Cheers! Streamer Bow with Spandex Tutorial

Cheerleading season has finally arrived at my house!  This means my 12 year old will finally put her hair up and out of the way, and there is a lot of it.  As I grew up very much a tomboy, the fancy hair accessories were something that took some getting used to.  Then, I started crafting.  Then, I learned to make hair bows.  I have never looked back, I love making these pretties.

This simple streamer hair bow is great for informal events, like cheer practice, or just for fun.  It is made using spandex and grosgrain ribbon.  The cut ends of the spandex do not fray and it comes in many fun patterns.

Materials:

• Spandex fabric in pattern of your choice.  I got this at Hancock's Fabrics, and only bought 1/8th of a yard.  There will be lots of leftover, so you could make these for gifts at a slumber party.

• 7/8" grosgrain ribbon in coordinating color.

• Spray adhesive.

• Hair elastic, the kind without metal is best.

• Glue gun.

• Fabric scissors.

• Lighter or heat sealer.

First, cut a length of the grosgrain ribbon, about 18 inches, more or less depending on how long you prefer the tails to hang.  Following the instructions on the can, apply spray adhesive to one side of the ribbon.  Press the ribbon, sprayed-side down, onto the wrong side, or back, of the fabric.  

With your fabric scissors, carefully cut the fabric out along the edges of the ribbon.  Cut the ends into a "fishtail" by holding the long ends together at the edge and cutting diagonally toward the center.  I cut both at the same time to make sure the angle is the same, but it can take some practice to get all the ends lined up just so.

Next, pinch your ribbon together at the center.  Using a small amount of hot glue, attach the hair elastic to the under side of the ribbon in the center.  You may have to hold it for a minute until it sets.  Be careful, unless you have asbestos hands!

Finally, take a short piece of ribbon, about two inches long.  Fold it in half long-ways, and use your lighter or heat sealer to seal one end.  Otherwise your ribbon will fray.  Starting with the part that is sealed, glue one end to the underside of your streamer.  Right on the elastic is a good place.  Wrap it around the center, adding glue as necessary, but not so much that it oozes out of the sides.  Once you get to the back, you can see where you need to cut off the extra ribbon.  Cut so that it overlaps a bit, seal the end, and wait a minute to cool down before gluing the end.  

That's it!  Enjoy your new streamer bow, and go out and buy as many patterns you can find in this fun fabric.  The top picture shows one streamer in a patterned ribbon, and the other is made by cutting and applying the spray adhesive to the fabric first, then pressing it onto the ribbon.  It works either way, it just depends on the look you are going for.  If you make a streamer bow using my tutorial, please share a picture or comment on how it turned out.  Cheers!