I’m getting married later this year, and weirdly it is proving difficult to find a nice champagne coloured tie. There are lots of very light ones out there, but i’m after something a tad darker to go with my suit. So, I thought, why don’t I try and make a couple!
A quick google led me to two patterns:
Click to access The-Best-Mens-Tie-Pattern.pdf
and
http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2009/5/21/mollys-sketchbook-fathers-day-tie.html
I decided to go with the PurlBee pattern in the end, as the tutorial seemed really good. However, being as this was my first time doing any hand sewing of any consequence, I figured some test runs would be in need.
Another trip to the haberdashery section of John Lewis and I had some nice champagne satin to use for the final ties (£15 a metre) and some horrible blue satin (£4 a metre) to practice with, along with various types of interfacing.
Free patterns FTW!
Pattern was cut out and stuck together…
2 pins or a submission
…then pinned to the fabric. This was actually really tricky to do, as the pattern is only a half pattern and needs to be pinned to a folded piece of cloth. Combine that with satin being a bit of a slippy nightmare and it wasn’t ideal. Lesson learned there, next time i’ll use a pattern that has the full tie width on it.
Fully fused
Ironing on the fusible interfacing was easy enough, but I managed to ruin my ironing board cover, it is now covered in glue 😀 Replacement needed, but for these test ties it isn’t a problem if there are glue spots on them.
I could really do with a working sewing machine at this point
Why am I cutting out three parts and then sewing them together? My cloth is long enough to make it in one piece. I’ll try that next time and see what happens…
Yes, this is post ironing
Getting the satin to hold a fold was very difficult, it moves around a lot and springs back all the time. A cotton fabric would have been much easier, but that doesn’t help me when I come to make the final ties, so perseverance is the key.
Stitching would be more comfy, I imagine
Time to pin it together, and it starts to look like a tie.
Shabby stitching is a style, right?
Sewing in the lining was difficult and looks crap, need to learn how to blind or slip stitch I think, however the ladder stitch up the centre wasn’t too bad, it holds the tie closed at least!
The front
The reverse
The finished article, poorly sewn and a bit too wide for what i’m after, but as a first attempt at hand sewing something, I don’t think that is too awful. The next one will be better…
An Amateur Sews 