Tutorial: Bow Tie

Bow Ties!! On a recent trip to Las Vegas…okay – January…I found some of the most unique bow ties and I know my husband has always wanted one. It wasn’t silk but it still had a sticker price of 178$. Ah, no thanks. In July I decided I would tackle the bow tie. I finally got around to it!

The template I use is Martha Stewarts but I DO NOT follow her directions. For one, her directions are wasteful (I find) and the fabric has no give. I’ll explain as we go.

Bow Tie Tutorial

First – I use quilting cotton (on my first try I didn’t want to spend too much on fabric). All of this fabric was 16$, the interfacing was 7$…so for 23$. I got 6 bow ties!! Score!

Okay – you need to cut your bow ties on the bias. Why? It’ll give them more stretch. Not a lot of stretch, but you need some give. If you cut them on the grain, as Martha does, since she gets 3 ties out of very little fabric, they will be too stiff.

Cut two of each.

Here are my 6 ties – 24 pieces total.

Now cut the interfacing. Martha suggests interfacing the whole fabric and then cutting them together…I find that wasteful. Her way is, however, faster.

Iron on the interfacing to the wrong side of each tie piece. This template is for a neck that measures 16 inches…so add a bit or take off a bit according to the person you’re making it for.

Notice the bow ties in the table? Neat, eh!

Top stitch time. I can’t use my serger for this, I’m not that good at turning the angles on my serger, so either practice a lot, or use your machine. Inseam should only be 1/4 inch. Keep it tight.

Clip the edges…be sure not to clip the seam. Now, this part takes so long! Turn it inside out.

Check your tie!!!

As you can see below, I didn’t catch all the fabric on the one side. Bummer. Now, I had to turn it back inside out and fix it. Then, turn it right side out. So much work!!

Once you’re sure your tie is top notch – iron it out and then slip stitch the opening closed.