Tutorial: Baby Bowties and Ties

A few weeks ago, I made a set of baby bowties and ties for a friend's baby shower.  I'd made a few of these for Blake already, and I love them, so I thought it would make the perfect gift for Blake's new BFF!

Here's what they look like:

Cute, right?  I seriously love this project.  Blake looks so dapper when he gets all dressed up with his baby ties and bowties!

And the best part?  It's easy.   And cheap.  You can definitely whip up a few of these with just the smallest pieces of scrap fabric.  Or, if you do decide to buy fabric especially for this project, you don't need much.  I buy 1/8 a yard and can make 3 or 4 bowties or 2 ties.  1/8 a yard of fabric is usually less than $1, so you're averaging like $.30-.40 cents a piece.  Not bad, right?

So here's how you make your own:

1. Go dig through your scrap fabric bin and pull something out with a fun print.  Remember, you don't need much to make this work.  You're going to start by cutting out two strips; one should be about 9" by 4" and the other 2.5" by 1.5" (please keep in mind I don't measure, but Pinterest tutorials tell me this is the correct measurement for these guys)
2. On your sewing machine, face the right sides together and sew along the tip and side (of the larger strip).  Be sure to leave one side open so you can turn it right side out.
3. Turn right side out, fold in the unfinished edge and then top stitch to close up your last edge.
4. Iron flat (I usually go through and make a bunch up to this point and then iron them all at once.  Saves time.)
5. Um..I covered this photo in direction #4 (I told you I wasn't very good at tutorials!)
6. While you have that iron out, take your smaller strip and iron into thirds.  No need to sew this one, just iron it flat.
7. Now take your long strip and fold each side into the middle, using a small dot of glue to secure.  Iron it flat to make it easier to work with.  
8. Pinch fabric in the middle and secure with a dab of hot glue.  I'll warn you:  I find 'the pinch' to be the most challenging part.  Eventually, you'll figure out the perfect pinch that works for you and gives your bowtie the right look.  Just trial and error, folks.
9. This is the point where I apparently stopped taking pictures.  Sorry, bad tutorial-maker over here.  I'll do my best to explain the rest (good news! you're almost done anyway) Now that you've 'pinched' and secured one layer of fabric, turn it over and fold the fabric back above and below your pinch and secure it with hot glue.  
10. Now, flip it over to the front and attach your smaller (ironed into thirds) strip to the middle of your tie, securing with a dab of hot glue.
11. Wrap that little strip all the way around the middle of the bowtie and secure it with a dab of hot glue where it meets in the back.
12. Your bowtie is now finished!  Stand back and admire your work.  They are so cute!!  All that's left is a button.  I attach two buttons to the back using my button-attacher-tool-thingy, but you could also just buy sew-on buttons and do it that way.  Of course, you'll want to attach the other half of the snaps onto a onesie. 

Once you get the hang of making these, you can turn 'em out in about five minutes flat.  I whipped up a couple for Blake last weekend on a whim and it took me maybe that long from start to finish.  

And what about those ties?  If you thought the bow tie was easy, just wait until you see how to make these ties. 


Warning: this tutorial is worse than the last one.

You'll want to start by finding a pattern for your tie.  I made my own, but just googled it and found one here that looks like it would be perfect.  Using your pattern, cut out two pieces of fabric with right sides facing OUT

1. Take both of your tie cut-outs and sew them together, right sides facing OUT.  You're basically just top stitching around the edge leaving about a quarter of an inch for your seam allowance.  
2. Once you've sewed the two pieces together, take a pair of scissors and rag up the edges.  If you want a more polished look, you could always sew right sides together, then turn right side out and top stitch, but I like the look of a little frayed edge.  Make little cuts with your scissors all the way along the border of your tie (just make sure not to cut your seam!)
3. To get a nice fray goin' on, I run my fingernail over the edge of the fabric to loosen things up.  You could also toss 'em in the washing machine to help the fabric fray.  
4. Attach a snap to your tie (again, I have a snap fastener thingy, but you could easily use sew-on snaps) and your onesie.
5. Snap on your tie and slip it on the cutest little man you can find!