The Art of Making a Tie: A Step-by-Step Guide

When it comes to adding a touch of elegance to any outfit, a well-made tie is an essential accessory. But have you ever thought about how to make one? In this article, we'll take you through the process of creating a stylish and functional tie from scratch.

First things first, let's talk about color. A good tie color can really elevate the look of your outfit. However, when it comes to choosing a color that complements your skin tone or personal style, it can be tricky. Don't worry, we've got you covered! The best way to find a flattering color is to try on different options and see what looks good with your face shape and outfit. Of course, some colors are timeless and always work well, but ultimately, the choice of color depends on your personal preference.

When it comes to choosing fabrics for our tie, there are several options to consider. For an outer fabric, we want something that's sturdy and will hold its shape well. A stiff fabric is a good choice for this, as it will provide structure and prevent the tie from looking too limp or sloppy. On the other hand, if you have a more delicate fabric in mind, you can opt for a lining that's thinner and more flexible. This will add some weight to the tie without making it too bulky.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when making a tie is the shape of the tie itself. A symmetrical shape is usually the best choice, as it looks clean and polished on the front. When pinning the tie together, make sure to fold it in half lengthwise and match everything up. This will ensure that the tie lies flat and doesn't have any wrinkles or creases.

As we're sewing the tie, we'll also want to insert a little loop into the back of the necktie about 6 inches from the end. This is used as a sort of anchor point for the tie, allowing you to adjust it to your liking without having to constantly re-tie it. However, don't worry if you forget to do this – it's not essential, and the tie will still look great even without it.

For our outer fabric, we'll use bias tape, which is a type of ribbon that's specifically designed for sewing on edges or seams. You can also use twill tape or other types of ribbon, depending on your preference. Make sure to cut the bias tape about 1/4 inch shorter than the width of the tie, as this will help prevent it from sticking out too far.

Now that we've got our outer fabric and lining in place, let's start sewing! We'll begin by folding the tie in half lengthwise and pinning it together at the top. As we sew down the length of the tie, make sure to go slowly and carefully, especially around the area where we inserted the loop. You can use a back stitch to secure the thread and prevent it from coming loose.

Once we've finished sewing, let's take a step back and admire our handiwork! We've created a beautiful and functional tie that's sure to add a touch of elegance to any outfit. If you notice that the seam is slightly off-center, don't worry – this can be easily adjusted by pressing the tie with an iron.

Finally, let's add the finishing touches to our tie. We'll tuck the ends under the rest of the tie and sew in place using a few quick stitches. This will prevent the ends from fraying or coming loose over time. And that's it! With these simple steps, you can create your own stylish and functional tie.

Tips and Variations:

* When working with different fabrics, don't be afraid to experiment and try new things. Silky fabrics, brocade, or other luxurious materials can add a touch of sophistication to your tie.

* Consider adding some decorative elements, such as intricate stitching or patterns, to give your tie a unique personality.

