Bow Tie -A- Rama!

I found this really cute idea on (you guess it!) Pinterest for making your own bow tie! They had so many super fancy ones they made for weddings and headbands. This is the page I liked the best. They were making a supah fly one for a little boy in a wedding. I wanted to try it and the only fabric I had laying around was one of those free handkerchiefs you can get at the pet store during some kind of promotion, so the dog got a new bow tie! She was pretty pumped.

You can really make this any way you want (I made it for a dog, people...so its pretty easily customizable). I decided to make a slightly bigger one because it was my first time, I figured I would leave as little room for error as possible.

You'll need a ruler, some fabric, scissors, a needle and some thread. I suppose you could use a sewing machine if you were striving for perfection, but honestly, its going to take you longer to set up the machine than to just sew it by hand. Ironing it after you're all done wouldn't be a bad idea either if you were looking to wear this out to a formal party or glue it to a headband.

This is my set up.

I chose to cut mine 5.5" x 4.5" to make a bigger bow tie.

Fold it in half width wise (iron if you would like to) and then sew up the sides. Make sure you leave an unsewn 1/2" - 1" gap on the longest side so you will be able to flip it right side out.

You can just barely see the pink thread on the left hand side, but you get the idea.

Flip it inside out through the gap you left in the longer side. Really make sure you push out the corners from the inside out, otherwise you'll have a weird oval shape. (You would iron after this step)

Next, you'll want to cut a strip of fabric you can use to keep the rectangle shaped like your bow tie. If you are making a fancier one than I am, take a 2" x 4" in strip. Fold it the long way and then sew it at the end. I simply cut out the border of the handkerchief like so:

Take the rectangular piece you sewed before and pucker it around the middle so it resembles a bow tie.

Take the strip of fabric and wrap it around the middle so it stays puckered. Pop a few stitches into the strip to keep it tight enough to hold the shape and you are done!! If you were going to make this into an actual bow tie, you would then stitch this onto a longer strip to go around the shirt collar. If you want to make it much fancier, add another smaller rectangle piece and layer the two. Where I made it for the dog, I just slipped it on over her collar.

This whole thing probably took about 10-15 minutes. That was honestly the easiest craft project I have ever done. I think I'm going to buy a little bit of fabric and make a really nice one to stick onto a headband. The great thing about this is it uses such a small amount of fabric.You could even buy the most expensive kind and it would cost no more than $5 to make the version pictured above.

Now Riley will model her new digs.