every now and again the occasion comes
for me to get dressed up so I wanted to
make myself a cool custom bowtie this
one's so easy you don't even have to tie
it and I'm gonna walk you through all
the steps let's get started
that is right my kids and I had a blast
making some bow ties for a dress-up
occasion recently as a matter of fact we
even put it in our blog recently on man
sewing calm with a whole variety of
sizes look at this giant one I made just
to be silly but this was the hit all
those sizes are written down for you I'm
gonna walk you through the basic one
that myself and mr. Garcia there are
wearing for you today so let's get
rolling
now of course the perfect garment starts
with the perfect fabric so Mota's polka
dot grunge I mean are you kidding me
that doesn't get much better and I loved
the polka dots and the way the energy
comes through and the blue for this now
for me I was using a quarter yard of
fabric but we just need a few small cuts
so the tie itself starts with a piece
that is 7 and 1/2 inches by 12 inches of
course this is where you resize if you
want to make them larger like that silly
one I made we're also going to need to
make a 2 and 1/2 inch strip and you're
gonna do that by the 45 inches that
you're going for one piece is gonna be
your neck piece that piece is measured
by figuring the circumference of your
neck add an inch if you're gonna do the
hook and eye closures like I did on this
one you may not even be able to see that
they're so small the one I'm wearing
today has gotten velcro closure which we
prefer for children and so if you're
using velcro just add a few inches to
the circumference or the distance around
their neck for this width two and a half
inches wide if I had forgotten to say
that already we need one more little
piece two and a half inches wide by six
and a half and that's that little center
tie and like I said it doesn't get much
easier so I'm gonna fire my iron up
because I was chatting and need to make
sure that's nice and hot I'm using the
heat and bond this is a lightweight
fusible interfacing that's gonna give a
little stability to my bow tie itself so
I want to press that to the back side
now there's some bumps so I'm rubbing
the texture right here I can feel that's
the rough side so rough on the wrong
here
when I trimmed my interfacing down I
want to make sure it's just a little bit
smaller there than my cotton fabric and
what I like to do is I like to get a
quick bond this way to hold it nice and
secure and then I'm gonna flip it and
really set it so I'm gonna let that sit
on there get nice and hot if you have a
little steam feature that might even be
helpful and what this does is it adds
body to your fabric if you've never done
garment sewing before the interfacing
are stabilizing everything can be used
on standard Cotton's or knits
okay now from here we're going to go to
the Machine I'm gonna go right sides
together along that long side because
we're gonna make a little tube and I've
got my cotton threads in today it
wouldn't matter cotton or polyester here
I'm using a quarter inch seam allowance
right now we're gonna roll through here
real simple
just like that and then all we have to
do is turn this right sides out so I'm
just getting my thumb in there and I'm
gonna start to roll this through this
one's really easy well heck the whole
project super easy really pull that out
like that now what we want to eventually
do is have this seam that you see here
hidden inside the loop of the bowtie so
our next step
real quick I'm gonna move these because
we're gonna need them out of the way I'm
gonna come over here with the iron and
I'm gonna drop the iron on one side of
the crease or that seam and I'm kind of
trying to set it here nice and flat like
that and then the next thing we're gonna
do is we're gonna go right sides
together so take that seam let it stay
to the outside because that will be the
wrong side eventually we're folding it
in half and we're gonna make another
nice quarter inch seam we're gonna trim
this just to make it pretty so if you
have a little bit larger seam that's
okay gonna run this through here just
like this
back stitch again and now right as it
comes out before I do anything else I
just want to trim down any raw loose
frayed edge I'm gonna square it up I'm
looking at my line down here so now I'm
trimming about a Oh an eighth or so off
of there not too much but that just
makes it really nice and clean and we're
gonna work this all the way through so
I'm going to snip that that seam gets
pulled to the inside and that will be
the back of the bowtie
so this will be now the front just like
that so that piece is totally done now
this part here we want to go ahead and
make for our Center tie watch this trick
this is super cool we're gonna go ahead
and fold this along the long edge again
now this time I'm going to do a quarter
inch seam allowance if you want your
Center tie or your neck strap a little
narrower you could just do a little bit
larger seam allowance but be careful we
have to turn these tubes right side
out
I don't want to get too narrow for you
