Bow Tie Quest

For the last few weeks, I've been thinking about making a bow tie. Not a clip on, but a real one that I tie myself. I downloaded the free patterns for a good start. The first one I made turned out to be so small that only a child might be able to use it. See any children lately in a bow tie?

I made a muslin tie from a LA Times pattern I downloaded. If you want, there's a decent pattern on Burda's website for free called David's Bow Tie. Be warned, you will need a login (free) to download the pattern. Did I forget to mention that I don't know how to tie a bow tie? YouTube to the rescue. Here is the link for the video I could follow. Beware of the 4-year old kid video who can tie his tie; most depressing if you're a newbie!

Bow Tie Video


One cannot make a good bow tie unless one has some experience actually tying the bow. I rapidly learned that the 'fish' pattern of the bow needs to be more pronounced, the 'head' and 'tail' need to be bigger, and the 'waist' needs to be more narrow. The patterns also expect you to use hardware for lengthening and shortening the tie, but you can adjust the length in your pattern to make a tie to fit your own neck and eliminate the hardware.

Using leftover cotton cloth, I attempted another tie.

I'm 98% satisfied now.. just a little more tweeking the tail to make it larger, and the head to make it slightly smaller.

G'night!