Easy & Sweet Button Hairbow tutorial

Hello hello cutie gals!

It's getting close to the end of term now, and I have a little more time on my hands now yippee yippee yay~

Today I'll show you how to make this super sweet hairbow. You might be able to tell, but I made it out of the scraps left over from my Himekaji Bolero Tutorial, so it's a nice way to make an outift coordinate better as well as use up the last bits of fabric that are too large to throw away but too small to use on a new project.

Difficulty: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - Beginner

I did say that I'd also make a tutorial on how to create a cute cardigan chain for the bolero too, but it was a bit of a fail. Although I thought I had the materials I needed, it turns out I didn't, and when I tried a different way, I was too engrossed on making it work that I forgot to take enough photos for a tutorial.

Anyways.

Let's just be grateful for another tutorial!

Materials

• Chosen fabric
• Thick lace - 6 cm wide is ideal for this project, but not wider than 8
• 3 clear mini elastic hairbands
• 1 3cm diameter button (1 inch also works)
• Embroidery thread/a thread thicker than sewing machine thread for decorative purposes)
• Scissors
• Sewing needle
• Sewing machine
• Tailors chalk/graphite pencil

Method

1. Start by cutting four rectangles, two small 9x15cm, two large 12x18cm
   
   
   
2. Sew the two small rectangles right sides together, leaving a one-inch opening and clipping the corners, then repeat with the large rectangles, as so

   

   
   
3. Turn the two rectangles so it is now right side out and hand-stitch the openings you left

   

   
   
4. Cut a thick piece of lace, 33cm long, and sew the ends together with a 5mm seam allowance
5. Put the lace loop around the small rectangle
6. You can use some yarn or string, but I use little clear hair elastics around the middle to sort of hold the nice bow shape the way I want. I put on on the small rectangle with the lace to first get it centred, then one on the large rectangle, then use another to hold the two pieces together.

   

   
   

   
   
7. Cut a short strip of fabric that is four centimetres wide

   

   
   
8. Fold it as if it's double fold bias tape -- so fold the edges into the middle, and then fold in half

   

   
   
9. Sew a 3mm top stitch along both sides to secure

   

   
   
10. Now we will put this in the middle of the bow, so the elastics are covered 

    

    
    
11. Sew the ends together, so the loop is as small as possible, then cut the excess off

    

    
    
12. Now get the clip that you'll use, I prefer these flat barrettes, as you can get a pack of assorted sizes pretty reasonably online

    

    
    
13. Now all you have to do is slide part of the hairclip into the loop!

    

    
    
14. If you'd like to, you can stop here, but now I'll teach you how to do the sweet button covering
15. Cut out a square of fabric that has a width about 2x the diameter of the button you are covering. Make sure your button is 4 hole

    

    My button is 2.5cm wide, square is 5cm
    

16. Cut the square into a circle
    
    
    
17. Get a nice embroidery thread on the thicker side, this should match your button and be in the colours you want your stitch to be
    
    
    
18. Knot the end of the length of thread, and add on the needle to the other end
    
    
    
19. Close to the edge of the circle, make some longish gathering stitches all around the edge
20. Place your button in the middle of the circle, the fabric sides should cover it even on all edges
    
21. Once you have your button nicely in the middle, slowly pull the thread tight, so the fabric comes inwards, covering the outside of the button
    
22. Now the front of the button should be nice and smooth!
    
    
    
23. With the remaining thread tail, use the buttonholes on the back of the button to guide you to make the standard "x" shape. I went over each stitch twice just so it could be a bit thicker.
    
    
    
24. I was getting lazy now, so I just hot glued my button on to finish, but I'd recommend using the final thread tail to quickly stitch on the button to the  bow
    
    
     And now we're all finished! I love to make a cute ol' bow
    
    They're such a great short craft that are good to do when you want to get a little creative, but are short on time, or low on energy. Bows also make a great gift for a friend, or to add to a gift so you can decorate a present with something practical!