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.