Quick Sewing: How to Sew a (pre-tied) Bow Tie - Handmade Gifts | Lisa Kahlhöfer | Skillshare
Search

Playback Speed


1.0x


  • 0.5x
  • 0.75x
  • 1x (Normal)
  • 1.25x
  • 1.5x
  • 1.75x
  • 2x

Quick Sewing: How to Sew a (pre-tied) Bow Tie - Handmade Gifts

teacher avatar Lisa Kahlhöfer, Bespoke Tailor & Crochet lover

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Intro

      0:51

    • 2.

      Tools & Materials

      2:17

    • 3.

      Preparations

      2:11

    • 4.

      Sewing

      10:47

    • 5.

      Assembling

      9:26

    • 6.

      Thank you

      1:18

  • --
  • Beginner level
  • Intermediate level
  • Advanced level
  • All levels

Community Generated

The level is determined by a majority opinion of students who have reviewed this class. The teacher's recommendation is shown until at least 5 student responses are collected.

156

Students

2

Projects

About This Class

You want to surprise your dad or your partner with a special gift? Or do you want to sew a unique Bow Tie for yourself?

In this class you will learn how to sew and assemble pieces of fabric to get a lovely Bow Tie.

This class is for all level sewists. You don´t need to be a pro to accomplish a nice looking Bow Tie, but a few basic skills in handling a sewing machine and needle and thread would be good. But even if you are a total beginner, just give it a go and start.

No one is born a master!

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Lisa Kahlhöfer

Bespoke Tailor & Crochet lover

Teacher

Hi, I'm Lisa. I love everything I can craft with my hands. Since completing a three year apprenticeship to be a professional men's tailor I worked at an opera house in Wuppertal, Germany. In January 2023 I moved to Wellington, New Zealand to study Costume Construction at "Toi Whakaari". Now graduated, I work as a tailor.

Sewing classic suits and crazy costumes is absolutely my dream job but in my freetime I also like to crochet (a lot!!), knot these friendship bracelets we all kinda made when we were younger, sew stuff to wear for my little niece, go climbing and surfing with my friends, make kombucha, bake sourdough bread, and so on.

As a German girl which wasn't the best in English class in school I hope I practiced enough to teach and write in English. I try my v... See full profile

Level: All Levels

Class Ratings

Expectations Met?
    Exceeded!
  • 0%
  • Yes
  • 0%
  • Somewhat
  • 0%
  • Not really
  • 0%

Why Join Skillshare?

Take award-winning Skillshare Original Classes

Each class has short lessons, hands-on projects

Your membership supports Skillshare teachers

Learn From Anywhere

Take classes on the go with the Skillshare app. Stream or download to watch on the plane, the subway, or wherever you learn best.

