How to Make Korker Bows

Gather the items in the above picture and what do you get?  A korker bow!  You know, those curly little bows that are adorable on little girls but are expensive and seem like they'd be easy to make?  Turns out they are!  First off, pick your ribbon.  I'm showing this tutorial with grosgrain ribbon, 5'8" wide.  Most of the korker bows I make are with a narrower ribbon.  The width of your ribbon matters because you will be using that measurement to determine what size dowels you should use.  My dowels are equal in width to my ribbon in this tutorial, but it doesn't have to be.  Most ribbon that comes on the dollar rolls at WalMart would work well with a 3/16" dowel, or a 1/4".  So gather your scissors, ribbon, clothespins and dowels.

Start by wrapping your ribbon around one end of your dowel.  To secure the end of the ribbon, attach a clothespin.  Wind your ribbon around your dowel, pinning with another clothespin at the end.

Once you've wrapped all your dowels, put them on a cookie sheet.  You'll be throwing them in the oven.  You can also line your oven rack in foil, if you prefer, but I find a cookie sheet to be easier.

Set your oven to 275 degrees F.

Bake for 25 minutes.  If you're unsure if your ribbons are done, try unwinding a bit of one.  If it stays curled, it's done.  If it goes totally straight, it's not.

 Trim your ribbons to the length you want.  At this point, I like to use Fray Check on the ends of the ribbons.  Some people prefer to Fray Check at the end, but this way I'm less confused as to which ones I've done.  I have a "done" and "to do" pile which works well for me!  Then I cut a piece of elastic cord and lay it on the table.  Line your ribbons up on top of your cord, then tie the cord in a knot.  Or, you can sew them all together in the middle.  You'll end up with a cluster of ribbons that looks like this:

Attach an alligator clip to the back (I hot glue mine) and you're all set.  I like to cover my clips in coordinating ribbon.