American Apparel Bow Tutorial

I love bows. Anyone who knows me knows I love bows. So when I found out that American Apparel sold ginormous ones, I had to get one! But when I went to the local store, my frugal self frowned upon the $14.00 price tag. $14?! I had to let this one go because with that kind of money, I could have bought two Chipotle burritos, let's be real.

Flash forward a couple months and I ended up inside one of the Downtown Chicago stores looking longingly at the wall of bows and couldn't get myself to buy one. I crossed the street to the Forever 21 store and looked in their hair section and I found myself face-to-face with the exact same bows for only $1.80! So naturally I bought all four colors they had. I came back the next day and all of the bows were bought and when I checked online, there were all sold out! 

I fell in love with my Forever 21 dupes but I was so frustrated that they were sold out that I did some research and discovered how easy there were to make! At most, each DIY bow costs less than $1. So let's get onto the tutorial!

My bow collection (Forever 21 and handmade)

MATERIALS:

• fabric: I found all of my fabric at my local Hancock Fabrics in the remnant bin. This bin holds all of the leftover fabrics and is drastically marked down. They are typically no bigger than 2 yards and on the day I went, the bin was 50% off so I ended up spending only $5 for a total 4.5 yards.
• scissors
• french barrette clips: For American Apparel-sized bows, I used 3-inch french barrettes but anything from 2.5in to 3.5in works. These can be found at your local craft store. I found mine in the beads section at my local Michaels.
• hot glue gun

• Cut a 12 inch by 12 inch piece.
• Cut a 4 inch by 2.5 inch piece.

1. Fold the larger square up 1/3 of the sheet. Using the hot glue gun, glue where the red line indicates.
2. Fold the top third onto the bottom.
3. Move this edge to the middle.
4. Fold the left side in about half-way and glue where the red line indicates.
5. Fold the right side onto the left side.
6. Turn over the fabric and pinch these three sections in your hands (see below). 

This part took awhile for me to master but once you see these three folds, put dots of glue in between the center folds to hold it together.

• With the smaller rectangle, repeat steps 1-3.

• Place a dot of glue on the center folds and place smaller rectangle in the middle.

• Flip the bow over and fold the bottom half up (you may need to trim this if it is long). Glue in place.

• For a professional look, unclip french barrette and fold over the upper fabric as seen above and glue in place to the back of the barrette. 

• Place a dot of glue on the center of the bow and roll the barrette onto the center. It should look like the above and below picture. This part takes a lot of practice in centering it so practice before you glue it. But the great part is, if you mess up, you can always pull apart the section and take off the glue once it has dried!

AND VOILA! You have your American Apparel bow dupe! That wasn't too bad was it?

I compared the Forever 21 bow (top) to the American Apparel bow in stores and they are the exact same size. The green bow (bottom) is one that I made. Not too shabby of a dupe, eh?

Once you start making bows, you can't stop! Pictured above is a beautiful lilac bow (top) and a Christmas themed one (bottom).

WEARING BOWS

Below are some of my favorite ways of wearing these bows. They can be overwhelming at first but you're almost guaranteed to make a statement. :)

This tutorial can also be used to make smaller bows. A medium bow tends to use a 10in x 10in square and a 3.5in x 2in rectangle. But I'll let you guys experiment to find the perfect size for you!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this tutorial and feel free to comment below with your DIY bows or questions! And now I'll leave you guys with this picture of Luke sporting one of my favorite bows...shhh!