Bow-it-All Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Did you see my Christmas wreath with the big Bow-it-All bow on Wednesday?

Yep, this one...

Did you fancy a tutorial to go with that make? Hope the answer is yes, because here it is!

You Will Need:

Zutter Bow-it-All*
Hobbycraft 8 inch Rattan Wreath*
Berry/Wire Hobby Bag Red* or Hobbycraft Christmas Silver Berry Pick with Cone*
Ribbons - I used two 1.5 inch (3.8cm) wide red ribbon and a 8mm wide brown ribbon
Scissors

The Zutter Bow-it-All is available in the Blitsy Black Friday sale* so you might want to catch it at its bargain price and they ship worldwide - just saying!

Berry confession - I bought the fab berries you can see in the photo from Hobbycraft* but when I came to write this tutorial up they seemed to be all gone *sad face* so I've linked to a couple of alternatives you might want to try instead. The ribbon was from my stash but as you are at Hobbycraft you might as well checkout their ribbon too*.)


Step 1

Set up the Bow-it-All to make a 4 inch wide double bow by placing the pegs in the 3 inch and 7 inch holes on the middle row and the 3 inch and 6 inch holes on the bottom row. I also wanted to add a piece of ribbon to tie the bow onto the wreath so used the outer 'Helping Hands Peg' holes.

Wrap the thin brown ribbon around the helping hands pegs and clamp the ribbon in place with the helping hand clips.

Cut an arrow point into the tail end of the bow ribbon (the end to the ribbon on the left of the picture above) so that you can easily keep track of it when you are tying off at the end.

Now start wrapping the working end of the ribbon (the bit that isn't arrow-cut, and may still be attached to the spool) around the two middle row pegs in a figure of eight. I wrapped the ribbon around three times.

Step 2

Once you have the number of loops you want it is time to tie the bow. Now this is where it gets hard to explain in writing and if you get stuck go check out one of the videos on YouTube.

a. Take the working end of the ribbon to the back with your right hand then wrap the tail / arrow-cut end forward, over the top of the loops, through the middle of the two pegs with your left hand. Then pass the tail / arrow-cut end under the ribbon wrapped around the pegs and through to the back again.

b. At the back swap hands, so that the tail/ arrow-cut end is now in your right hand and the working end is in your left hand (told you this was hard to explain in writing didn't I?).

c. Now make a loop with the working end ribbon in your left hand and wrap the tail / arrow-cut end over the top of the working end, round, under and through to make a knot.

d. Swap hands again so that the working end is back in your right hand and the tail / arrow-cut end is in your left hand and pull the ribbon ends to tie the knot. Check you are happy with the way the front looks before pulling the knot fully tight.

Yeah, not so easy to describe but super easy to do once you have the hang of it, honest!


Step 3

Now repeat but this time use the front two pegs.

This time when you come to tie the infamous bow knot make sure that you wrap the tail / arrow-cut end around the first bow you made, sitting on the back pegs, and the placement ribbon that has been minding its own business between the helping hands pegs too.

Tie the knot as tight as you can, it helps to scrunch up the loops and pull alternatively left and right on the two ribbon ends. Then cut the ends of the ribbons.

Once you have finished you just pull the bow off the pegs, turn it the other way up, you have been looking at it from the front but upside down when it was on the pegs, and fluff out the loops to how you want them.

Step 4 

Stick your berries of choice into the rattan wreath, if the berries are on a wire they should fit nicely between the pieces of rattan. If not you may have to use a glue or tie the berries on.

Step 5

Now turn the wreath over and use the brown piece of ribbon on your bow to tie it to the wreath. How simple is that?

Well that is another Christmas decoration done! I've made a grand total of two Christmas decorations now. Yay! I'm on my way. If you are tempted by the Bow-it-all don't forget to go check out the Blitsy Black Friday sale.

Kim

[*Just so that you know some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links and the Blitsy link is a referral link.]