Tulle Bow Tutorial

So I did a quick pinterest the other day to see if I could find a tutorial on making little tulle bows which could be used as hair clips/brooches/sewn onto headbands etc and to my surprise there was a distinct lack of them. I decided that the internet deserved one so here you go... your very welcome :)

 

You will need: 

• Some tulle or net fabric. I used some 6inch tulle which came on a roll which was left over from our wedding decorations (like this). You will need one piece approx 55inch by 6inch (enough to wrap around a place mat about 6 times) and one piece which is just 3inch by 6inch.

• A regular coffee mug mat

• Scissors

• Matching thread and needle

• A Pin

 Using your coffee mug mat, starting at the back put the tulle about 2/3 of the way across making sure it crosses the middle of the mat. 

Wrap the tulle all the way around the mat until you have 6 layers of tulle covering the front. Making sure once again that the end of the tulle is 2/3 of the way across the back and passing over the center. 

Ensure you have a hold of all the layers and carefully slide the mat out from the middle.

 Pop a pin into the center through all layers to hold it together (the folds want to be to the side and the open edges to the top/bottom). 

 

Using a basic running stitch and matching thread sew through all layers from one open end to the other. 

Pull the thread to gather the bow in the center and wrap the thread around a couple of times. Secure with a little stitched knot. 

Taking your small piece of tulle, and starting at the back wrap it around the middle of the bow 2 or 3 times. Trim any excess making sure the end is at the back and hidden in the middle. 

Using your needle and tread sew a few stitches to secure the loose end down so that it doesn't unravel.

Finally using your scissors you need to carefully cut through the folded edges at the end of the bows so that they poof out nicely. Do this part carefully and trim any stray bits which might end up sticking out. 

And there you have a pretty finished tulle bow. You can pop a bobby pin through the end and wear it in your hair, a brooch for your coat or it can be sewn onto a garment for a bit of upcycling glamour.

I would love to see what you decide to use these for, so if you use this tutorial to make one for yourself leave me a comment with your picture or instagram me @thediyfox

Pinata!

Hello! Welcome back... with a bang (or a pop, or in this case just a collapse!)

I needed to play a bit of toddler pinata the other day, for those that don't know toddler pinata is where you have a trap door in the bottom, and use ribbon to release the door. Only one ribbon has a knot in, so the others simply just pull out rather than bashing the crap out of the cardboard figure.

I tried to figure out how to adapt a store bought pinata, but couldn't for the life of me work it out, though it turns out I could have just used a craft knife on the bottom and it would have been an simple as that. But anyway, that's no fun, and not the DIY Fox way right, so I set about making my own. It also turned out to actually be a lot cheaper to make my own, I got to pick the colours and even have tissue paper to spare.

I started out with some cardboard from the recycling bin and was just going to make a box shape. I figured whilst taping it though that it would be a lot simpler to just make a cone with an old cereal box and tape a circular base onto the bottom with a trap door cut in it. I then set about covering it is roughly chopped tissue paper strips in 3 different colours and just attached with pva glue.

The final stage was to cut out a ton of little tiny slits and place the strips of ribbon through each one, tying a knot in the end of one of the strings. Then loosely tape the hole up and cover the tape with another piece of tissue paper and voila!

It didn't go 100% to plan as the knot came through the hole, so I had to tie up another one mid game, and the string I had to hold it didn't hole out with the weight so we had just stand their holding the top of it. But it served its purpose and there was a sweetie fallout!