July 7, 2010

Infant Hair Bows & Headbands

About three months ago I welcomed a new niece into my family.  Of course, I had to make her some bows since I just have a little boy and I've never taken the opportunity to learn how to make bows.  My sister-in-law is not into big flashy pink bows that cover most of the babies head so I had to be creative and do a lot of internet searching to come up with the perfect simple bow for her.  
I followed the basic how-to of small bow making but then played with different versions to make them unique.  
Some of the ribbon I found at fabric & craft stores or at Walmart but I got most of my ribbon off of Ebay.  I was able to get a wide variety of colors and design and quantity within my budget.  I now have so much ribbon that I'm constantly looking for projects to use it with.  I even tied some in my hair for the 4th of July!
Some of the bows I matched with specific outfits that my niece had.  



I tried to incorporate some buttons into the bows but I never was very happy with how they turned out.  


The most recent successful experiment was making a knot in the middle of the bow.  It added a new element to the simple bows.  
Another thing I discovered on my search was fold-over elastic.  I used it to make the headbands.  I could only find this online and got mine on ebay.  It is extremely soft and stretchy elastic that lays smoothly on the baby's head.  I just hot glued the ends together and then had ribbon wrapped around to hide the seam.  It comes in a wide variety of colors as well.
I've seen the white flowers at fabric stores near the ribbon.  I think they add a nice sophisticated touch to the bows.  
This final headband/bow is my absolute favorite.  Unfortunately, I can't take credit for it all.  
My sister-in-law bought a headband similar to this one and decided that it wouldn't be hard to duplicate.  She took two pieces of white ribbon and sewed them together on both edges.  She then put thin elastic through the openings of the ribbon and cinched up the ribbon.  I then sewed the ribbon together with both seams facing one way.  I then took one of the white flowers and carefully looped the purple ribbon around it and held it in place with hot glue over the seam edges to hide the seam.
I can see myself making several of these in the future.  Now I just need my own little girl to wear them!  

A few of the websites that I've used frequently to help make my bows are:
Posh n Pretty (Basic Bow)
Paper Seed (Basic Bow)
Girly Things (Wide Variety of Bows)
My Tiny Sweet Cheeks (How to cinch bow in the middle)
Little Millie & Me (Fold-Over Elastic)
These are just a few of the many tutorial that are out there.  If you have questions about any bows or headbands that I've done feel free to leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.  

8 comments:

paperseed said...

Keri, these turned out beautifully! I especially like the brown with pink blossom ribbon. I started making these clips before my daughter was born, and even though she is one and a half now, she STILL doesn't have enough hair to wear one! :-)

Stephani said...

Beautiful! Isn't it fun to have a girl to make things for? I have a new niece coming in a few months and these would be great!

Thanks for joining Crafty Friday.

Anonymous said...

So very cute in little people's hair! They are adorable! Thanks for sharing at It's Party Time Thursday@PonyTails&FishScales!

Leslie said...

All of the bows are so darling! What a lucky little girl to have such a great aunt to make these for her! Thanks for linking up to Hoo's got talent!

Crystal said...

Adorable!!! I love the tiny bows and yours turned out so cute.
-Crystal

Holly Lefevre said...

Look at you go...these are so cute and totally girly! I had big dreams of dressing my daughter in bows...she won;t let me touch her hair. Maybe one day and then I will be making these in every color.

Julie @ Frugal and Fabulous Design said...

These are so cute! And what a fun project.

Thanks for linking up to Fab Friday -

Cheers!

Unknown said...

Very unique bows! They are very girly. I think little girls will like them a lot! I will try to make one of these bows! They look adorable! Can you try to post how to make a bow for a dog?


Have fun making bows!