If you need a gift for a classy gentleman this holiday season, what could be better than a handmade bow tie? Aaron Caramanis, one of our in-house crafters, shared this technique for bow-tie making.

Tools and Materials

Bow-tie templates
Chip board or mat board
Craft knife
1/2 yard quilting cotton*
1/2 yard lightweight nonwoven fusible interfacing*
Iron
Mini rotary cutter
Pins
Sewing machine
Thread in coordinating color
Scissors
Pencil with eraser
Bone folder
Hand-sewing needle
Bow-tie tying instructions template
Light-colored card stock
Glue or double-sided tape

*Makes 3 ties

Bow Tie How-To

1. Print bow-tie templates, trace onto chipboard or mat board, and cut out with a craft knife.

2. Iron lightweight, nonwoven fusible interfacing onto wrong side of fabric. Cut two 6-by-22-inch pieces from interfaced fabric and stack on top of each other, right side up.

3. Place templates on top of stacked fabric and cut around them with a mini rotary cutter.

4. Sew each set of long and short pieces together with a bias seam. To create bias seam, lay pieces with angled ends placed together, right sides facing, at a 90-degree angle. Pin in place. Stitch with a 1/4-inch seam allowance and press open seam.

5. Pin sewn bow-tie pieces together, right sides facing, with bias seams staggered. With 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch all around the bow tie, starting just before one bias seam and stopping just after the opposing bias seam.

6. Trim corners and notch seam allowance at curves, being careful not to clip into seam. Turn right side out using the eraser on a pencil and/or a bone folder. Use bone folder to push out corners of tie.

7. Press tie. Use a slipstitch to sew opening closed.

8. Print bow-tie tying instructions template on light-colored card stock. Cut out template on solid line with a craft knife, and score on dotted line with a bone folder. Fold in half, using glue or double-sided tape to stick wrong sides together. Cut out marked notch for hanging on button.

Resources

All tools and materials available at sewing and fabric-supply stores.