{ Happy Sewing } Easy Bow Tie

Remember these? My lovely cousin-in-law, Julie asked for a tutorial to make a bow tie for her sweet little boy and I was surprised that I had never posted one back when I made all of those with Les Monsieurs. So here you go, Julie & anyone else who would like an easy and quick how-to on these dashing boys’ accessories.

What I used:

– A 2 pieces fabric 10″ wide x 3″ high (I used Helen Dardik’s “Leaves” from her “Too Muchery” collection)
– B 1 piece fabric 2.5″ wide x 3″ high
– C 1 piece fabric 17″ wide x 2″ high (This is for the neckband that will tuck under shirt collars. I opt to keep this light & neutral in colour so that it’s not too noticeable if junior starts fidgeting with his attire. And the great thing is you can make just one band and multiple bows, then just switch out the bow depending on the outfit.)

– D 1 piece lightweight interfacing 9.5″ x 2.5″
– E 1 piece interfacing 16.5″ x 1.5″
– 4″ x 1/2″ velcro (if you can’t find the right width, you can always cut down a wider piece). I choose ease when it comes to kids’ dressing. Velcro means they can do it up themselves with no fuss and no fiddling with hooks and fussy hardware.

What I did:

All seams are 1/4″.

Iron interfacing D onto wrong side of one piece of fabric A (centred). With right sides together, sew together the two A pieces along both long sides. Turn right side out and press.

Fold in half and stitch together along raw edges. You now have a ring of fabric. Turn right side out, so that last seam is to the inside of the ring, centred.

Fold fabric B in half to form a long skinny 3″ long piece. Sew along long edge.

Turn right side out & press so that the seam is in the centre. Fold in half (seam to the outside) and stitch together along raw edges.

Again, you have a little ring of fabric. Turn right side out, so that last seam is to the inside of the ring, centred.

Fold your bow acordian-style to insert it into the centre tie ring and pull half-way through.

Make sure your seams are both centred at the back (your bow seam should now be hidden inside the centre tie ring.

Iron interfacing E onto wrong side of fabric C (centred). Fold 1/4″ toward wrong side at one short end & press. Fold fabric C in half so you have a long very skinny 10″ piece. Sew along the short end that has not been folded & long edge.

Clip corners at stitched end.

Turn right side out via open end. Topstitch 1/8″ from the edge, all the way around.

Leaving 1/4″ fabric at end, sew one side of the velcro to one end of the neck band (sew all the way around the velcro, backstitching to secure it in place). Cut other piece of velcro into two 1.5″ lengths and discard the third piece. On the opposite side of the band, attach these two pieces as follows: Leave 1/4″ fabric at end, sew down first piece, leave 1.5″ fabric, sew down second piece.

I find this formation cuts down on extra bulk and gives lots of room for adjustments due to heavier shirts, neck growth and all the variations of neck sizes of different little boys.

Insert the neck band into the back of the tie centre ring. Finito!

One well dressed, happy boy.