tie shirt tutorial

 Materials:

• tie pattern cut to desired size - (comes in 2T, 3T, 4T, but can be easily adjusted to any size you want)
• thrifted shirt (or other material ~ 14" x 5")
• t-shirt
• coordinating thread
• 1 sheet of double stick fusible web (I used Steam-A-Seam2)
• iron
• sewing machine (with a zigzag stitch)
  
  

 

Trace the pattern on the fusible web and cut it out.  Hint: cut inside the line so that your fusible web is slightly smaller that the fabric - no mess on your iron!

  

Position your pattern on the thrifted shirt to get the design effect you like (I like the stripes to run diagonally across the tie). 

  

Pin (or if you are impatient like me, use washers to weight it down) and cut out the tie.

  

  

This step is optional: I like the stripes to run in the opposite direction on the top portion of the tie (piece-A) - giving it a little more detail.  In my case, because the thrifed shirt was woven and the design was the same on both sides - I simply cut off piece-A and...

  

flipped it over to get the desired effect.

  

If your fabric is not the same on both sides, you will need to cut out a second piece-A from your thrifted shirt/fabric to get the effect you want.  

  

If you decide to go with the optional step above, you will also need to cut piece-A and B apart on the fusible web.

  

...like this.

  

The next step is to place the fusible web onto the back of the tie.  Simply peel one side of the paper off and stick it to the tie.  If you need to adjust the placement, just peel it off and try again. 

  

Once it is in the correct position, peel off the other side of paper and line the tie up in the center of the t-shirt.  Adjust as needed until it is just right. I usually just fold the t-shirt in half and crease it lightly with my finger to find the center.

  

Following the instructions on the fusible web package, iron the tie into place.

  

The key to sewing all the way around the tie with out having to overlap your stitching (if you decided to go with the optional step) is to start in the middle of piece-A and B.  Tip: I like to back stitch using a straight stitch first before starting the zigzag.

  

Continue around the tie using a zigzag stitch.

  

keep going...

  

and going...

  

Almost there...

 

Finished! Now that was super easy, wasn't it?

More Shirts...

  

These outfits were made for a beach wedding we attended last summer.  The shorts were made from a thrifted gray linen dress, seen here.

After making the tutorial, I decided the boys needed one in (nearly) every color of the rainbow - perfect for color day at school!