Molly's Sketchbook: Father's Day Tie

This tie is remarkably simple to sew and makes the perfect Father's Day present. It is put together in basically the same way as the Little Boy's Tie we posted around Easter with a few small differences in the beginning. (That's why a lot of the pictures are of the little boys fabric.)

Materials

To make one 55 1/2-inch long by 3-inch wide (at it's widest point) tie. (You could actually make two if you cut carefully. If you're planning on making more than two there is no need to get more interfacing- the amount of interfacing should suffice for at least four ties.):

• 3/4-yard Liberty of London Tana Lawn
• 1/4-yard P and B Color Spectrum in White or Quilters Muslin in White
• 1 1/2-yards Heavyweight Sew-in Interfacing
• 1 yard light weight fusible interfacing
• 100% cotton thread to match the Tana Lawn

• One Father's Day Tie pattern, available free here, printed out and assembled. (This is a corrected version of this pattern. If you downloaded the pattern before April 6th, 2011 you have an older version, so please download it again.)

Cutting

Please note that this tie is slightly shorter than a standard 57-inch long tie. To make it longer you can add the desired additional length between the M1 and M2 neck pieces, and the Interfacing pieces #14 and #15 before you tape the pattern together.

Cut out the Front, Back and Middle Pieces on the bias. Below is an easy, fool proof method of cutting on the bias (but please keep in mind that your pattern shape will be slightly different than the one in the pictures below.)

Cut the 27-inch x 54-inch piece of Tana Lawn in half length-wise to create two 27-inch squares.

Take one of these squares and fold it in half diagonally as shown above and press it. This diagonal line is the bias fold.

Pin the pattern piece down to the fabric matching the side of the pattern that says "fold" to the fold of the fabric. Cut out your piece.

After you have cut out your front, middle and back pieces unfold them. The front and middle pieces will have two points, like an M shape on one end, while the middle piece will have this M shape at both ends.

You will need to cut these points in a specific way. Start with the front piece. Place it right side facing up. You will be cutting off the right hand point. Place a ruler along the inside edge of the left hand point and across the right side of the piece, extending the angle of the left point, as shown above.

Cut off the right hand point along this angle. You will have a roughly 45-degree angled edge that points to the left.

In this same manner cut the other two pieces with the following orientations. (It is very important that the points face in the correct direction.):

• For the middle piece cut the first end with the point facing to the left. Then rotate the piece 180-degrees and cut the other end so the point is pointing to the right. You will end up with a trapezoid shape as pictured above on the far left.
• For the end piece cut the M shaped end so the point is pointing to the right as pictured above on the far right.

Then cut out the Tie Interfacing piece from the heavy sew in interfacing and the front and back lining pieces from the muslin. All together here are the piece you will have:

• 1- Tana Lawn Tie Front
• 1- Tana Lawn Tie Middle
• 1- Tana Lawn Tie End
• 1- Tie Interfacing Piece
• 1- Front Tie Lining
• 1- Back Tie Lining

Sewing the Front, Middle and Back

Iron the middle crease out of the front back and middle pieces. Place them wrong side up and close together, but not overlapping, on the ironing board. Lay the light weight fusible interfacing right side up (fusible side down) on top of the pieces. Set your iron to the synthetic setting and iron the interfacing to the fabric. You will probably iron the interfacing on to your ironing board too at this point but it's easy to peel it off and you can use a press cloth if you're worried about damaging your ironing board cover.

Cut the interfacing around the front, middle, and back pieces. The pieces will now be much stiffer.

Using a water soluble pen or a regular pencil draw a line 1/4-inch in from each of the angled edges of all three pieces. Mark it on both the front of the piece and the back. Orient your pieces as shown above: the front piece at the bottom, the middle piece with its points facing to the right and the back piece at the top with its point facing down and to the left.

With the right sides together match up the marked lines ad pin the pieces together as shown above. This marked line will be your sew line.

Sew across both marked lines and then press the tie flat. You can trim the edges a bit if it didn't line up perfectly.

Adding the Front and Back Lining

Iron the tie and both lining pieces in half lengthwise to get a crease. This will help to line everything up properly.

From the Front Tie Lining, fold the bottom tip up 1/4-inch and press it.

Fold the bottom sides of the lining in 1/4-inch each and press them into place. This will form a neat point at the bottom angle of the lining.

Repeat this step for the Back Lining.

Fold the bottom edges of the Front tie in 1/4 and press them into place.

Fold the tip up 1/4-inch press it, and then fold in the sides to a neat point and press it again, as you did above with the lining pieces.

Repeat this step for the back of the tie.

Place the Front Lining on top of the Front Tie end, wrong sides together. Make sure that the lining is contained within the borders of the end of the tie as shown above. It should be a little bit smaller than the tie end.

Pin the Lining in place

Sew the folded edges of the lining onto the tie end with a slip stitch. Sew only through the folded layer of the Tana Lawn and interfacing- Do not sew though to the front of the tie. This is very similar to sewing on the binding of a quilt.

Please click here if you need a more in depth explanation of slip stitch.

It's not necessary to sew the top of the lining, it will get enclosed within in the shaping of the tie.

Repeat the same steps to sew on the Back Lining.

Shaping the Tie

Fold in edges of the long sides 1/4-inch and press into place.

Fold again 1/4-inch and press.

Fold both edges in so they meet at the crease in the center of the tie and press.

Open up the sides and slip your interfacing in as pictured above. It should fit snugly inside the tie. You may have to trim it slightly to get it to fit.

Now it's time to close up the tie. Refold the edges, press them again and pin into place.

Sew Tie

The inside seam of your tie will be sewn by hand.

Please Note: I used red thread for the following steps, but only so the technique would be more visible. At home you should use thread that matches your fabric.

Tack the point where the two edges meet a few times before you start your seam.

The tie is sewn up with a different type of slip stitch than was used for sewing the lining:

• Start from the tack run your needle through the fold on the left side and come out about 1/2-inch above.
• Insert your needle directly across from where you came out into the right side and slide it up though the fold for a 1/2-inch.
• Then enter the left side directly across from where you exited the right side.
• Repeat

Once you do this a few times you will have a little ladder of stitches as shown above.

• Pull the stitches taut and they will almost disappear.

• When you get to the end of your length of thread take a couple of tacking stitches but this time sew though the interfacing as well, while making sure not to sew though to the front of the tie, which will hold the interfacing in place.

Sew the entire inside seam of the tie in this way.

Once you're done, press the tie thoroughly to get rid of the middle seam and you'll be finished! Enjoy! --Molly

Update on June 19, 2009 by purl bee

Please note:  We have revised the tie pattern template a bit. The new pattern is available for download, for free, here as well as in the "Materials" section above. If you downloaded the pattern before April 6, 2011 should re-download the new version. Thanks so much for all your comments- they've really helped us improve the pattern!-- Molly