DIY Bows for Embroidery Floss

I gave up all embroidery as a lost cause - at about age 12. Everything would turn into balls of snarls. I'm only trying it again because I recently saw the Floss Bows invented by some genius.

The DMC brand are sold in packets of 10 for about $2 (on sale). There are other brands, but I haven't been able to locate them in the US.

At that price why bother to make my own? Well, I wanted them RIGHT NOW and didn't want to wait for stores to open... and OK... I'm cheap. Those nifty bits of plastic can cost more than the floss* they hold.

* This may not be true for the really good stuff.

a sharp knife

a pair of scissors

a paper punch

clean empty 2 liter soda bottles from your recycle bin.

Use the knife to stab starter holes close to the shoulder and just below the straight sides of the bottle. From there use scissors to cut off the top and bottom. Be careful not to slide your hand along the cut edge. You can end up with a nasty "paper" (plastic in this case) cut.

You should now have a roughly 7 inch tall cylinder with mostly straight sides. Cut it open so you have a sheet of thin plastic. It will want to curl up. Don't worry, it doesn't have to lie flat.

Cut strips from top to bottom at least twice as wide as the hole your paper punch makes.

Use the paper punch to make two overlapping holes at each end of the strips. This will make deep slots to hold the floss securely.

You can round edges or not. If you do, don't let the bits fall on the floor where they could stab bare feet.

You're done.

The tan bow in the picture is one of DMC's

The white bow is from Korea (I think)

The clear bows are the upcycled knock offs.