Pivot Patchwork Bow Tutorial | Free Sewing Pattern by Ruby Star Society

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:03]Oh, hey. How is everyone today?

[00:00:06]Look at what I'm going to share with you here today. In a previous post, you're going to find out how to make this great bag, but today we're going to learn how to make this patchwork bow that you can use an accessory on a bag, in your hair, wherever you want. So, [music] let's get started.

[00:00:28]>> [music] >> All right. We are super excited to get started here. Be sure if you haven't already done it, go to the Ruby Star blog and download the tutorial on how to make this bow. We've also got it linked in the notes below, so be sure and get that downloaded and printed out so you can get started with this. For one bow, you're going to need one fat quarter and one mini charm pack. We're going to be using all 42 of these, so make sure that you have 42 squares left in your mini charm. If you want to, you could use regular charm packs and cut them into fours and you could have four bows out of one charm pack. You would need additional yardage for your backing parts because the fat quarter is used for the backing of the bow, but you would just need a fat quarter per bow to get started. I've already gone ahead and done this because you didn't need to see me sitting here laying out squares or just randomly sewing squares together. You can do it any way that you want to do it. You can randomly sew the squares together in pairs and then put the pairs together to make these different size units, or if you're like me, I went through and I pre-laid everything out so I knew where all of my colors and where all of my designs were.

[00:01:44]We're making four different sections here to the bow. The two smaller sections, they are two by five, so there's 10 little squares in each one. This is the knot, which is just a 1 by 2, and then we've got your the main part of the bow right here, which is the remainder of your square. So, it's 2 by 2 4 6 8 10.

[00:02:11]So, there's 20 squares in here. So, you're going to sew those together. I sewed them in pairs, and then I alternated the direction that my seams were just to get it to nest together really nicely there. And then, when I sewed the two together, then I did I pressed my seams open so that it gives you a nice flat lay there. Now, if you want to give your bow just a little bit extra oomph, you want it a little stiffer and not not move around quite as much, now would be the time that if you want to add a little interfacing to this, you could use a lightweight interfacing, cut it to the size of these, and iron that on, and then we'll get ready for the next steps on that.

[00:02:53]So, I'm going to gather the um pieces for my next step, and we're going to make the tails of the bow. I'll meet you right back here.

[00:03:02]All right, we are back. So, the first step that we're going to do is make the tail part of the bow. So, you're going to take your piece that coordinates, and in the in the post it lists the sizes to cut all of your lining pieces. So, you'll cut those how they are listed there. So, you're going to take your 2 by 5 piece, and you're going to put it right sides together with the piece that is the backing for the tail part. But, before we do that, we're also going to take and we're going to make the point part. So, this is one of the tails. So, you're just going to take a marking pen, your favorite marking pen, and you're going to draw the lines there so that you have a nice little point there.

[00:03:49]You're just going to take your scissors, and what I did was I used that center point where those squares met from the corner each one of the bottom corners.

[00:03:58]And then you just take your scissors and go zip.

[00:04:04]And you go zip.

[00:04:08]And there you have your points ready to go. So, you're now going to take that and put it right sides together with your backing piece. You can see the points along that backing. Don't trim that yet. We're going to do all of the sewing first and then we'll trim that up later. So, then what you're going to do is you're going to take and you're going to sew a 1/4-in seam down the long side.

[00:04:30]You'll pivot at the point, come back up, pivot at that point, go down, and then come all the rest of the way back up the side of this point piece. You're going to make two of these, okay? So, you'll do the stitching just like that for both of them at this point. Let me give you a little tip here, too, because these are really pointy and you're going to be turning these and to get a sharper point on this, I double stitch just at these pointed parts. So, I double stitch about an inch up, I stitch down to the point and then up. And actually, I just reinforce that whole thing just because it was easier.

[00:05:06]I could just keep sewing. So, I started here, second row of stitching down and up, and then I stopped at that point.

