Cat Freestanding Lace (FSL) Bow Tutorial

A finished, assembled freestanding lace bow shaped like a cat's face with whiskers.

To begin, you will need all the embroidered pieces of the lace bow design stitched out and ready for assembly.

Required Pieces

You should have the following four pieces:

The four freestanding lace pieces required for the cat bow, laid out flat.

Take the bottom bow piece.

Holding the bottom bow piece before folding.

Fold it in half so the two ends are touching, as shown below.

The bottom bow piece folded in half with the ends meeting.

Hand-stitch those two ends together securely.

Stitching the ends of the bottom bow piece together by hand.

Next, take the second piece, which is the middle bow.

Holding the middle bow piece before folding.

Fold it in half so its two ends are touching.

The middle bow piece folded in half with the ends meeting.

Stitch these two ends together.

Stitching the ends of the middle bow piece together by hand.

Lay the smaller middle bow on top of the larger bottom bow and secure them together with a few stitches using a matching thread.

Placing the folded middle bow on top of the folded bottom bow.

Place this stacked bow assembly on top of the bottom tails piece.

Placing the stacked bow onto the bottom tails piece.

Stitch all three layers together.

Hand-stitching all three lace layers (bottom bow, middle bow, and tails) together.

Take the long, thin ribbon piece that is part of the tails and wrap it around the bow from the bottom up.

Wrapping the center ribbon from the back of the bow to the front.

The center ribbon wrapped around the front of the bow.

On the front, insert the end of the ribbon through the small hole at the center of the bow.

Inserting the end of the center ribbon through the small hole in the bow.

The center ribbon pulled through the hole, creating the bow's center knot.

Secure the ribbon in place on the back with a few stitches using the same thread.

Securing the end of the center ribbon on the back of the bow with hand stitches.

Position the nose piece in the center of the bow.

Placing the small nose piece in the center of the finished cat bow.

The nose piece correctly positioned on the cat bow.

Stitch through all layers to secure the nose in place. Your cat bow is now complete!