Craft Post - Hime Bow Hairclip

For a long while now I have always wanted to get my hands on one of those gigantic bows that every himegyaru seem to have clipped onto their bouffants. Like these ones:

Remember that large Taobao order that I had made a while ago? (I know you probably don't, but let's just say for the sake of the blog that you did) Two of the things that I had ordered went out of stock and one of them were some JD replica bows that I had ordered from a shop called Rebecca :(. After a few days of scouring around the website, I couldn't find any other bows that looked closely like the ones at Rebecca so I gave up. It doesn't help matters either that there were some stolen photos and no actual photos of the items themselves -.-.

It wasn't until a few days ago that I thought: "well if I can't buy one, I might as well make one". I mean if you look at the above picture, the bows in the picture doesn't look hard to make. So make one I did.

Materials used:
- fabric
- ruler
- pen
- scissors
- thread
- needle
- notebook (optional, I only used this to write down the measurements)
- alligator clip (took it off a flower clip I no longer use), can also use barrette clip
- glue gun
- iron (optional)

 
First, measure and cut out 3 different sized fabrics. The large size will be the outer bow, the medium size will be the inner bow, and the small size will be the wrap the keeps the two bows together. The dimensions that I had used to cut out the fabric are here:

Outer: W: 12cm (4.7"), L: 28cm (11")
Inner: W: 12cm (4.7"), L: 16cm (6.3")
Wrap: W: 12cm (4.7"), L: 7cm (2.8")

The sizes doesn't have to be the same as the ones that I had used to make the hair bow. It can be smaller or bigger for instance.  By the time I got to the sewing phase, I realized that I didn't use an iron to smooth out the wrinkles and folds. You don't have to use an iron unless you feel the fabric is a bit too wrinkly.

Take the large size first. Fold it in half and sew across the opening. 

Turn the fabric inside out. 

I made a mistake with this part, but it won't be noticeable in the end result. For those that still want to do it the right way, you should fold the fabric in half again but with the sewn line facing you instead of blank space. Once folded, sew along the opening.  Afterwards, turn the fabric inside out.

Repeat the steps with the medium size.  You should have something like this.

Now stack the inner piece on top of the outer piece. Fold both of them into an accordion shape like in the picture. Fold downward first then upward on both sides. 

For the small or center piece, do the same thing that had been done with the outer and inner pieces, but don't fold it in half again. You will need the length to wrap it around both "bows".

Sew the wrap closed after wrapping it around both bows tightly.

Cut off the excess fabric.

Hot glue the alligator clip or barrette onto the back of the bow.

You are done! :D Now you have a pretty hime bow to take home and clip into your hair. <3 I am planning on making a few more, but in blue and pink so keep an eye out for that.