[00:05:12]That just gives you a little insurance when you're turning your points so that you don't poke through and then you start crying at the end. Okay, so then once you do that, then you go ahead and you trim out that excess here.

[00:05:32]Like that. So, now it looks just like what you want it to do. That way you're not having to try to match and make sure everything lines up. I have a 1/4-in foot for my machine, so I was able to use the 1/4-in seam along that edge and to do it there. The next step is to turn this right side out. But, before we do that, we need to do some clipping so that you can get the most pointed and accurate pieces on there.

[00:05:56]So, at this point here in the middle, I clip that so that it will have a little bit of ease. Now, I want to get rid of a lot of this bulk at these points down here. We don't want a lot down in there cuz they're so tiny. You want to get it as pointy as you can. So, I went ahead and trimmed clipped off the long part of that. And then, I'm going to actually grade the seam at the tip point of that tip. So, you see it kind of looks weird, but nobody's going to see that because it's on the inside. So, I'm going to go ahead and do the same thing here.

[00:06:33]And that's how it's going to look. So, now it's time to turn this right side out. So, we just reach in, turn it right side out. I have a point turner. I have my Hera marker. Um this little tool is a fabulous tool to have in your toolbox if you don't have it.

[00:06:51]So, I'm taking and turning. Now, don't poke too hard. You don't want to poke through.

[00:06:57]Um but, you're going to poke and poke right into the tip. And see, because I've trimmed all of that out, I've got a nice point down here at the very bottom of that. At this point, once I did this and got them all made both of them, I went a little above and beyond and I did a little top stitch around the outside edge of this. You don't have to do that step, but I thought that might just add a little something extra to make it look um like it had a better finished seam on it. Now, the inside point, you're going to want to mess with just a little bit to get a nice point there.

[00:07:33]When I get to my iron, I'm going to get this evened out a little bit more. I'm going to top stitch along here, make my second tail, and I'll meet you back here.

[00:07:41]Okay, we're back and I have my um second tail all completed here. Now, we're going to take and pleat it at the top. I took and made two little half-inch markings from the outside edge of that and I'm going to take the middle of the bow and kind of pull it over to that half-inch mark and so it looks kind of like that. I'm going to take and pin that like here.

[00:08:09]And I'm going to do the same thing to the other side.

[00:08:14]So that then I've got a nice little pleat here at the top of this tail. So you can see I've already got this one done and sewn together. You want to stitch this down so that it stays in place so that when we go to insert this into the main part of our bow, then it is all held in place and we're not having to worry about um it coming apart or coming undone or clips or pins in all of these different places. Let's go ahead and I'm going to show you the main part of the bow and I've already done quite a bit of the pieces. So this was the 2 by 10 in piece. You put it right sides together with your lining part of it and you sew down the the length of both sides except on one side. We have to leave an opening for your bow tails to be able to go in there and I'm going to show you where that is. So if you have a preference on where you want your fabric placement for the bow, you want to be sure to choose the bottom side that you want to do. So I made a mark a half an inch from the edge and another mark 2 and 1/2 inches away from that point on both ends. So I've got an opening at this end and I have an opening at this end. So when you sew that bottom seam, you're going to stitch for about a half an inch and I would back stitch at the beginning and at the end of that. And then you'll start here, sew down, back stitch, leave an opening, and then back stitch that last half inch right there. The next step is attaching our tails. I'm going to go finish that other tail that I hadn't finished yet, and then I'm going to show you how to insert and how to finish this bow out.

[00:09:57]I have got my bow tail finished, and I've got that is all completed and ready to go. We're almost at the home stretch, friends. You notice that I have the main part of my bow with the lining side facing up. And you're like, but that seems really weird. I promise you it's going to work out here in the end. So, we're going to take our openings that we had left here. You're going to take and you're going to stick that tail up into that opening, and I stuck it up in there about a half of an inch. The lining side is up, and your bow prints are up, also.

[00:10:31]Okay? I know this looks really weird, but in the end, it's going to work out fabulous. So, now you're going to go to your machine, and I would take it and I would pin those in place. Before I get to my machine, you can pin I'm going to pin from this side, like this.