Transcripts

1. Intro: You also like to give away gifts you created by yourself to your friends and family. My name is Lisa, I'm a tailor, and every Christmas or birthday, I think about small gifts I can make. So, this year I decided to make bow ties. It's a quick project Everyone can approach and you can make it in any color and every size you like. So in this class, you'll learn what tools and materials you need and how to assemble all the pieces you cut out to create a lovely bow tie. So if you want to make a bow tie as a gift, or for yourself Join me in the next lessons. 2. Tools & Materials: For this project, you don't need a lot of things. A few different tools, fabric and some kind of fastener. Tools you need are: A sewing machine If you have, you don't need a fancy industrial sewing machine like this one, a household sewing machine is perfectly fine. If you don't have one and you're a little skilled in handsewing, you can do all seams by hand. An iron to press the seams down, this isn't essential, but everything will look cleaner if you press the seams down. And you also need an iron to put your fabric and interlining together. If you decide to use some. Other things you'll need are sharp scissors to cut the fabric. Small scissors are handy for cutting threads. Tailor's chalk, if you have. But a pencil will do the work aswell. A thick hand sewing needle with strong thread and a smaller handsewing needle with thread, preferably matching color to your fabric. As I sew by hand every day, I always use a thimble. It helps you to push the needle through the fabric. Materials you need: Three pieces of fabric of your choice. For the bow part it has to be 27 times 13 centimeters big. You'll also need a piece of adhesive interlining in the same size If you use very thin fabric like this. For the small band 7 times 5 centimeters. And for neck band 50 times 4 centimeters. To adjust and close the neck band, you'll need a slider and hook and eye or something like these hooks you would find on a bikini or bra. And I always cut out all the zippers, hooks and buttons from old garments i throw away. So I have a big collection. Yeah. So let's start with the preparations. 3. Preparations: Now we can start cutting out the pieces and pressing the interlining on for the bow draw a rectangle 27 by 13 centimeters onto your fabric. That's 11 by 5 inches. You can adjust the length and width of this piece If you want to make the bow bigger or smaller. Just try this with different sizes till it fits your idea. For the middle part you need a piece 7 by 5 centimeters, that's three by two inches. The piece for the neck band is 50 by 4 centimeters. That's 20 by 1.5 inches. Like I said earlier, if you use very thin and delicate fabric, you shoud cut out a piece of adhesive interlining in the same size of your bow piece for more stability of your bow. As all pieces are cut out, you can now take the bow pieces and press the interlining onto your fabric. It is important to have your fabric facing right side down. As this is the side you want to look at, at the finished Bowtie and the interlining with the little glue points to stick to your fabric. To prevent glue getting onto your surface if the interlining is a little bit bigger than your fabric, I use a simple piece of fabric as a bottom layer. Make sure to let the little glue points heat up as long as they need to in order to stick properly to the fabric. So take some time and maybe a little steam to connect the pieces. 4. Sewing: All the preparations are done so we can start sewing. It only takes four seams with your sewing machine. Fold all pieces in half right sides together. And sew with a seam allowance of one centimeter, that's about a third of an inch. If you don't have a sewing machine, take your needle thread it and make a knot at one end. Here's a trick I use all the time to create this little knot. I take the end of the thread, wind it around the tip of my finger. Twist it while holding it between my thumb and index finger. Then I place my middle finger as a stopper and pull tight. Once you've tried this a few times, it will work perfectly fine. Cut off the excess threat and grab your thimble. It is most popular to wear it on the middle finger of your sewing hand. The little dents will help to push the needle as you go. Now you can start sewing. If you're not familiar with the backstitch The basic movement is to work in loops. You always place the needle one stitch length behind the previous one and stick it through from the upper side down. And let it appear one stitch length in front of the previous stitch. This will create loops to hold your layers together pretty strong. To prevent forming knots while stitching, just pull your thread, rather slow than too fast and strong. Take your time and stop when you see the thread getting tangled. Play around with the loops your thread formed and then pull again. Finish your seam with a knot by sticking the needle through the loop at the end before you tighten the last stitch. That's it. You finished your first seam by using the backstitch. If you decide to sew everything with a sewing machine and you're a beginner, you may be want to use some sewing pins. Feel free to do so. I always sew those straight seams without using sewing pins and adjust the pieces on the go. This is a little harder when it comes to the neck band. So you can always make it easier by using some sewing pins to hold everything in place. Make sure to secure the seams at the start and end by making a few back and forth stitches. I always cut the ends of the thread right off because I find it nicer to work with a piece when there are no threads hanging off the sides. Before you can sew the last seam, you have to take your bow piece and iron the seam down. open the tube and place it on your ironing board, the seam has to lay in the middle. Then spread apart the seam allowances and press them down. Now turn it inside out. This isn't difficult, but it probably needs a little time and patience. Then take your piece to the ironing board. And press it once again, seems laying in the middle. Now you can connect the ends with the last seam. Again - Make sure to have the right side lay inside and the seam facing the outside and secure start and end by making back and forth stitches. Cut off the uneven end and press down the seam like I show here. I always in almost every case, press the seam allowance apart to avoid getting a very thick part where the seam allowances are doubled. Then you can turn the bow piece inside out. To turn the band I'll show you a little trick. First, cut off one end like this to make the start easier. Then take a thick needle with strong thread and make a knot at one end. like I showed before: wind it around the