Tutorial: Making a Boy's Tie from a Man's Tie

If you complete a project based on this tutorial, I would love to see it posted it to my Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1309748@N20/

A Spanish version of this tutorial is now available on Chica Perika
Versión española de Chica Perika






This weekend we attended a church wedding. I know, right? A wedding in a church! Maybe it's because I spend my time with a bunch of hooligans and heathens, but this was actually the first church wedding (or even indoor wedding) I had been to since my own in 2001. And since it was held in fancy schmancy Newport Beach (of The OC fame), I had to dress all of my guys up in formal attire.
Now we's simple folk and we don't really go for them fancy clothes, and I don't like spending big money on clothes I know will only be worn once or twice. So I hit up some consignment shops and overstock stores like Ross and Marshall's and managed to throw together two formal outfits for my kids for under $30. The one thing I couldn't find was a cute tie for Milo to match his hand-me-down navy pinstripe trousers. So I did what any crafty momma would do--found a $3 tie on clearance in the men's section and made a few cuts and and stitches and managed to make a very cute boy's tie.
This is how I done it:


You will need:
A cheap men's tie
piece of elastic cut to the size of the child's collar
needle & thread
cloth scissors
ruler
steam iron
sewing machine (optional--all stitching can be done by hand)


Flip it over and remove all of the elements on the back, including labels and the little stitch that holds the back flaps together.


From the widest part of the tie, cut the tie to the desired finished length (you want the full length of the entire tie from the top of the "knot" portion to the tip, not just the length of the "tail" pieces). My tie was about 8" long for a size 18-month outfit.


Place the narrow end of the tie against the back of your cut piece and cut it off to the desired length.


Cut off an additional piece from the narrow end to make your "knot" piece. It should be about 1/2 the length of the first piece you cut. For a fatter knot, cut it longer, for a skinnier knot, cut a bit shorter. The pictured knot piece is 4" long.


To make the knot:
Set a steam iron to the "silk" setting.
Turn the knot piece over so that the back flaps are facing up. Fold the left side towards the center at a slight angle and press flat with the steam iron.
Do the same to the right side. The left and right sides should slightly overlap each other.
When you flip the knot over it should look like the second picture above--a trapezoid that is longer on the top than on the bottom.
Still working from the back, tuck the overhanging pieces down to make a little pocket and press with the iron.
When you flip it over, the finished knot piece should look like the last picture in the series above.


Place the large tail piece right side down and open it up.


Fold the bottom side up and at a slight angle to the desired width of your finished tie. Press with the iron and cut off the excess material in a straight line across the back of the tie.


Flip the tie over, folding the other side under at a matching angle. When the tie is the desired width and the angles are correct, press with the iron.


Flip the tie back over and cut the excess material off in a straight line that slightly overlaps the bottom flap. Make a small stitch by hand, stitching these two flaps together. This small stitch is very important, as it will keep the tie from opening up and falling apart on you!


Place the second, smaller tail piece right-side down onto the larger tail piece (also right-side down). Line the tops of the tail pieces together and either machine or hand stitch them together. Trim the top so that the raw edge is even and straight.
Also, make sure that the small tail piece has a small stitch keeping it's flaps together, too. If it does not, make one small stitch to hold the two flaps together the same way you did with the large tail piece.



Make a dimple in the tail by curving the top as shown above and running a piece of thread through to hold the shape. Tie off the thread.


It should look like this.


Place the knot piece right-side down and open up the top flap. Place the tail pieces right side down and re-close the flap. Hand stitch the top flap to the tails.



Like this!


Re-fold and re-tuck the knot so that it closes over the tail and hand stitch the back. Make sure your thread goes through the tail and stitches everything together, but doesn't show through the front of the tie.


Run a piece of thread through the bottom of the knot piece and tie a knot in the thread to cinch it together.


It should be pinched like the above picture. Secure with a double knot.


Sew a piece of elastic to the back of your new tie. The elastic piece should be just slightly smaller than the collar of the child's shirt. It should fit just a little bit snugly, but be very careful not to make it too tight! You could also use a piece of matching ribbon that closes with velcro in the back.
Alex of Crafting with My Cubs has a great tutorial for an alternative closure using velcro instead of elastic.