* If you're having trouble getting the tie to lie flat, try using a different type of fabric or adjusting the way you sew it together.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi it's Dana welcome to maid every day how many times have you purchased a necktie for your dad or your husband or maybe for yourself well I I am going to show you how to make one it's easier than you think a necktie is one of the few fashion choices a guy gets to make when he wants to dress it up a little bit so why I give him even more to choose from I love making these as gifts for family and I especially love making them for my son Owen who surprisingly likes wearing a tie to church here's what you need one yard of fabric for the tie and one yard of fabric for the lining now you might think sewing a tie sounds complicated because it's typically sewn with silky fabrics and there's a lining I mean anytime you say the word lining it starts to sound complicated but it's really similar to sewing bias tape which I've shown you how to do before it's kind of like one big long piece of bias tape there you go now you can sew men's ties that are kind of a standard width like this one here or what we're going to make is kind of this more skinny hipster kind of style you can make it for men you can make them for boys and today I'm going to be using a pattern that I sell on my website go to made everyday.com it has two pieces a front and a back like that but if you don't have this pattern no big deal just take a tie that your husband owns if he doesn't mind you cutting it apart or go to the thrift store and buy one and deconstruct it in fact my daughter asked me the other day how do you know how to sew a necktie and I said well I just took one of dad's ties apart and figured out how to put it back together that's what a lot of sewing is about deconstructing and then putting the pieces back together so let's cut out our fabric I've got my two layers of fabric here I've got the lining Fabric and then the outer fabric for the tie and I'm going to cut them at the same time because they're the same pattern pieces and just like bias tape we're going to cut our pattern pieces on the bias or the 45° angle and if you remember the reason that's important is that it gives the fabric a little more give on that 45° and if you see in our tie here when I pull it down it actually has a little bit of give which is great when you're going around curves or around objects such as your neck it lays really nicely and also the fabric looks kind of cool going on the diagonal so let's get our pattern piece and when you see the pattern piece at first it looks like you're making like a giant clown tie it's going to be folded to the back so don't freak out or think that you're cutting it too largely and I should also point out this little marking down here that says grain line that arrow means it should go parallel to the Salvage of the fabric which is where the printing markings are and things like that so let's place that here I'm lining that up straight just like that and then pick up your back piece it looks similar to the front except it's a little skinnier and I have actually traced the pattern onto card stock like this I like to do that with pattern pieces that I use frequently because it's just a little easier to trace and cut and things like that okay this time around I'm actually going to trace I know I usually say that I like to just start cutting but I find that this helps just a little bit to cut it perfectly straight without missing any edges okay I'm using a fabric marker here which is the kind of marker that will either erase when you press it with an iron or with water or it just disappears over time it's totally magic okay we're done tracing set your pattern pieces aside and let's cut those out I'm just using scissors you could use a rotary cutter and a mat if that's how you like to cut and again I'm cutting through both layers at the same time this will make sure they're exactly the same size and it just saves some extra time I'm all about saving time okay I'm done cutting the back and the front now let's sew them together we want to sew the back and the front together so that it makes one long continuous tie piece for us so turn them this direction and just like when we sewed bias tape what we're going to do is line them up on the diagonal and you'll notice that it actually makes a right angle which feels a little awkward from what your brain is probably telling you to do but you you'll notice that once we sew it and you flip it out you can see that it makes one long nice continuous line for us now you want these two little triangle pieces to overhang just like that about a quart of an inch on each side and then when we sew with a/ quar inch seam allowance it's all going to work out smoothly and look great so pin that in place just a couple pins is probably fine and we're going to do the same thing with the lining pieces put that aside and grab these ones and you'll notice when you're using solid colors it's easy to get confused you definitely don't ever want to sew it going the same direction like that you might think that's what you want to do but watch what happens when you sew that it makes a little V you want to turn it so that it is going like this okay there you go okay let's go to our sewing machine and you can see I'm going to line them up right where those two little Corners come together which is a/ quin seam allowance do a forward and back stitch and sew right down you get to the end it should come out at that same little corner do a back stitch cut your threads I love my cutting feature and there we go just like that then you're want to clip these little Corners with your scissors clip those off just like that and do the same thing with the lining now press each of those seams open and then let's pin everything together so lay one on top of the other with right sides of the fabric together and you want to match them up at the two ends those are the only parts that we're going to sew right now just like that pin it in place and then we'll do the same on the other side pull it down and it's really important here that you make sure everything is flat all the way across otherwise you're going to have kind of a little bubble in your tie if you get to the other side and they don't match up perfectly no big deal in fact look at that mine doesn't match up perfectly either my sewing skills or my cutting skills are slightly off so let's just take our scissors and let's trim that a little bit like that and then pin that in together and if it's still off when we're done sewing we can still trim it even a little bit more okay we're going to sew with quarter inch seam allowance along that and a/ quarter inch seam allowance along that and it's really important that when you're sewing the point of the tie that you take your time and don't go too quick l so that the point looks really nice and precise and perfect okay do a little back stitch and sew right down if you find that you're going too fast you can