How To Make Wedding Bow Ties…

Lunch time treats for you today my friends with this cuter that cute  'How to make wedding bow ties' DIY tutorial brought to you by regular Love My Dress contributors, Michelle Kelly of Pocketful of Dreams, and Manchester wedding photographer Katy Lunsford.

Michelle is a talented wedding planner and stylist who loves to get her craft on. I adore her DIY tutorials for Love My Dress, more of which you can see here.  And I especially love this! How cute? What a delightful way to add an essence of fun and retro cuteness to your wedding day.

Over to you Michelle and Katy

"This is one of my favourite DIY projects ever. I actually made it for a little boys birthday party but I think it would make a cool addition at a wedding too, either a quirky ceremony backdrop or to jazz up your dessert table.

The technique is really simple too, I've said it before that DIY should be enjoyable, not a mammouth or stressful task, there's enough of those in the course of your wedding planning without adding more to the list…" 

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Katy Lunsford

Red and blue bow ties - How to make a bow tie tutorial

With no sewing involved, just a few elastic bands and safety pins even the most challenged of DIY-ers should find this easy. I also used old scraps of fabric to make them, choosing a classic stripes and polka dots look for mine, but of course you can use any fabric and colourway co-ordinating with your chosen scheme.

And these cute bow-ties are so versatile too, add a safety pin to the back and you have an interesting pin for people to wear. Or why not add them to presents or favours for an alternative gift bow?

You will need;

Chosen material
Pinking Shears
Elastic bands ( 1 per bow)
Safety pins (1 per bow)
Fishing wire (clear plastic string)

Red and blue bow ties - How to make a bow tie tutorial

How to make a Bow-Tie Garland;

Step 1…
Cut the material into rectangles (mine were about 10 inches by 7 inches) ~ if you use pinking shears this will prevent the fabric from fraying. I made them all the same size but think they would look just as good in varying sizes.

Taking the longest side of the rectangle fold it over so it is folded just over halfway, then take the other side and fold over so the two sides meet in the middle and slightly overlap ~ making a kind of tube and giving you neat folded fabric edges that will make up the sides of your bow.

Now you need to fold in the other edges ~ use the same principle as above and fold into the middle so they slightly overlap.

Step 2…
You now have a smaller rectangle of folded fabric ~ pinch it in the middle and secure with an elastic band, wrapped around a few times ~ this will form the shape of your bow. ~ Have a play around with the fabric and neaten it up where it needs it.

Step 3…
Now make a strip of fabric that can wrap around the elastic band and form the centre of your bow-tie. Again I just cut this with pinking shears and folded the long sides over to give a neat edge. You can wrap it around a few times, then secure at the back with a safety pin.

Repeat this for all your bows and once you have enough thread the fishing wire through the strip of fabric at the centre of your bows to hang them in a line.

Red and blue bow ties - How to make a bow tie tutorial

How easy peasy pie was that? And what a fun and creative way to add a bit of craft and colour in to your wedding day reception styling 🙂

I would like to extend my huge thanks to Michelle and Katy for this.   These are two suppliers really rockin' it for me at the moment; I adore their passion for what they do and their excitement at sharing their DIY projects with Love My Dress readers.  Please visit their websites here and here and show them some love in the comments box below.

Now, who's going all dickie bow? I'd love to know if any of my readers are going to attempt this tutorial?!

Much love all,

Annabel

You can find more inspiration from Michelle via TwitterFacebookPinterest and the Pocketful of Dreams Wedding Blog.  Also take a peek at lots more lovely bridal inspiration boards here on Love My Dress or here on Pinterest. 
Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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