bringing back the big bow

one night when i was putting alex to bed she said to me, "we should make lonnie a bowtie" (lonnie is our boxer dog). i know it's been done before but i thought it was a great idea (it had never crossed my mind before). i found some cheap plastic clip-on type pieces that i thought would be good for making a bow that just attaches to his collar. i made my paper pattern which consisted of two rectangles: one that was twice as long and wide as the main bow section and one that was twice as long and wide as the center section of the bow. first fold each piece in half and stitch down the length, then turn rightside out and iron with the seam in the back middle for each. next tuck one end of the main section of the bow into the other end, folding under and ironing the raw hem and stitch this seam. you could do the same with the center section but i just folded it in half and zig zag stitched the ends together. then just slip the main bow section into the middle section and you're basically done with the bow. i stitched the back of the middle section to the bow just to secure it well to where i wanted it positioned. finally all i did was glue it to the plastic clip-on piece. lonnie didn't exactly enjoy modeling the bowtie for us but he looks so cute in it. i loved the bow so much that i decided to make some more into hair bows for alex and myself. i made the bows the exact same way but insted of glueing them to a clip-on piece i glued them onto those same metal barrettes that i use for the 80s style ribbon barrettes. i slid the top part of the barrettes under the back section of the bow band and glued. i then cut out pieces of foam and glued those on the barrette and middle section of the bow to make them non-slip. alex has been wearing a bow every day since rotating through all the colors whether they match her outfit or not. i've worn them a few times as well and i think they're super cute.