisting motion. If the
  loops slip, tighten the wire again.

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• If streamers are desired from this bow, they must
  be made separately. These are sometimes called
  false or fake streamers.

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• Cut a piece of ribbon about 20 inches for a 6
  pot, or other length depending on size of the pot.

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• With the shiny side up, grasp the ribbon in the
  center of its length and make small gathers,
  until you hold the width of the ribbon accordion
  style between your fingers.

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• Pull the two streamers, ends down, to form an
  up-side-down V. Roll the two sides of the
  center of the ribbon together to form a tip
  suitable for wiring.

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• Wire this tip with a pick wire or florist wire
  making sure streamers remain in desired position.

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• After the bow has been put into position, the
  streamers can be slipped in beside it and appear
  as natural as a hand tied streamers. The
  streamers may also be wired to the bow by simply
  wrapping the wires of the streamers and bow
  together.

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• The finished ribbon may have as many streamers as
  desired.

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• You may wish to cut a design in the streamers,
  especially for holiday designs.

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• The End