Hi there, I want to make a gumpaste bow for the top of an 8in. Any suggestions about the number of bow loops I need? I have never had much luck getting my bows to look right. Any help would be great. Thank you!

Depending on how wide I make the loops I make them I generally make 20-30 of them. I usually also make them in different lengths, that away I have shorter ones for the tops of them.

I don't use all of the loops, but having extra allows me to pick and choose. Plus I will occasionally break some.

Thank you for the response. I followed the tutorial posted here each time and have never really had much luck. Hopefully this time. Thank you

Is there a part of it that you are having problems with?

Getting them to stay together is a big issue and they never really look good, sort of lopsided.

I assemble mine with melted chocolate, usually white that I've colored (using candy colors) to match the bow loops. It sets up super-fast, and that allows you to build the bow pretty quickly. Also, it's OK if they don't look perfect...never seen a real bow that did. If you use chocolate to assemble, you can place the loop, and hold it in place for a few seconds till the chocolate sets up. That way, you can hold them straight and they won't be lopsided. HTH!

I use 18-20 for a 6" cake. However I wire each one and build the bow right on the cake.

I love making bows. And I only make them with Wiltons pre-made gumpaste. You can roll it really thin and it dries fast and super hard--it's also very light.

You don't have to make a ton of loops...you can make fewer loops if you make the loops big. I generally cut the strips and then loop them over the cardboard center of a paper towel holder or something smaller. I've even used my small fondant roller to to create the loops (wrap them around). Just attach the ends with a bit of water to stick. If I want them to stand up I'll put a toothpick at the end so I can poke them in the cake. Now...since you want the stand up loops to not have a flat side this is what I do. Because the gum paste sets up fairly fast enough but still has some resiliency, I will take the loops off whatever I have them looped around and put them on their sides to finish drying...after shaping to round them again on both sides of course. It's hard to start them drying on their sides to begin with if they are thin and still very pliable. So letting them dry a few minutes first really helps. you can check out some of my bows in my photos. They are so much fun to do! HTH!

I also use candy melts. I usually build them on a piece of wax paper or a small fondant circle that is on top of a cake pan (flipped over) on top of a turn table. That way I can turn it and see the bow from all sides as I am making it.

I lay out the loops so I can get an idea of how they are going to go together before I start gluing them down.

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I have tried the melted chocolate, maybe I wasn't using enough. I can never seem to smush enough loops in. Does anyone make the width different sizes?

I've made a few slightly smaller, but if you are trying to make it look like a fabric bow then all the loops would be the same length. Are you turning the loops any so they aren't all laying the same directions? Shorter looks can be put in places a full length one might not fit. Also I'll make some tails to put in to fill in holes.

Good idea on the tails. Thank you. Do you add more chocolate as you build the layers?

Yes. I put down a blob of chocolate and put on my first layer of loops. Sometimes you may need to put on a little more chocolate. I let that set up, then I put another blob of chocolate and the next row, and so on.

Great. Thank you!!!