Prom Dresses & Bow ties - searching for "The Perfect Color"

Searching for the perfect color bow tie was my daughter's quest right before prom.  Since I ended up cutting ten inches off the bottom of her dress, I had plenty of fabric to make the perfect match!

Here's the bow tie that I made for my daughter's boyfriend for their prom. 




Ok, so THIS isn't her boyfriend, but it WAS my first attempt at the bow tie.  This was my first attempt, and was WAY too small.  So, sometimes you have to make prototypes before you get to the finished product. 

 (Stay tuned, I'll show you the finished product..)








If you are interested, here's how I created it.  It was kind of easy once I finally figured out HOW to make one, let alone TIE one!  :)





I couldn't find a free pattern anywhere on the internet, or at least one that I liked, so I created one of my own.  

I sketched it out on graph paper so I could make sure that it was symmetrically equal on both sides.














Cut it out, leaving 1/4 inch for your seam allowance. 















Pin the pattern to both layers of fabric and cut out.














Also cut out your stabilizer fabric. 






















Put right sides of fabric together, add stabilizer material on top of fabric and sew all layers together all the way around using 1/4 inch seam allowance.

** IMPORTANT, leave a small space of unsewn area in the long













After sewing all layers, trim stabilizer fabric within 1/8 inch of stitching, and cut fabric around curves and dips to help when fabric is turned right sides out. 










Turning the entire thing right side out was time consuming, but, I found using a long "poky stick" or a "chopstick" was helpful to push all of that fabric through the small opening.  Difficult, but possible.

Iron the entire tie nice and flat, and sew up the small turn hole.






So here is the final product:

 

Sew, there ya go!  Easy peasy!!  Go make a bow tie.

Always in stitches,
Carol