Bow Tie Tutorial

I made my little guy a bow tie and it is SO easy! Here is what it looks like when it is done



There are so many variations to this as well which is really nice. I hate how everyone puts the SAME exact tutorials on there blogs ( you know what I mean right... ) but I looked around and the one bow ties I found were for sale. I didn't find any that were fake bow ties. I found a couple of real bow ties that are way cute but I would hear "Mommy, can you tie this?" every five minutes because he would pull on it over and over again until I would rip it off of him and tell him he couldn't wear it any more! haha SO, this is a bow tie sew onto elastic ( or you could do fabric to match the bow tie ) and then either Velcro or a snap. Your choose. I am just going to show you how to make it and you can decide the rest. So let's get started!!

First you need two pieces of fabric cut into 9 X 7 inch squares ( you can make them smaller if you are making them for a younger boy. ) Then you need one 2 1/2 by 5 inch piece. This will be the center so if you want it to be a different color remember to do that. Then measure your little guys neck. My boy has a 10 to 11 inch neck ( fatty, I know ) so I did a 13 inch piece of elastic and two pieces of Velcro. Let's make a list

2 pieces of 9X7 inch fabric
1 piece of 2 1/2 by 5 inch fabric
2 piece of Velcro
and some elastic



Take one of the two 9X7 inch pieces and press the short sides in and iron down. Just a 1/4 of an inch or so on both short sides. Then sew this down



Then take one of the pieces you just sewed and fold it in half with right sides together so that the sides you sewed already are on the ends.



Follow these steps with the other piece of fabric and then turn both of them right side out. You should have two identical piece of fabric. Now press them open with the seam in the center in the back. Also, do the same thing with the middle piece of fabric. This is should be much smaller. Now you have all three piece sewn and ready to go.



Now the next steps are difficult to show with the two pieces of fabric so I am goign to show you with one of the bands we just made but just know you are going to do it with both of them stacked on top of each other. Just look at the pictures first and then try it out. It will seem confusing looking at the pictures but as soon as you try it, you'll get it right away and it will be fine.

Step One

Turn the fabric over to the back and fold both long ends into the center

Step Two

Fold in half the opposite way

Step Three

Now comes the difficult part to take pictures of and explain. Take the end and fold it in half towards the back. Then repeat with the other side and in your hands you should be able to turn it around and see this


If you do not see this, then try the steps over again. Now you could do this and be done. I wanted my boys bow tie to be double layered. If you do not want it double layered then you could skip the other piece of fabric all together and move on to the center piece. If you want two layers ( which just makes it more full ) then keep reading

Now that you know how you are going to fold it and if you are doing the double layer, do step ONE with both piece of fabric separated. Then stack the layers like so



You may notice in the picture that I made the bottom one slightly longer then the second. That is so once the bow ties are done, you can see it underneath the other one. If you are doing both layers, you will want to do this. Now, take these stacked pieces and find the center of your elastic. Line up the center of the fabric with the center of the elastic and hand sew them together. You only need a couple of stitches. Leave the stitching in and long for just a minute. We are going to use it in a second. This just keeps the bow tie in place while your little one wears it.



Now, go ahead and make the fold I showed you earlier only do it with the two pieces of fabric together. ( steps one through 3 ) Now take that thread you have lose and wrap it around once and either tie it off ( or stitch it once more through the bow tie and tie off. Now we are ready for the center piece.

NOw take your center piece and find the middle. Line the middle up with the front of your bow tie and wrap it around so the ends are in the back.



If your ends are too long just tuck them under. NOW here is another thing that is up to you. When I sewed this shut I DIDN'T sew it to the elastic. That way I can adjust the bow tie any time I want too. I thought this would be better, but if you want to, you can sew this straight onto the elastic. I made sure to not catch the elastic and just sew the two ends closed.



Now all you need to do is sew some elastic to the ends, or snaps if you prefer. I did the velcro. I have a pretty active kid and the bow tie stayed on for ALL 3 hours of church plus an hour or so before church. That's pretty impressive for my kid. If you have any questions just please ask. I swear it is pretty straight forward and it took me 20 minutes TOPS! Another option would be to add lightweight interfacing if you want it to be thicker or hold its shape better. I was too lazy! haha I am going to do another tutorial next week with a Bible ( or Book of Mormon ) cover to match the bow tie! I thought that would be cute. Enjoy your bow tie and let me know if you make one.

On a side note, you can do this with ribbon for girls hair bows ( or make a fabric one too! ) I made a black fabric one for Kayla with a ribbon tie for the center and it's WAY cute!! And totally girly. I'll post a picture as soon as I can get one. ENJOY



My little chip-n-dale! My brother asked me if he was Chris Farley or Patrick Swazi ( yeah I can't spell ) HAHA If you have any idea what I am talking about you are awesome. It's one of my FAVORITE SNL skits. I am adding this to a "link party" so check out what everyone else posted by clicking on the button below!