My mother is never satisfied with the length of her shirt sleeves. She prefers them shorter and thus every few moths when she gets into one of her tantrums I find two cut off pieces of one of her printed shirts in my room. "Do something creative", she always says, so this time I ventured to try and fulfill her greatest commandment to me.

This tutorial will guide you to creating those cute, over sized bows that are at times too expensive to even glance at.

Step 1: Materials

You will need:

1. Sleeve cut offs or pieces of square material. They can be any color or texture you like. Since I use my mother's shirts, they are usually floral and pretty.
2. Scissors
3. Thread and Needle (or sewing machine if you fancy that)
4. Buttons or little decorations to cover your stitching in the middle of the bow.
5. A backing piece if you want to use it as a barrette. It can also be sewn onto a head band.

Step 2: Stitching

So as I am using a sleeve end, there are two gaping holes in my bow.

1. Sew the holes in your bow, using any type of stitch you like. I used a weird version of the overcast stitch where just before I pull the stitch through I pass it behind the thread so it locks the thread in place.
2. In the end you should have two pieces of material that have been completely sewn together around the edges.

NB: The material should be preferably stitched so that it is square. This will make the bow appear more even and professional.

Step 3: Pleating

1. Depending on how many pleats you want in your bow, fold the material evenly and pinch in the middle.
2. Run your needle and thread through the middle of the pleats to secure the bow.
3. Separate the two layers of the bow to flare the bow and give it a fluffy effect.

Step 4: Embellish

Add whatever you may to cover the stitches on one side of the pleats.
I used buttons i had taken off a skirt I bought. The buttons didn't match the skirt but they do the bow. They add to the sailor theme going with the blue and white.

Step 5: Secure

If you want to add a clip to the back of the bow:
1. Secure the sides of the fastener to the back of the bow.
NB: I used thread as superglue is messy and detracts from the effort you've put into the bow

If you wish to secure the bow to a head band singly stitch the bow on to the head band.