now we're gonna hit to the ironing board
before we go too far and watch this I
think this is a cool trick of course you
probably all know this but I thought it
was genius
I'm gonna hit this edge I folded it just
like I did for that bow itself and what
I'm gonna do real quick is I'm just
flattening that one edge because I'm
gonna come back here and stitch across
it
we need these edges finished later on we
might as well finish them now
so I'm coming across here and let me
just make sure you really see what was
happening so there's the seam now I
basically gone across it I'm going to
take and trim off these corners like
this and then I'm going to take my
stiletto and I'm going to take it and
I'm going to start to poke with my sharp
end into the middle a little bit just to
kind of get it centered and of course I
always get these crazy and shaky hands
when you're watching stop watching me
every time you're watching me I get
these shaky fingers either way what I'm
trying to show you is I can get that
seam in there and I can start to roll
this oh it's always so easier when
you're not watching if you could all
just close your eyes for a second there
that's the trick I was trying to show
you that poképark just got it to start
moving now I take the safe part of my
stiletto and I push it through there
like this I grab that finished edge and
a wallah a super easy way to turn that
tube and I'm gonna show you that again
here on the long one it even works on
the big piece I'm gonna come through
here and go up into there and poke those
corners out I want that finished edge
really nice on this one because it's
gonna show on the back of my tie now
what we're gonna do we're going to press
the whole thing nice and flat so we're
just going to go ahead and press that
nice and flat and we do want to go ahead
and turn this raw edge also inside and
so I'm just gonna try to take and use my
fingers and or my stiletto or my scissor
tip or anything I can
to get this to start to work in there
like this now the six and a half inches
I've asked you to use is a little
liberal so I would like you to turn
about a quarter inch under if you did a
half that would be okay this parts gonna
be hidden completely in our strap that
we're making around the bow itself so
just worked out so that it's nice and
flat like that and now as we come over
to the machine I'm gonna just top stitch
this to secure it again you won't see it
but I also thought this was a kind of a
cool trick I'm top stitching across here
and I'm back stitching to secure those
threads now instead of cutting thread
like I normally would do I'm gonna
actually take this and lift it and I'm
gonna pull off several inches these
threads I'm gonna run into my hand
needle actually and I'm gonna use those
to tie you this on so one of these
threads I'm gonna remove right now like
this this other one I've got a needle
over here I'm gonna get ready we'll see
how easy that goes after eating a box
full of earthquake pills Oh nailed it
okay so I want that needle to go down as
far as I can I'm not gonna tie a knot in
this thread because I need to be able to
slip it back and forth but at any rate I
don't want it to fall off with all these
things I'm trying to pay attention to
now we're gonna take our bow tie and
we're gonna do like a pinch into the
middle but there's prettier ways of
doing it so I'm kind of according
folding it so that that back raw edge
kind of goes to the outside we can
adjust it again later as we go but get
it so that it's pretty line that up and
now what we're going to do is we're
going to take the edge with the thread
and I'm going to hold it on the backside
like this that's where all those seams
and everything you're coming together
I'm not gonna stitch this tie to the bow
I'm going to just stitch it to itself so
with that six and a half inches it wraps
around nice like this and then it
catches right here on that
side now what I'm gonna do is I'm going
to take that hand needle and I'm going
to catch this first corner just like
this and now I've technically secured
those two edges right I can take a
couple of quick whip stitches and
remember please just through the center
tie we're not getting the whole bow and
I'm just kind of doing what's called a
whip stitch up and over up and over like
this and then as I come out the end I'm
actually securing I'm hoping you can see
that right now but I actually caught
that other bottom corner that other raw
edge I was for I guess it's a finished
edge now and that has now completely
secured my whole bow just like that and
I think that's really cool because that
allows me to slide my actual neck piece
in and out without affecting the tie as
it's adjusted now I just need to knock
this real quick so let me stop goofing
off I'm gonna take one more lap don't
drop the needle Rob you can tell that
machine sewing was my specialty right so
I'm gonna go ahead and take one more
stitch through there I'm gonna pull that
loose there grab that needle before it
falls off and twist myself a little
double eight loop and tie it off okay
there we go
secured now once that's done we still
need to make our wonderful neck strap so
