"My Little Man" Ties

I am in! I will be competing on Season 5 of So You Think You’re Crafty! In fact, I came in second in the voting…how exciting! Thanks for all your votes. As promised, here’s the tutorial:

It’s so unfair that girls get all the cute accessories. What’s a mother of boys to do?

Make Ties!

First, download and print the pattern.

Materials Needed:
outer fabric – 1/2 yard printed woven fabric.  quilting cottons and home decor fabrics work well.
lining fabric – 1/2 yard solid woven fabric.  quilting cotton works well here. lightweight is best.
interfacing – 1/3 yard lightweight interfacing. you don’t need this if you are using a heavy outer fabric.

Pattern Pieces:
Seam allowance is NOT included in the pattern. I recommend you add about 3/8” seam allowance. Feel free to add more or less. {tip: This is a good place to make the tie wider or narrower. for example, you could add a 5/8” seam allowance and sew with a 1/4” allowance.}
#1 – narrow part of tie
cut 1 of main fabric
cut 1 of interfacing (optional)
cut 1 of lining
#2 – wide pard of tie
cut 1 of main fabric
cut 1 of interfacing (optional)
cut 1 of lining

Instructions
Cutting:
Make sure to add seam allowance.
* Cut both pieces from outer and lining fabrics. {note: The “straight of grain” is on the diagonal so the pattern of the fabric will run diagonal, or on the bias. Really, you don’t have to do this, it just helps the fabric curve easier.}

Sewing:
* Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the outer pieces. {note: This is optional. If you are using a heaver outer fabric (i.e. home decor) you don’t need interfacing. Just follow the manufacturer’s instructions on this.}

* Stitch lining pieces together, and outer pieces together, at the center joint seam, right sides facing. {tip: overlap the points by by your seam allowance.}

* Next, pin the lining to the outer fabric, right sides together, and sew around the entire tie … that’s right, the entire tie … trust me!

A note about perfection: Get over it! It will all work out in the end. Here are some “mistakes” I made –

my seam allowances weren’t cut perfectly…oh well, once you stitch and trim your seams it won’t matter!

also, I sewed the seam folded down…again, it won’t matter when the tie is turned inside out.

Basically what I’m trying to say is its okay if this isn’t perfect. Its not a wedding dress, its a little boy’s tie.

* Clip corners. {tip:If you used a larger seam allowance you may also need to trim your seam allowance a bit. It should be about 1/4”-3/8” wide.}

* Now the tricky part. Cut a small slit in the lining fabric running the length of the tie…make this a few inches long. This is how we will turn the tie out. Don’t worry we won’t see this at all!

* Turn the tie out, poke out the corners, and press the seams.

* While you are at the iron, press the sides of the tie toward the center back. I like to use steam for this to make it a really crisp fold. (watch your fingers!)

* Use a few hand stitches to tack the two sides together…or…use fusible webbing and don’t bother with the hand sewing! {note: if you need some help, check out my hidden hand stitches tutorial}

Now admire your handy work…track down your young man and tie one on him.

How dashing!

♥ Julliana