a tie. {lame (but descriptive) title.}

my sister was getting married.

oh shoot me now--i know that is like the 400th post that i have started with that sentence....

BUT we did want all the boys to have matching ties...

my sister wanted some big dramatic bold stripes...

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and wouldn't you know it...my little joanns didn't have anything.

and either did the idaho falls one

or the michaels

or roberts

or the other fabric places we stopped at.

i mean how hard is it to find big black and white stripes!

but i FINALLY found some HERE at allegro fabrics! they have massive amounts of cuteness

i ironed interfacing onto the bottom part of the ties. (i made 7...7... 777 (that's for you friend fans)
(a quick word about ties: do you know why ties are made out of the silky material? so they are easy to slide up and adjust...cotton is hard (doable but hard) so it's best to keep the neck part thin as possible...)

then i took my dads tie...that he still wore..but shouldn't cause its like circa 1986 and sliced it up and used it as a pattern (you can find cheap ole ties at the thrift store if you don't want your gentlemen mad at you)

the bottom is like 8 inches across...but those sides are folded in so it's not so much of a clown tie as you first think.

for the two ends...i cut a piece of fabric (and no i didn't match up the stripes.i'm not martha)

and sewed them right sides together.

clip the corners and turn right side out.. iron flat...whilest my iron was hot i took one side of the tie and ironed it over a half inch the entire length of the tie..

then i fold over the raw edge first and then the finished ironed one on top and pin all the way up....

here's the time consuming part...you are going to whip stitch through the two folded in sides so they are together...

you just slid it in and out and in and out being careful not to grab the front of the tie..

it takes awhile. i caught up on my SUIT reruns on my dvr. (oh harvey specter. why can't you be real. i'll be your donna)

oh. literal drool.
where was i?? oh...sewing up the back...

and then you press them until nice and crisp...

and try them on to see if they fit..

and slap them on cute kids you see....

aren't they fun!!!!

I made these ages 4-12...the 12 were long...and i just kept snipping off an inch for every age i went down...

i've also made a couple hot glue bow ties (i actually would have hot glued these ties if they were just for my son)

AND THIS is  a great tutorial!

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and hey...guess what? paper coterie is offering a $40 credit to all first time customers... (just enter welcome2012 at checkout) so if you haven't gone over to see the awesomeness that is paper coterie you MUST!