Finally, find a super cute baby and put your new tie on him. Now every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man!
By the way, I think it would be really cute to have a matching tie for Daddy. It would make a great Father's Day gift.



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Friday Find: Other People's Booties

Hello! Hello! Sorry to only do one post this week. I had a hectic one with houseguests, the sickies, my son's birthday, and a husband out of town. Anyway, said husband took the camera with him, so I wasn't able to post pictures even if I could get a rare moment to myself.
It somehow got to be Friday, and for today's Friday Find I'm featuring Other People's Booties. I haven't been focusing on my Etsy shop lately, which was primarily stocked with baby booties, and I'm not taking custom orders right now, so I thought I would showcase some other great shops out there that sell baby booties. It has been awhile since I've looked, and there is some really cute stuff out there!
I also wanted to mention that I'm not getting any sort of compensation for the stuff I feature on Friday Finds. It's purely driven by Awesomeness.
Without further ado, five sweet booties (click on the listing title to go to the individual item's page and the shop name to go to the shop's storefront):


Nutty Squirrel Wool Felt Baby Shoes
$23 by Diddle Dumpling


Sushi Baby Booties $22 by Sushi Booties


Little Koalas Felted Merino Baby Ankle Booties
$36 by Pretty Little


Fabric Baby Shoes Embroidered with Fuschias. Soft soled and Reversible $22 by Binky Blossom


Pinestripes and Lace Shoes $22 by Baby Grin

Friday Find: Wedding Gifts

I'm starting a new feature called Friday Find where I'm going to share some cool stuff that I've found while cruising about the Interwebs. This may be an Etsy shop or blogs that follow a particular crafty theme, a new book or a gift guide like the one I've chosen to do today.

For my first Friday Find I'm featuring wedding gifts. I have a wedding to go to next weekend, and generally speaking, I don't like to shop off of registries. When Steve and I got married, only one or two people bought us stuff we DIDN'T register for. While we were grateful for all of the gifts, the ones that we weren't expecting were the most exciting to receive and the most memorable. These are five of my picks for off-the-registry gifts for a newly wedded couple:

1. Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home
$29.70 from Amazon.com
I love, love, love this book. It covers everything you will ever need to know about homekeeping. Want to know how to fold a fitted sheet? How to clean your couch? Organize your closet? Hone and sharpen a knife? Get blood stains out of your carpet? What? This book is awesome in so many ways. Even a dirty slob like me has referenced it countless times.


2. Antique Teacup Magnetic Ring Holder
$38.50 from w.ho made it
Ring holders are a cute, affordable and appropriate wedding gift for just about any couple. This little Etsy shop has some of the cutest and most original ring holders I've seen. Each one-of-a-kind ring holder uses an antique tea cup for the base and has a pole topped with a magnetic bottom ceramic knob. Pretty, artful and practical. What more do you need?


3. Large Round Pizza Stone with Handles
$23.60 from The Pampered Chef
I was under the impression that everyone had a pizza stone because I love mine so much and don't know what I would do without it. It turns out that just about every time I've served a guest pizza from my pizza stone, he or she thinks I am some super fancy pants gourmet pizza eatin' type. Even frozen pizza turns out perfect on this pizza stone and everyone knows that frozen pizza is a newlywed staple.


4. Set of Personalized Cards
$7.95 for 12 cards from Paper Eclectiques
Personalized stationery is always a practical gift. These cards from Paper Eclectiques on Etsy are soooo cute and a huge steal for a personalized set like this. Each card is printed with Maison de (Last Name) and Established Year of your choice. Of course, this card would work better with some last names than others and it is contingent on the bride taking the groom's last name. Or vice versa, I suppose. (Although perhaps it would be possible to make it say Maison de Smith et Jones)


5. Custom Temporary Tattoos
price varies from StrayTats.com
This is a fun idea. I made a set of these for our friends Miranda and Andy when they got hitched this summer. Stray Tats lets you upload your own designs or use one of their templates to create one-off temporary tattoos. Most other places online require a huge order. The price per tattoo varies according to size, but they are very reasonable at about $4.50 for a 3"x3" tattoo. There is also a $2.00 flat shipping rate, no matter how many tats you order.

Perfect Gift Wrapping Tutorial, Part 3: Finishing Touches

Calculate the amount of ribbon you will need by wrapping it around your box and making three loops: 2 loops approximately the size of your bow's loops, and one loop for the length of the bow's tail.