that a same thing I'm gonna go ahead and
do my two and a half inch tube and for
example I told you to measure your neck
mine was about 16 so I have an 18 inch
strip of fabric here because I want to
add those two inches of velcro
right sides together quarter-inch seam
allowance
whoa hit the gas this won't take long
and that little edge trick I'm going to
show you again maybe this time we'll
even give it to you in slow motion we
will have make it very easy for us on
this longer tube so quickly back to the
iron because I want this nice and flat
I'm hitting it here now these both of
these finished edges will show because
that's going to be the outside of the
neck strap so I want to make sure I do a
good job this one is gonna be hidden on
the inside that was that same seam I did
where I went across where I had stone
before dog your um kind of roll it to
get it started we're gonna pop that in
there just till it starts to feed you
got to be careful that the tip of the
stiletto doesn't catch the other layer
of fabric then you can flip it around
and now watch this it just feeds on so
very nicely like that grab your fabric
pull the whole stiletto out and wow it
doesn't get much better right okay so
we're gonna finish those edges up here
you can take your stiletto and work them
all the way up you can roll them with
your fingers hit it with the iron and we
do want to make sure we press this
really nice before we finish it with our
velcro straps make sure we get this nice
and ironed this is going to be that part
that shows all the time as we're getting
dressed I guess it'll be hidden under
your collar later on I do also want to
hide those raw edges again so I'm gonna
take that wiggle it a little bit push it
and fold it in this is where the pokey
part does come in handy on the stiletto
then for this what we're gonna do same
thing we're just going to top stitch it
closed and like I said on the blog we
talked about using the hook and eye
closure so let's walk us through doing
the velcro on this today what I like to
do there's the softer part of the velcro
I'm going to use a couple of inches
worth of that because that makes it more
adjustable okay and the soft adjustable
part I want on the outside the part that
doesn't have the seam so I'm just gonna
flip that over like this I'm gonna go
ahead and take this part and I'm going
to stitch it down and for now I can go
ahead and get my seam guide out of the
way cuz I'm gonna go all the way around
all four sides and while I'm sewing this
down I want to point out something a lot
of us just grab velcro randomly and
that's a great thing to use velcro but
do not ever try to sew through the
sticky back velcro it can do some
serious damage to the needle and the
machine it leaves a bunch of gunk down
in there and it just can be very
frustrating so if you've ever tried to
sew through sticky back velcro please
don't do that
it's just not a good idea and hopefully
that little story stall that's just long
enough that I have this piece down here
now it's going to go all the way around
and I'm gonna save the rough piece for
the inside I don't need nearly as much
so I'm just going to do about an inch so
I square that and I'm going to slide
that in here
same exact stitching process
and I'm just pivoting on the corner of
the velcro lining it up with the edge of
the fabric and let's go back where we
started from and now I can knock that
all the way together okay so now that we
have that velcro stitched all the way
down and we're just going to trim off
any loose threads we're gonna go ahead
and get this ready to slide through that
little Center loop make sure it's all
clear for passing so right I'm gonna run
my stiletto through make sure I have a
nice easy way to get that then I'm just
going to take one of the edges and I've
got my top seam or my seam page facing
up like this and this is the hand stitch
side of the tie and I just kind of use
my stiletto and I'm just gonna do a
little bit of encouraging as I go
through sometimes I'll take the pointy
part I've just kind of poked it into the
velcro where it's nice and stable so I
was able to grab that really easy now
like that and that has that slides
through I can do all of my adjusting
that'll come like this
there's my velcro closure here I've got
my beautiful bow tie and if I'm lucky
like I even have a super cool polka dot
right there in the center so I must
admit I was a little reluctant when I
was asked if I could make a bow tie for
a man sewing but then when I started
thinking about all the super fun fabric
possibilities that could be done and
when I realized how simple this bow tie
project really was I got jazz and then
when the kids came into my studio and we
started making all different sizes and
all different fabrics for fun I tell you
it's a super hit so if you ever have
that need to be dressed up we've got the
perfect project maybe even for a
premiere right here at man sewing thanks
for being a man sewing fan it's great to
have you out there encouraging me to
create fantastic new content if you've
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