Curly/korker Hair Bows

Save yourself some money buying those boutique bows and make them at home yourself. They're easy! I promise!

Step 1: Supplies

Gather your supplies. For this bow I used:

1/4" ribbon
1/4" wooden dowels
small binder clips
hair clip
glue gun
strong thread

If you want to use wider or narrower ribbon, you may want to experiment with different sized dowels. Grosgrain ribbon can also be used and looks really cute. I generally use upholstery thread, but you could even use dental floss if you want.

Step 2: Wrap Your Dowel With Ribbon

Secure your ribbon to one end of the dowel with a binder clip. Wrap it in a spiral until the entire dowel is covered. Secure the other end with a second clip. If you run out of ribbon somewhere in the middle, just add another length and secure with an additional clip.

Step 3: Baking Your Ribbon

The more ribbon you curl, the fuller the bow will be. These eleven dowels will make two medium full bows. For small girls you may want to make teeny bows, so this would make several.

Continue wrapping dowels until you have several. Set them on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about twenty minutes. Let them cool completely.

Step 4: Unwrap

Pull of the clips and gently unwrap your ribbon.

Step 5: Cutting

Your ribbons may look a little wonky on the ends. Trim off any weird pieces.

Cut the ribbons into desired length. These pieces are about four inches long and since I want the bows fairly full, I've used six dowels worth of ribbon.

ETA: Depending on the type of ribbon you use, you may need to seal the ends to prevent fraying. Acrylic ribbon can be sealed by holding the cut end near a flame briefly until it melts very slightly, or dab the ends with Fray Check. Some ribbons may be just fine if you cut at a 45 degree angle.

Step 6: Tying

Center your little bundle of ribbon on a piece of thread long enough to work with. Twelve inches is more than enough. Kind of mix them up a bit so the colors don't clump together too much.

Gather the thread tightly and tie a good, secure knot. Wrap it around one more time and tie it again.

Step 7: Finishing

Glue your hair clip to the bundle. You may want to line the clip with ribbon first, but with a full bow like this, I don't find it terribly necessary.

Once the glue has set, flip it over and trim the ends if you'd like to clean it up a bit.

Now go make a little girl happy!

Comments

[ang3lapatrick78]

What did I do wrong I burnt ribbon had oven at 250 only in 10mins

[IAguirre]

I really love this bows, but how can I attach a ponytail holder to them?

[Jenelle JoshuaA]

Hot glue. Or wrap some yarn around a few times and then knot and secure it

[Mickiswing]

It's not too hard.  Before you get to step 6 where you start tying your bow with thread, I would thread a needle, two strands of thread and knot it really well.  Instead of just tying, I would bring the needle up and down through the stack of ribbons a few times.  Then push your needle through the middle of a ponytail holder, wrap the thread around once or twice, then back through the holder again.  Repeat until it feels secure. 

I hope that helps!  Good luck!

[IAguirre]

Thank you so much. I also have another question, I made one the other day but its not as round looking as yours. Mine seems to look a little droopy, how can I make it be puffy and round looking. Thanks a million.

[karen.earhartgraham]

Before you bake them lightly spray each dowel with a light starch spray. This helps the curl keep its shape

[KristinM5]

Try a little spray starch before baking. Keeps them "stiffer".

[Mickiswing]

I couldn't say for sure without seeing a picture.  But I would guess that either you need to add a few more ribbons to the cluster to puff it up a bit. 

[karen.earhartgraham]

After you tie the pieces together take your ponytail and loop it around the gathered pieces eith with a small slip knot

[karen.earhartgraham]

After i wrap the dowels with the ribbon i sray the dowel with a light starch spray before i bake the dowels, it gives the curl better form and it last longer.

[julie.a.edwards.35]

I believe several years ago I used knitting needles, that still ok, also if I did not have the clips what could I use to secure both ends?

[KristinM5]

You can also use WOODEN clothes pins (plastic ones will melt)

[barbara.treanor]

hi julie..u can use wooden pegs

[beamerpook]

I just wanted to point out that using your oven to bake these can be wasteful if you're only making a few. If you're not in a hurry, just load up the dowels and set them on a tray, and wait until the next time you make dinner (something around the 350 - 375°F range) and then toss the tray in after you take your food out. Don't open the oven for a couple of hours, and the residual heat should be enough to "set" your korkers.

And here's for you Celcius users:

http://www.metric-conversions.org/temperature/fahr...

[sam.hilditch.58]

hi a quick question .. How do u keep the White so white?!

Iv made Korea bobbles a few times now and the White always goes an off white mucky colour, today's attempt went cream!

[beamerpook]

Could it be that you're using too high heat, and it's mildly burning/browning your ribbon? Or it could be that the brand/type of ribbon you're using is sensitive to heat?

[SandraM2]

Hi, I'm making a firecracker shirt for my daughter's soccer team and I wanted to add the curly ribbon to the end of the fire cracker. So my question is: will the curl hold up in the wash? I'm instructing all of my parents to wash the shirts in a cold wash because I'm also tie dyeing them. Please advise!

[Mickiswing]

I've never actually tried washing them, so I can't say for certain. But, I would think the curl will hold up in a cold wash/air dry cycle.

I would test a couple pieces of ribbon through the wash before doing it for sure!

[naomi.sanchez.79]

Hi there. I recently read up some instructions on making these somewhere else and after the lady had wound the ribbons onto the dowels and clipping them, she wet them under the tap before putting them onto a tray line with aluminium paper and then baking them in the oven. Is there any reason as to why you don't wet the ribbons prior to baking them? Thanks. :)

[Mickiswing]

The only reason would be that I learned how to do this without wetting them :) They don't seem to need it and have held strong for years. I would bet that either way works just fine!