always adjust your speed right over here that way you can take it slow when I get to the point I'm going to pause right there lift my presser foot pivot and turn and go back the other direction and then sew the other side these ties are really fun to make and I'm always amazed at how quickly they come together which is really fun for Christmas gifts for Father's Day gifts for birthday gifts I mean come on how often do we get our dad or our husband a tie a back stitch okay let's trim our seams just a little bit so that there's less bulk on there when we turn it right side out just cut I don't know about an eighth of an inch off like that and then at the point I also like to cut just even more so you can really get a nice Point don't cut so close that you are cutting into the threads or you'll have to sew it again no big deal though let's trim this one here we go and then let's turn this right side out it's always fun to see the point Come Together stick your finger out if you can't get a really good poke like that use a little Chopstick a pencil something that helps and there you go there's our first point now let's turn our second point just like that poke it out both of those look really great okay I'm pressing out each end just so it looks really nice and sharp and I should point out that when you're selecting fabric for the lining it's nice to use something well first of all maybe a color that compliments you don't see it but it always looks kind of fun and for this outer fabric it's a little more stiff so the lining I've selected something that is a little bit thinner and you can go vice versa if you have a fabric for the outer that is more on the thin side use a thicker fabric on the lining that just gives nice weight to your tie you don't want it too thin and you definitely don't want it too thick or it's going to be difficult to tie it in a knot okay let's pin this thing together you want to fold the entire tie in half lengthwise and match everything up it should match up perfectly cuz it's a symmetrical shape and pin it in place and then we're going to sew down the whole length of the tie but as we're pinning we want to insert a little Loop into there which you'll find on the back of neck ties about 6 in up from the end and what that's used for is that when you have your tie on and you tie it around your neck you can insert the back in there and it just kind of holds everything together you definitely don't have to add that in there it's optional but it is kind of nice and it adds a good Finishing Touch and you can use a variety of different things I actually used some bias tape for this one you could use ribbon you could use twill tape which is what I'm going to use right here you can purchase this at the fabric store and you want to cut enough that it's just a little bit shorter than the width of this whole tie so that it's not sticking out beyond the tie so that looks about right I have it folded in half here I'm going to cut it and again I'm inserting this about 6 in it doesn't need to be precise it goes right inside here we're going to sandwich it right inside our tie as we sew it pin that in place and then just keep pinning down the side okay our whole tie is pinned and we're ready to sew right down I'm sewing with a/ qu inch seam allowance here start at the top do a little back stitch and then just sew down the whole length when you get to the part where we inserted that little Loop just kind of go slowly make sure your machine isn't getting stuck or having a hard time going through it okay just like that and we're almost back to the other end do a back stitch catch your threads and now for the big reveal moment grab a safety pin and attach that to one of the ends and then we're going to pull this through and pull the whole thing right side out go down inside push it down and then just keep pulling I mean if you ever made a scrunchie in the 80s similar Vibes it can get a little bit crowded when you get near the middle here but just do your best you'll work through it there's our little safety pin okay now just pull the whole thing through there we go okay there is our tie now it's not quite finished yet it still looks a little funny so come to your iron here and and this seam that goes down our tie is going to be in the back middle area so that on the front it looks nice and perfect and the great thing about this is that if you are off at all on your sewing you can make this point centered exactly even if the back of the tie doesn't look perfect so make sure that looks really nice okay that's great there and press that all in place and this step you really want to get a nice firm press maybe go over it a couple times use good strength of your arms make it nice and flat here's our little Loop that we sewed and we going to press that flat as well and you could make these ties with fancy Fabrics as well like silky Fabrics or brocade or different things like that it's fun to play around with different fabric types and see what happens okay I think I've pressed it enough okay one last little step let's kind of tack this little Loop in place it doesn't flop around like that I have a needle and thread here I'm just going to go into the fabric and make sure that you're not going through to the front fabric I'm just grabbing the back Fabric and I'm going to sew I don't know a couple little stitches nothing big and when you're done with that tie a little knot in it like this cut that off okay trim this up a little bit just get rid of any excess little thread tails that are hanging around make it look nice professional and there you go for more ideas and tutorials visit my website made everyday.com and for more information on sewing machines go to babylock.com where it's all for the love of sewing I'll see you next time bye dhi it's Dana welcome to maid every day how many times have you purchased a necktie for your dad or your husband or maybe for yourself well I I am going to show you how to make one it's easier than you think a necktie is one of the few fashion choices a guy gets to make when he wants to dress it up a little bit so why I give him even more to choose from I love making these as gifts for family and I especially love making them for my son Owen who surprisingly likes wearing a tie to church here's what you need one yard of fabric for the tie and one yard of fabric for the lining now you might think sewing a tie sounds complicated because it's typically sewn with silky fabrics and there's a lining I mean anytime you say the word lining it starts to sound complicated but it's really similar to sewing bias tape which I've shown you how to do before it's kind of like one big long piece of bias tape there you go now you can sew men's ties that are kind of a standard width like this one here or what we're going to make is kind of this more skinny hipster kind of style you can make it for men you can make them for boys and today I'm going to be using a pattern that I sell on my website go to made everyday.com it has two pieces a front and a back like