Tutorial: Bow Ties

Here's another easier-than-expected tutorial. It began after I attended a baby shower with the CUTEST bow-tie theme for a little baby boy. There were bow-tie cookies, cupcakes, a cake, the napkins folded like bow-ties. Naturally, I was inspired. I gathered some supplies one night (actually the same night of the shower; Carson wasn't home so I stayed up late) and decided to figure out how to make some bow ties for ??? I have no idea. But they were fun and easier than expected!

My good friend Pinterest lead to a wealth of bow-tie tutorials. I opened a bunch of them and then sort of did my own thing. It seems that most bow ties have similar beginnings.

First, cut one piece of fabric to roughly 9 inches by 5 inches. I played around with this measurement after my first bow tie and decided I liked fatter bows. The end result will be half of whatever width you choose, which didn't occur to me until after I'd cut my fabric.
The second piece of fabric will become the tie to your bow. I think I ended up folding this in thirds, and I can't really remember the dimensions.

Fold the right sides together and sew a long tube, and sew up one end. Then, flip the whole thing right-side out, iron the other end down and top stitch it. You aren't going to be seeing where you sewed, so don't worry there.

Fold both sides in so that they meet in the middle. The first time around, I sewed a couple of stitches here to keep the sides down. The next time I made a bow-tie, I hot glued. That was easier.

Pinch into a bow-tie shape. Not all little folds are created equal, so play around with it

Stitch (or hot-glue) the folds in place.

Cover with center piece. I have no idea what this is called. I sewed it on the first time around and then went to hot glue. Much easier.

My mom sent me a million of these little pins awhile ago and I was finally able to open the package and put one to use!

I realized how easy these were after the first attempt and became a bow-making machine. I cut them out, sewed them and then finished them in a little assembly line. I realize that most of the final products don't look like bow-ties for boys - that's because I thought that they'd look cute on a headband or hairclip. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but these will make fun gifts. Try it!