Korker Bows

There has been some interest shown in the korker bow from my last post (the curly one). They are so very easy - here are the basic instructions.

Curling:

1. Start with ribbon (I use narrow grosgrain, I've never tried anything else, so I don't know if it will work). Wrap it tightly around a dowel, securing each end with a clothespin.
2. Spray the wrapped dowel lightly with starch (you know - the stuff you use with your ironing). Flip it over and repeat. This step can be omitted if desired, but the starch helps the ribbon hold it's shape a little better.
3. Bake in your oven at 275 degrees for 20 minutes.
4. Let cool, and slide the ribbon off the dowel.

Bow Assembly:

There are lots and lots of ways to do this, but this is how I put mine together.

• I start out by cutting lengths of the curled ribbon to slightly longer than the clip I will be mounting them on.
• I use 6-10 pieces depending on how full I want the bow to be.  I also heat seal the ends with a lighter/candle, just to give it a more finished look.
• Stack the pieces on top of each other until you like the way they are laying, then stitch and x through the middle of the ribbons to hold them together.
• wrap a small piece of ribbon around the middle of the bow to cover the stitch, then attach to the clip. This is kind of hard to see in the picture because the curlys are going everywhere, but I promise it's there.

I usually sew my bows onto the clip but with this type of bow, I've found that the best way to attach them is with hot glue (it has to be high temp - low temp glue guns just won't cut it for ribbon). I also cover my clip with ribbon before I glue the bow on.

I hope this isn't too confusing. If anyone is interested in pictures - let me know, and I'd be happy to post some if that helps.