[00:10:48]So, pin them in place, like that. Now, you're going to go to your machine, you're going to stitch along this bottom edge, and that's why I top stitch the bow the tail parts, because you're going to stitch here, and then I'm going to top stitch along that top edge. So, everything is top stitched, and it all looks very cohesive. I'm going to go stitch along this bottom edge, and I'll meet you back here to put the centerpiece together.

[00:11:12]We are back, and look, we've almost got a bow. And see, it all works out with the way that you placed that those little tails down into that bottom. So, the next step you're going to do is you are going to take the two short edges of that main bow piece, you're going to put them with the lining sides together, like this. Okay?

[00:11:32]It's all going to fit right there, and then you're going to sew that with a 1/4 in seam right there at that point. Okay?

[00:11:39]Press that seam open.

[00:11:41]Okay, I'm just going to finger press it.

[00:11:44]I forgot to hit it with the iron, or you can press it to one side. It doesn't matter. It's going to be bulky in here, but it's going to be hidden. Oh, it's it's raw edges right there. It's really okay because it's going to be hidden.

[00:11:55]Because we've also now made um while I was gone, I made the um center bow part of of the bag. Okay? So, you're going to take your little 1 by 2, you're going to put it right sides together with your um backing part, and you're going to flip it, and again, I top stitched along that outside edge. Now, it's time to put the bow together. So, we're just going to gather the bow together here in the center where that seam is. You want to make sure that you've got it evenly spaced. You want to make sure that you've got that center seam that you just sewed matching with that center seam. So, you're going to basically have 2 and 1/2 squares on each side of where the tails are here. So, 1 2 and 1/2 there, like that. So, you're just going to simply gather these up. Kind of just kind of There's no right or wrong way to do this. You could be precise. I tried to be precise and measure to give you guys measurements to do. It's going to look the same whether you try to be precise and measure it or if not. The one tip I will give to give it a little bit nicer finish is is at the top and at the bottom that that is folded in, and then it just is kind of gathered. So, you've got it gathered, like that. You can take a string, you can take clip a clippy do. In fact, we could take a clippy do here one cuz we've got our bigger ones, and you can hold it, and you can make sure that you like the way that it looks. Okay, and it's ready. So, then you just take and you're going to center that seam here.

[00:13:28]And you are going to come around.

[00:13:32]And I'm going to go ahead and take it back to the sewing machine and I am actually going to sew that seam right there to hold that so that it's nice and together. You could glue this together if you wanted to. You could do, you know, just however you want to kind of finish that off. But I'm actually going to take and I'm going to sew a seam there because then you're going to glue like your pin backing or whatever onto the back of this. So, I'm going to go take care of that and I'll meet you back here.

[00:14:02]I'm back. I have gone to my machine and secured that. Just to give you another little tip, I folded in each end of that center piece about a half an inch and then I was able to squeeze it together and then I don't have any raw edges there that are showing. Now, one of the other things I could have done, although, you know, I'm not with my short hair, I don't think about ponytails or putting pigtails in or whatever, but you could have inserted a ponytail holder, seam that up, and then you would have one that you could put into your hair. You could wrap a little ponytail, you know. Maybe I could do that. Maybe that I could start a new look with short hair. What do you think?

[00:14:43]But you can also glue a pin back on there like we did for this one that you can then attach it.

[00:14:50]There's just all kinds of fun things that you can do. Super fun. It's This is an afternoon project for you to get done and how cute would this be on the package of a baby gift?

[00:15:00]Just saying. So, thank you to Ruby Star for sharing the link with us for this tutorial. Also, thanks to Elizabeth Hartman for this fabulous fabric design.

[00:15:12]It's [music] scenery. It's her first collection here with us, scenery, and it's in stores now. Hope you enjoyed this fun little quick tutorial and [music] um, see you back here real soon for our next fun adventure. Bye now.

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