I'm looking for advice on fondant bows. I'm trying to make the pompom kind that would be on top of the cake. I followed the tutorial and have made my loops, but I only made about 14. They are all the same size except for 2 that I made a little smaller. I've played around with it a little bit this morning and it looks to me like I'm going to need to make more loops. I'm wondering if I should make different sizes? I want a full looking bow and I'm trying to make it about 6" round to go on top of a 9" round cake.

I've seen cakes with beautiful full bows in the gallery. I'm hoping all of you bow makers can give me some pointers and the benefit of your experience. Any ideas how many loops it takes to make a good looking 6" bow? (I have made my loops about 1"wide.) Also any tips on putting the loops together? I love working with fondant and have played around with modeling, but until now haven't attempted a bow!
Any help is appreciated.

Hi Price,

Maybe this will help

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/misc/lessons/fondantbows/fondantbows.htm

Price I don't know if I am the best person to give advice on bows or not but, I have done a few. I make alot of loops. I make mine in graduating sizes. I put the larger ones on the bottom and work up to the smaller ones. They differ in length and width. I also construct them the same as they do on the site Stephanie just posted. I work in my 6" round pan so I am sure it is uniform, and only do a layer at a time. If I am in a hurry I will stick it in the fridge between layers to set the candy melts. I try to color the candy melts the same as the bow so the glue doesn't show.

If I can help in any way please let me know. I love the look of bows on a cake and I love the ooooh and aaaaahhh they get!

I do mine similar to the above post with the exception of putting it together. I use a ball of fondant saturated with water (the consistancy of peanut butter) to stick the loops into and let it dry. No need to stick in the fridge between layers. The fondant ball is the same color as the loops and there is no mess anywhere to be seen. Once dried you can pick the whole thing up and place it on top of the cake. For the blue bow in my photos I made about 30 loops. I didn't use them all and a few broke but I wanted to be sure I had enough.

Tiggy I love that idea of the fondant ball! I will try that next! With the candy melts I can pick up the whole thing to place it on the cake, but your way sounds like a time saver because of not having to melt the candy melts and color them the same as the bow!!!

hi tiggy 2,
just wondering if you have to make the loops poited to stick them into the fondant or does it go pretty easy when the ends are flat and regtangular?
By the way I love the blue bow on your cake and I'm willing to try one like it with your permission.

Saskia

I do pinch the ends together to make them pointed so they go in easier. By all means try it and I hope it goes well for you. I should mention that I lay my loops on their sides to dry rather then over a dowel as I had trouble with them streching when I tried that. I also added a little gumpaste to my fondant to make it a little stronger and dry faster.

Thanks everyone for the help! I just finished putting my bow together. I got a little impatient and didn't wait as long as I should have for the last loops to dry. All in all I think it looks ok for a first attempt. It's not perfect, but with a little practice I think I'll get better. Tiggy2 - I used your method of the wet fondant and it worked great. I'll post a picture of the cake when it's done. Thanks again for all of the help, I couldn't do it without you.

Price I'm glad it worked for you! I think it's quick and easy. Can't wait to see the photo.