I have had this post for awhile but needed to get it up for you guys! I know there was a couple of you interested in making a bow tie! I haven't written a lot of tutorials so bear with me! For those of you that do not know I made some pretty adorable baby shower invites for my little guy. No I am not planning my own shower…I have wonderful friends and family who are taking care of it. I just LOVE making invites so that was my contribution. Its a chance to be creative outside of photography but still utilize my design skills. Ill post a photo of the finished invites at the end of the tutorial. Lets get started and see how I do :)
First up…here is the bow tie we are creating...
Pretty cute huh? This can be made from scrap pieces of fabric which is also awesome!
SUPPLIES: 8 1/2 inch x 4 inch piece of fabric 2 1/2 inch x 1 1/2 inch piece of fabric (this is the center of bow tie and can be a different fabric if you want to get creative) Needle/Thread for hand sewing (some can be done on sewing machine if you have one) Pin for backing of bow tie or whatever finish you want for it Iron :) Scissors :)
1. Cut out your two pieces of fabric as sized in supplies. These can be different or the same fabric. Here is a photo of TWO bow ties I cut at the same time.
2. Fold each piece in half...right sides together (Iron if you want to make your job a bit easier).
3. Either hand sew or machine sew the sides together. Leave an opening on each end on the smaller piece and one opening on the larger piece. See pic.
4. Turn each piece right side out. NOTE: This part can get a little tricky. There are fun little tools that you can buy to help you do this. I however have little fingers so I just did my best. The smaller piece may need a little extra TLC. If you don't have a fancy tool you might try a small crotchet hook? I was able to get it right side how using one.
5. Once you have them right side out you want to press each piece with the seam in the center. See pic.
6. Take each end of the larger piece and fold into the center. You will want to have a little overlap so make sure one side overlaps a touch.
7. Pinch in the center of the bow tie to create the "Bow Tie" look. It was hard for me to hold the tie and take a photo so I don't have a photo of this step. However if you start to pinch the center you should see the bow tie starting to take shape. Just squeeze it together with your thumb and pointer finger.
8. Once you have it shaped somewhat like a bow tie take your smaller piece of fabric and wrap it around the center to hold it together. Make sure all your ends/seems are on the same side. This will be the back of the bow tie.
8. I pinned the smaller piece of fabric to keep it in place before "Hand Sewing" this piece on. I also folded in the edges on the small piece of fabric to give it a more finished look.
Here is the front of the bow tie...
And here is a shot of a bunch of bow ties that we made. You can see the hand stitching on several of them as well as a bit of mixing fabrics!
We hand sewed pins on the backs but you can choose to finish them off however you choose. I also used a rotary cuter to cut my fabric to ensure straight lines. You can cut with regular scissors just be careful to get as straight as you can to make the sewing part a little smoother.
I hope this helps and I didn't forget anything! If you have any questions let me know!
Also as promised here is the finished bow ties decorating the baby shower invites...
~Whitney