tip of the finger, twist it between thumb and index finger. Hold it and pull tight. Now stick the needle through the tip and secure that with another stitch right next to the first one. Turn the needle and insert it eye first into the tube. Then you can shove the needle all the way through. When you now pull the thread, the tip of the band where the knot sits should start to disappear into the tube. This needs a little practice But eventually you'll get it done. Just don´t give up! Cut off the thread. And you´re done turning the first band. For the next band. This will be a little more tricky because of the length of the band. But it's the same strategy. Cut off the tip like before, make a knot and connect the threat and the neck band with a few stitches at the tip. Insert your needle eye first and shove it all through the tube. Press on the needle with the right hand and gather the fabric onto the needle with the left hand. Then switch and grab the needle with the left-hand and let all the gathered material slide from the needle. Now take your time and gently pull the step-by-step. Not all in once. The beginning is always the most difficult part. Try to guide the fabric in with your thumb and index finger. And gently pull from both sides. Cut off the thread, and you're done. After your two bands are turned inside out You can iron them flat to look a little nicer. It's not important where the seams are positioned, but they shouldn't be visible on one side. As you want a nice clean look on the outside. Okay. If you want, you can press the bow piece to stay in the right position, seam in the middle. But don't press too hard. You don't want super rough edges. Now we can move on to assemble the pieces. 5. Assembling: To create the bow shape, pinch the middle of the bow piece together. You can try different ways of shaping the bow. But I like this method here the most. One pinch in the middle and the same pinch on the sides. So the open edges are facing back. Place your middle band on the bow to see how it will look in the end. If you don't like how it looks, try a different method. Anything goes. Now thread your needle, make a knot and secure the pinched part in the middle with a few stitches. This really doesn't have to look good as it will be covered by the middle band. Don't cut your thread as you can work with it like this in a minute. Take the bow band again and secure it on the top of the bow. Tried to connect only the top of the bow with the band because you will need the back to be open to put the neck band through later on. The stitches on top should also be rather invisible as there won't be any material hiding it. Again: Don't cut the thread just leave it and cut off the excess fabric of your band. But keep in mind that you need a few extra milimetres to fold in to create a cleaner look. When you´re happy with the position of the band secure it with a few stitches. You can use the invisible stitch or simply sling the yarn around the edges as this seam will be at the back of your bow. But remember, only stitch through the band and not through the middle. Now you can make a knot at the end of the thread as the bow is now finished. Next, I'm showing you how to assemble the slider and the hooks. The slider will allow to adjust the length of the neck band to fit as desired. Pull the band through so it lays around the middle part of the slider like this. If the end of the band is frayed, cut off the loose fibers before you fold in a few milimetres. Then thread your needle, make a knot and try using the invisible stitch to secure the folded part on the side of the band, where the seam is visible. To sew an invisible seam by hand, slide the needle through the folded edge and pick up a little bit of the fabric. Then go directly to the opposite side and pick up the same amount of fabric like you did on the folded edge. Then repeat this. When you go from side to side, goes straight across. So your stitches build something like a ladder. You can always vary the stitch length. So for this part, I would use a shorter stitch length like this. Here I also combined the two stitches to make the workflow a little faster. But take your time and maybe try this stitch on another piece of fabric. Finish with a knot by sticking the needle through the loop at the end before you tighten the last stitch and cut the thread. Grab your hooks and pull the open end of the neck band through the first hook. Keep in mind that the seam of the neck band shouldn't be visible from the outside. When you now pull the end of the band through the slider You should have an adjustable loop with the hook sliding around. The first step of preparing the neck band is done. Now we put together the band and the bow. To shove your neck band through the little opening at the back of the bow Use the same trick like we did for the band. Grab the thick needle and strong thread and secure it at the open end of the neck band. Then stick the needle between the small band and the back of the bow and pull the band through. For an easier start take the tip of your small scissors and push the first bit in. Then pull it through and adjust it to ley in the right position. Cut off the thread and grab the other half of the hook and close it. This will help keeping the neck band straight without any twists and turns. Pull the open end through the hook and make sure that your neck band is straight then cut off any frayed fibers to have a clean edge. Fold it in and secure it like you did with the slider. Again, the folded part has to lay on the side where the seam is visible. Then finish off with a knot and cut the thread. This bow tie will fit necks till a width of 47 centimeters. That´s about 18.5 inches. So if you want to sew one for a person with a wider neck, just add a few extra centimeters to the piece for your neck band. That's it. You created a lovely bow tie by yourself. 6. Thank you: Congratulations to your first handmade bow tie. And maybe even your first Christmas gift, if you're like me and start with your preparations like two minutes before christmas. You see it's no lifework. It doesn't take much time and it will look pretty good in the end. Just select a few different fabrics and give it a go. If you want to sew a bow tie for a stuffed teddy or a puppet, Just try around with different sizes of the bow and Probably a shorter neck band. You can also try this with closures like snaps or even velcro. So please share your project with the other students and me in the project gallery. Work-in-progress pictures are also great. I'm always happy to see your work. And if you have any questions, just open a discussion under this class, and I'll do my very best to answer them all. Okay, so that's it. Thank you for watching and goodbye.