Marianne got crafty???

Who knew that I had a crafty bone in my body? I sure didn't and now I am the proud maker of this beautiful hair bow holder. I made this for my best friend Jody's baby shower. I hope baby Leah will like it in her room. Doesn't Jody look so pretty? I did it with the instructions from this website. I was kind of aggravated that the directions were a little loosey goosey for my taste. I like templates and exact measurements, but you can wing it and get a beautiful product. If you have any questions about the instructions, leave me a comment. I will not make you one as I barely have the energy to even consider making one for Jazzy pants . . . the sad thing is that she thought it was SO pretty! I have a feeling she wanted to wear it as a dress instead of hang it on the door though.

Balerina Tutu Hair Bow Holder Instructions per the above website with some edits by me.

Things you will need:
Freezer Paper or Tracing Paper
Fabric to use for the bodice.
Foam Core Board
Standard Plastic Hanger
Tulle
3/8" grosgrain ribbon for the hanger (I used an entire spool 15 foot) and 7/8" grosgrain ribbon for the waistband, bows, streamers and shoulder loops (I used most of the spool of 7 yds)
Bows, flowers or you can use other decorations

BODICE:
The bodice is 12 inches long from shoulder to bottom of bodice. It is 11 inches wide at both the shoulders and the waist. I just took a piece of freezer paper, pulled it off as long as I wanted it, folded it in half lengthwise, then drew 1/2 the bodice on the paper. Then, when I cut it out and opened the fold, I had a whole bodice. I made sure the waist and shoulders were the same width and drew the curve of the waist between the two tick marks I made for the shoulders and waist.

FABRIC:
I cut two fabric pieces of the bodice. One exactly the shape of the pattern and one about 5/8-inch larger all the way around.

FOAM CORE BOARD:
For this particular piece, you could use foam core, heavy corrugated cardboard, thin masonite board, or whatever you feel most comfortable using. I used the foam core board because it has body and when covered with the fabric it is durable and lightweight to hang on a wall.

HANGER:
I just used a standard plastic hanger and after I had my dress all done, I cut the sides to the length I wanted and wrapped the hanger with ribbon. I would suggest using a narrow ribbon for the hanger.

TULLE:
Okay the original instructions were nuts so I am adding in here. I got six layers of double the width of the waist by 17 inches long. So in my case the width of the waist of the dress was 11", so the width of my tulle was a bit more than 22" as the tulle was already that width when I bought it aka six rectangles that were 22" wide x 17" long.

RIBBON:
I used 7/8-inch ribbon to make the waistband, streamers, shoulder loops, and bows for the dress. 3/8-inch is good for the hanger.

ASSEMBLY:
Cut out two fabric pieces as instructed above, and one of foam core.

Use the larger piece of fabric and hot glue the edges to the foam core. I cut little slits as I went around the curves to make it fit the contours of the bodice. When I did the opposite side, I made sure I pulled it taut as I was gluing so I would have a nice flat piece with no wrinkles. Continue gluing all the way around and trim any excess fabric that is not glued down.

Next, use the piece that was cut to exact size and hot glue it to the back side of the foam core. The fabric I used was a synthetic that didn't fray, but if you had a fabric that frayed, you could use a trim around the edges to hide the edges.

Take the tulle, two layers at a time and gather it up to fit the bottom of the bodice, leaving about 1/2-inch extra on each side to take around the back of the dress. Glue the tulle to the front bottom of the bodice, taking a little bit around the back to make a more finished look.

Cut lengths of ribbon (5 of them) for the streamers to hold bows and glue them at equal distance across the front of the dress. Use a piece of ribbon and glued it across the BACK of the bottom of the bodice, then cut a piece for the front of the bodice and leave it about 1/2 " longer on each side, gluing that in place. Take the extra length on each side around back and work with it, turning the edge under and gluing it in place for a more finished look.

Next, make your bows. I put one at each shoulder, and enough at the bottom of the bodice to go completely across and give the band a neater look. Before gluing the shoulder bows on, I took a small length of ribbon and folded it over and glued it to each shoulder to hold my hanger. Then I put the shoulder bows on to cover the edges of the hanger loops. I also put three bows along the waistband to make it look cuter.

Using a plain old plastic hanger, hold it up to the top of the bodice to measure how long it needs to be and cut it off (I had to use a hand saw). Cover it with ribbon and then slip it into the ribbon loops on the bodice, hot gluing that in place.