Oversized Costume Bow Tutorial

I was searching on Ebay for a bow to go with my sister’s Halloween costume. I found a few that were fine, but cheaply made and really nothing special. They were going for twenty dollars! Are you kidding me? Um…no. I’ll keep my twenty bucks thank you very much. I’ve made whole costumes before so a bow can’t be that hard right? A little bit of digging through my scrap bin and I found some purple fabric. Perfect! I made a plan in my head and gave it a go. I’m pleased to say the first try was a success. Don’t you love it when things actually go as planned?

Making this costume bow was even easier than I thought it was going to be. If you can sew a few straight lines you’ll be just fine! I wanted a comically big bow, but if you’re aiming for something a little more subtle don’t be afraid to adjust your measurements. To make this oversized costume bow you’ll need some fabric, matching thread, lightweight fusible interfacing, and stuffing.

• Cut a square of fabric and a piece of lightweight fusible interfacing 10″ x 10″ for the bow. Cut a strip of fabric and interfacing each 3″ x 5″ for the band to go around it. Iron the interfacing to the fabric.
• Fold the square in half with the right sides facing in.
• Use a 1/4″ seam allowance to sew along the sides as shown below. Make sure you leave a 2″ opening in the middle.

• Pull the fabric through the opening so that the right sides are facing out.
• Make a guide in the middle using pins.

• Using the longest stitch on your sewing machine sew where the pins are (but obviously take them out so you don’t sew over them!). Leave plenty of thread at the beginning and end of your stitch since you’re going to use it to gather the fabric in a bit.
• Fill each side with stuffing.
• Sew the opening shut, but be careful not to sew over the loose threads.

• Pull the threads to gather the middle of the bow. I like to tie the ends together then wrap them around the middle a few times.

• Now prepare the middle piece of the bow by folding the strip of fabric in half lengthwise with the right sides facing in. Sew the longest side using a 1/4″ seam allowance.
• Turn it right side out.
• Fold each raw end inside. Sew one closed. It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect because you won’t even see it.

• Fold the piece in half lengthwise and wrap it around the middle of the gathered bow.
• Place the closed end into the open end. Hand sew it together. This is another one of those things that doesn’t have to be too pretty since no one should be able to see it. Hooray for sloppy hand sewing!

Now that you’re all done you can attach the bow to whatever hair accessory you’d like.

I’m so happy that I found a fix. The bow will be the perfect addition to her costume!