There is nothing cuter than a tiny fellow dressed up like a dapper man, don’t you think?! I have way too much fun dressing my son and my nephew up in bow ties, skinny jeans, cardigans, bomber jackets, aviator glasses, and my latest fav: skinny ties. They are a cinch to make and I love that I can use any fabric that I want for them.
As you can see, I made him one in pastels for our family photos last spring. I love the contrast of a feminie fabric in a masculine piece of clothing. Aren’t he and his daddy cute? He just looks so darn pleased with himself. That kid cracks me up!
When I saw this fabulous How the Grinch Stole Christmas fabric on The Ribbon Retreat’s website I knew it would be perfect for Christmas skinny ties! So to the sewing machine I went! If you can cut long, thin strips of fabric and sew a straight line then you can do this. Let’s get started!
Here are the supplies that you will need to make your little fellow a skinny tie:
* fabric (1/4 yard is plenty!)
* coordinating thread
* velcro (about 1 inch, sewable)
1. Start with measurements. This is the only trick part, and if you aren’t stressed out by simple math calculations like I am then even this part is simple.
My son’s neck measurement was 10 inches around. From the nape of his neck to his belly-button area where I would like a tie to end was 11 inches. (He is a tall 3 year old.) I decided to add about six inches of wiggle room to his neck measurement, which would allow for seams and give him some wiggle room. Three year olds do not take kindly to feeling choked. Here are the measurements of the strip of fabric that I ended up using for his neck:
16 inches by 2 1/2 inches {Your strip of fabric will be [your child’s neck measurement + 6] by 2 1/2 inches.}
His pastel tie is about 24 inches long, and I always wish it was just a titch longer, so I cut this one 26 inches long, which is the measurement from neck to belly button times two plus four. Can you see why I get confused? So here are the measuremnts I landed on:
26 inches by 3 1/2 inches {Your strip of fabric will be [your child’s measurement x 2 +4] by 3 1/2 inches.}
2. Cut your strips. **If you are using fabric like mine where it really matters what direction the pattern is facing then you may need to sew to shorter strips together to make one long one with the pattern oriented correctly, as shown in the picture below.
3. Now fold your fabric in half the long way (the “hot dog” way for my fellow elementary teachers out there). I iron it lightly so that it stays flat for sewing. Now sew each strip using a 1/4 inch seam. *DO NOT CLOSE THE ENDS!*
4. Time for the handy trick that I mastered in the seventh grade when my mom taught me how to make scrunchies for all of my friends. Pin a big old safety pin onto on end of your tube and push it through the middle, scrunching and pulling as you go, until it emerges on the other side.
5. Let’s finish the neck piece now. First of all, iron the tube flat. Now, you could neatly hem the ends, but I never bother. They are just going to be hidden by the shirt collar anyway. Fold about 1/2 of fabric over (iron flat if desired) and pin one side of the velcro on top of it. Sew in a square around the velcro. Now repeat on the other side. Be sure that you attach it so that when you close it the neck will stay untwisted. I don’t know how to explain that. See the picture below. They aren’t on the same side of the strip.
6. Time for the tie! Iron the tube flat. **Be sure that if you are using a pattern like the Grinch fabric that you center the pattern the way that you want it prior to ironing it flat!!* I had to be careful with the Grinch so that he would be properly on display , but with the pastels I just ironed it mindlessly since it didn’t matter as much.
Now, many tutorials out there would have had you use a pattern and create a cute point on the end of your tie. Well, this ain’t that tutorial. This girl here is lazy. So I decided to just make it a blunt end and pretend that it was a choice that I made so he would be “uber-hip,” rather than me being lazy. Haha. Really, though, I like the look of it blunt like that. As if he would wear it with a fitted shirt and jeans just because he is *THAT* cool. So take your fingers and flip the ends of you tie in a bit. (See the picture below.) Make sure that it is straight and then do a top stitch (stitch in a straight line across the tie) to secure it in place.
7. Time to put your tie together! I can’t even being to explain how to tie a tie in words, so let’s turn to the pictures, shall we?
Fold your long tie over the neck piece. It should be folded almost in the center.
Now follow the twists and turns…..
Once you have pulled the short piece in the front, scootch and wiggle it until it is behind. Now tighten it and tug on it and adjust it until it looks right.
You are done! Styling, right?! The first one took me a little while, but once I made one I got into the swing of things and whipped out a few more, including this fun truck tie that will be waiting under the Christmas tree for him. He spotted the fabric once during a visit in which I was ignoring him while oogling the designer fabrics in a little quilting shop. He brought it over to me and said, “Mom, you should sew me a shirt from this.” I was quite tickled that he was showing interest in the fabrics so I bought a fat quarter of it and have been waiting to be inspired by the right project to use it. Voila.
I love this little goof. And I love this hilarious picture of him giving me attitude like a real hipster.
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Michele N says
December 15, 2012 at 10:25 pmLove the ties. I really love that truck fabric and tie made out of it, but I don’t think my teenage boys would appreciate it. 🙂
Johnnie says
December 17, 2012 at 2:18 pmVery cute little tie! Thanks for the step by step.
Tharaa Krishna says
February 21, 2013 at 1:55 amI ended up on this blog a little while back and I
just cannot get enough! Please keep writing!
sarah says
February 21, 2013 at 9:40 amYou are so sweet! Thank you so much!!!
Laura says
October 29, 2016 at 6:52 pmThis was so fast. I whipped it up in no time. And it was the first hit in google when I googled “toddler skinny tie tutorial” because I forgot you had one. You are so legit. 😉
Sarah Westover McKenna says
October 31, 2016 at 12:05 amSOO legit. 😉 Yay! Send me a pic! xo
fabiola garcia-guzman says
April 19, 2017 at 9:02 amOMG he is so cute, and your little tie too. Thanks for the inspirations, planning to do one for my 3 year grandkid! Thanks for posting at http://www.fabifabu.com/2017/04/16/inspiration-galore-project-party-30/
Beverly says
April 19, 2017 at 11:40 amWhat a great tie for the little ones.
Thanks for hosting and I hope you are have a great week.
Hugs,
Bev