Balmoral Bonnet Bow

[creagdhubh]

Good Evening,

This is not an 'unknown area' for me, so to speak, but I will seek the advice of the rabble anyway, as I am extremely curious. Does anyone know a 'trick' to tying a perfect looking bow on a Balmoral bonnet? I do know how to tie the bow - it's fairly simple - however, I can't seem to get it just right after several attempts (how embarassing!).

This may seem a wee bit neurotic and I may possess too much attention to detail, but I suppose that is the clean-cut Marine in me! I initially untied the ribbon tails in order to iron them flat, using a pressing cloth naturally.

I now welcome your suggestions!

Thanks gents,

[creagdhubh]

I forgot to mention, the bonnet is a diced, Robert Mackie Balmoral.

[Chas]

I suppose I am in the same boat. So in the end I unpicked the ribbon. The idea was to tie the perfect bow and then re-stitch. Its been over two years now. I must get round to it some time.

Regards

Chas

[creagdhubh]

Hmmm, I'm on bow attempt, number 8! Haha!

Cheers,

[Mickey]

This may seem a wee bit neurotic and I may possess too much attention to detail, but I suppose that is the clean-cut Marine in me!

I feel your pain for the same reasons I've asked this myself before, and have been tying, and re-tying for months. I can't seem to do it. I get a good bow but a bad knot or a good knot and a bad bow. I've given up and have gone with ironing them flat, then trimming them just short enough to not be poked in an eye during wind.

Advice I remember from my question was having a florist tie me a separate bow and then just sew it on. Possibility for ya?

[Peter Crowe]

Advice I remember from my question was having a florist tie me a separate bow and then just sew it on. Possibility for ya?

If your balmoral as the navy/black ones do comes with the ribbons hanging down, and no space (like on a glengarry) where a bow was pre-tied, this is the way to go. Untie the lot, make a bow and stitch into place. I personally prefer a small neat and tight bow which is unobtrusive. I do prefer, however not to dispense with the bow altogether as it (along with the torrie, grossgrain ribbon, and cockade sets a balmoral apart from a beret.

Having said all of that the best balmoral I ever owned was a slightly smaller Mackie balmoral (6 3/4 rather than a 6 7/8) in fawn with the bow pre-tied (with gap), on which I simply retied a tighter bow and trimmed off the excess before putting in a couple of stitches to hold it tight. Unfortunately I lost it in a flitting some years ago, and have never got round to replacing it. These days (weather permitting) I prefer to be bare headed anyway.

[OC Richard]

I did the same: completely untie ribbons, pressed them smooth, then tied a very neat little bow and stitched it into place.

I've been wearing that Balmoral since the early 1980s and it still looks great.

[creagdhubh]

Peter,

It's a diced Lovat blue Balmoral. I have finally tied a rather smart looking bow, I was only curious if any of you had any 'tips' or 'pointers' that may have worked for you!

Thanks,

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

The only "tip" I'd offer is, don't untie the bow again.

[Joshua]

I'm thinking of doing a "cheater bow" - that is, align and overlap the ribbons in such a way as to appear to be a perfect bow, then sticking 4-5 single button stitches through the middle in a matching color.

I'll let you know how it turns out, as my Mackie in royal blue has a very askew bow.