This tutorial was written by keen crafter Miriam Faulkner. You can find Miriam blogging at http://moremiriam.wordpress.com/ or find her on Twitter.
This tie tutorial is based on the Threadbanger Back to School tie tutorial which I used to make my husband a tie last year for our 13th anniversary last year. I have added my own twist by making my own striped fabric which takes full advantage of the beautiful Oakshott fabric.
What you need
Oakshott fabric Lipari Fat Eight Bundle*
Dressmaker’s tracing paper and tracing wheel
1¼ yards of calico
White tissue paper
Quilter’s ruler
Scissors
Needle
Co-ordinating thread
Pins
Pencil
Templates (dashed lines indicate overlap, see image at the bottom for how to put the pieces together).
*to make a standard tie you will require approximately 1¼ to 1½ yards of fabric depending on the pattern, however you will require a ⅓ extra of your total fabric to make a striped tie.
To make the striped fabric
Start by deciding what order you would like your stripes to be then cut your fabric into 1½ inch strips.
TIP: cut a small piece of each fabric and pin together in the correct order so you can refer to it as you go.
Take two strips and pin right sides together. Sew together with a ¼ inch seam then add the next strip.
TIP: I found it easier to sew my strips together in batches rather than continually adding strips, far less confusing!
Once you have sewn all your strips together, iron the seams open. This is a little fiddly but worth it.
To make the tie
Download the pattern from here – the dashed lines indicate where the pattern pieces should overlap. Place the dressmaker’s tracing paper with the yellow side up on a firm surface, then put the tissue paper on top and finally put the pattern on top of that. Using the tracing wheel go over the lines of the pattern to transfer it to the tissue paper.
TIP: ensure that the surface you are tracing on is either protected or dispensable as the tracing wheel may leave indentations.
Cut out the tissue paper pattern and carefully pin it to your fabric, ensuring it is on the bias and cut it out.
Once you have both pieces, the thin end and the thick end, of your tie cut out, pin them right sides together so that the two ends line up**, sew together with a ¼ inch seam and then press the seam open.
** you will see that in order for my stripes to match, I had to overlap my ends slightly which resulted in a small amount that needed to be trimmed off. You do not have to be this exact as this section is usually under the collar when the tie is tied; I’m just a bit uptight about things like that!
You will also see that I have an additional join in my fabric. This is because I chose not to use two of the fat eighths provided which meant my final piece of striped material was a little short, so I had to join and extra piece.
Cut out your tipping pieces from a coordinating, plain piece of fabric. Taking one end at a time, fold the tipping and the tie in half (fold back your tissue pattern to enable you to do this), and place the tipping inside the tie end, right sides together. Hand sew a securing stitch in the point and then lay it flat.
Unfold your tissue pattern and pin it to the tie, with the tipping sandwiched in between, then fold and pin the seam allowance over. This will then give you a clear line to follow when sewing the tipping to the tie. Place a pin either side of your securing stitch as you will sew up to but not across this stitch.
You should end up with a small pleat in the centre of your tipping. Fold the end again, right sides together and sew a line across the point as indicated by the pin, trim the point off above the line, then turn the right side out and press.
To make your lining, take the Calico and fold in half. Pin your lining pattern to the Calico on the bias and cut it out. Pin the two layers together and then join the two ends together with a zigzag stitch. Once joined, sew a ¼ inch seam around the whole tie.
Insert the lining into the tipping and iron over the seam allowance.
TIP: this is the point where the tissue paper comes to the fore. As it is so thin, it is easy to fold over and follow the pattern lines, ensuring an accurate fold. You can use brown paper, grease proof paper or tracing paper, but the thickness of paper means you can’t get such an accurate fold. Using tailors chalk to draw the pattern lines as alternative is not really an option for handmade striped fabric due to the amount of seams.
Once all the seam allowances are sewn over, fold over one side and press and then the other side and press.
Remove the tissue pattern.
Carefully pin the tie closed without going through to the front of the tie. Using a needle and thread, hand sew together in the seam.
TIP: use double thread but only as long as from your hand to your elbow so that you don’t risk getting knotted up. Ensure that when you start each new thread that you start with your needle inside the seam so that your knot is hidden inside the tie. By keeping your stitches small and within the seam allowance, you will create an invisible join.
If you would like to have a more ‘couture’ finish to your tie, start and stop your central seam an inch or so before the end and then add a thread bar at each end. For a great video tutorial on how to create a thread bar, visit Threads.
One more press and your tie is complete!
Thank you to The Sewing Directory and Oakshott Fabric for the opportunity to make this tutorial, to my Crafting Guru Claire Mackaness for her continued support and help with the original tie I made and, finally, to Mr F for being such a fabulous model! Miriam.