Give yourself a few inches of extra wiggle room and cut.


Find the center of your ribbon and place it on the center of the top of your box.


Flip your box over and bring the ends around each other and pull tightly to make a cross.


Like this. Pull your ribbon up and flip your box over again, top side up.


Slip the loose ends under the horizontal ribbon.


Check that everything is flat (no twists in your ribbon) And tie a single knot on top of the horizontal ribbon.


Make two loops. Both loops should have the open end on the your left.


Hold both loops flat and away from each other.


Keeping it nice and flat, fold the left loop (Loop 1) over the right loop (Loop 2).


Push Loop 1 under and through the opening. Don't bunch up your ribbons, keep it all as flat as possible.


This is the same picture as above with helpful illustrations!


Pull on the loop ends to tighten, but don't pull too hard! Keep the center knot somewhat loose and squarish.


Hold the center knot and pull on the tails and loops to adjust your bow to the size you want it to be. Tighten the knot slightly so it holds firmly, but isn't small and ugly. If you pull it too tight, get in there and loosen it up. Don't be afraid to be rough with the ribbon and squish the loops and knot around until it looks perfect.


Fold one tail in half and snip it at an angle to make a fishtail shape (upside down "V"). Repeat on other tail.


And you're all finished! A perfectly wrapped present! Yay!

See the rest if this tutorial:
Perfect Gift Wrapping Tutorial, Part 1: Preparing Your Package
Perfect Gift Wrapping Tutorial, Part 2: Wrapping Your Gift

Perfect Gift Wrapping Tutorial, Part 2: Wrapping Your Gift

Are you guys excited? I can feel it! Let's get started:

Wrap your giftwrapping paper around the long side of your box until it covers the whole thing. Give yourself an extra inch or so of overlap, and mark the wrap where you will cut it.


Move your box aside and line up the top edges of your gift wrap, creasing the paper where you made your cut mark. This will give you a nice, straight cutting guide.


Open the paper up and cut along your crease. You can use your box as a weight if the paper begins to curl.


Turn both your cut piece of wrapping paper AND your box 90 degrees. Place the box so the long edge is neatly lined up along the top edge of your wrapping paper. Position the box so that you can fold the wrapping paper up the short side of the box and it extends past the top edge by about an inch.


You can use the second part of your index finger to approximate one inch.


On the other side of the box, make a cut mark 1/2 to 1 inch out from the edge of the box.


Line up the top edges of your paper and fold at the mark you just made.


Open the paper and cut along the crease. Again, use your box, roll of tape, etc. as a weight if the paper curls too much.


Turn the box AND paper 90 degrees. Position the box in the center of your wrapping paper, top side down.


Neatly fold one edge of the paper about 1/4 inch.


Like this.


Wrap the box around the long side with the folded edge you just made on top. Look at the top and bottom edges of the paper--they should line up as cleanly as possible. If you shift the box, double check that it is still centered on the paper, and you have an equal amount of paper overhang on the short sides of the box.


Use one piece of tape to secure. One piece. One. Piece.


Fold in the sides of the paper to make triangles. Make sure you don't push your box back when doing this.



It should look like this.


Fold the bottom flap edge about 1/4 inch. Remember that your gift is upside down, so when you flip it over, this will be the top flap.


Fold down the top flap (which is the bottom of your gift) and hold it tightly.


Fold up the bottom flap (with the folded edge) and secure with one (ONE) piece of tape.


Now you have one side neatly wrapped!


Flip your box up on the end you just finished and gently push it down.


Fold in the edges to make flaps like you did on the other side. Keeping the box on it's end like this will ensure a nice, tight wrapping job.


Fold the edge of the flap that is on the top side of your box about 1/4 inch. Fold the bottom flap in, then the top flap with the folded edge. Secure with one piece of tape.


Run your fingers in a gentle "pinch" around all of the edges of your box. These creases all around will give a crisp, finished look.


You now have a perfect, professionally wrapped present!

Tomorrow is our final session--Part 3: Finishing Touches. I'll show you how to tie the ribbon on and make pretty bow.

See the rest if this tutorial:
Perfect Gift Wrapping Tutorial, Part 1: Preparing Your Package
Perfect Gift Wrapping Tutorial, Part 3: Finishing Touches