that but if you don't have this pattern no big deal just take a tie that your husband owns if he doesn't mind you cutting it apart or go to the thrift store and buy one and deconstruct it in fact my daughter asked me the other day how do you know how to sew a necktie and I said well I just took one of dad's ties apart and figured out how to put it back together that's what a lot of sewing is about deconstructing and then putting the pieces back together so let's cut out our fabric I've got my two layers of fabric here I've got the lining Fabric and then the outer fabric for the tie and I'm going to cut them at the same time because they're the same pattern pieces and just like bias tape we're going to cut our pattern pieces on the bias or the 45° angle and if you remember the reason that's important is that it gives the fabric a little more give on that 45° and if you see in our tie here when I pull it down it actually has a little bit of give which is great when you're going around curves or around objects such as your neck it lays really nicely and also the fabric looks kind of cool going on the diagonal so let's get our pattern piece and when you see the pattern piece at first it looks like you're making like a giant clown tie it's going to be folded to the back so don't freak out or think that you're cutting it too largely and I should also point out this little marking down here that says grain line that arrow means it should go parallel to the Salvage of the fabric which is where the printing markings are and things like that so let's place that here I'm lining that up straight just like that and then pick up your back piece it looks similar to the front except it's a little skinnier and I have actually traced the pattern onto card stock like this I like to do that with pattern pieces that I use frequently because it's just a little easier to trace and cut and things like that okay this time around I'm actually going to trace I know I usually say that I like to just start cutting but I find that this helps just a little bit to cut it perfectly straight without missing any edges okay I'm using a fabric marker here which is the kind of marker that will either erase when you press it with an iron or with water or it just disappears over time it's totally magic okay we're done tracing set your pattern pieces aside and let's cut those out I'm just using scissors you could use a rotary cutter and a mat if that's how you like to cut and again I'm cutting through both layers at the same time this will make sure they're exactly the same size and it just saves some extra time I'm all about saving time okay I'm done cutting the back and the front now let's sew them together we want to sew the back and the front together so that it makes one long continuous tie piece for us so turn them this direction and just like when we sewed bias tape what we're going to do is line them up on the diagonal and you'll notice that it actually makes a right angle which feels a little awkward from what your brain is probably telling you to do but you you'll notice that once we sew it and you flip it out you can see that it makes one long nice continuous line for us now you want these two little triangle pieces to overhang just like that about a quart of an inch on each side and then when we sew with a/ quar inch seam allowance it's all going to work out smoothly and look great so pin that in place just a couple pins is probably fine and we're going to do the same thing with the lining pieces put that aside and grab these ones and you'll notice when you're using solid colors it's easy to get confused you definitely don't ever want to sew it going the same direction like that you might think that's what you want to do but watch what happens when you sew that it makes a little V you want to turn it so that it is going like this okay there you go okay let's go to our sewing machine and you can see I'm going to line them up right where those two little Corners come together which is a/ quin seam allowance do a forward and back stitch and sew right down you get to the end it should come out at that same little corner do a back stitch cut your threads I love my cutting feature and there we go just like that then you're want to clip these little Corners with your scissors clip those off just like that and do the same thing with the lining now press each of those seams open and then let's pin everything together so lay one on top of the other with right sides of the fabric together and you want to match them up at the two ends those are the only parts that we're going to sew right now just like that pin it in place and then we'll do the same on the other side pull it down and it's really important here that you make sure everything is flat all the way across otherwise you're going to have kind of a little bubble in your tie if you get to the other side and they don't match up perfectly no big deal in fact look at that mine doesn't match up perfectly either my sewing skills or my cutting skills are slightly off so let's just take our scissors and let's trim that a little bit like that and then pin that in together and if it's still off when we're done sewing we can still trim it even a little bit more okay we're going to sew with quarter inch seam allowance along that and a/ quarter inch seam allowance along that and it's really important that when you're sewing the point of the tie that you take your time and don't go too quick l so that the point looks really nice and precise and perfect okay do a little back stitch and sew right down if you find that you're going too fast you can always adjust your speed right over here that way you can take it slow when I get to the point I'm going to pause right there lift my presser foot pivot and turn and go back the other direction and then sew the other side these ties are really fun to make and I'm always amazed at how quickly they come together which is really fun for Christmas gifts for Father's Day gifts for birthday gifts I mean come on how often do we get our dad or our husband a tie a back stitch okay let's trim our seams just a little bit so that there's less bulk on there when we turn it right side out just cut I don't know about an eighth of an inch off like that and then at the point I also like to cut just even more so you can really get a nice Point don't cut so close that you are cutting into the threads or you'll have to sew it again no big deal though let's trim this one here we go and then let's turn this right side out it's always fun to see the point Come Together stick your finger out if you can't get a really good poke like that use a little Chopstick a pencil something that helps and there you go there's our first point now let's turn our second point just like that poke it out both of those look really great okay I'm pressing out each end just so it looks really nice and sharp and I should point out that when you're selecting fabric for the lining it's nice to use something well first of all maybe a color that compliments you don't see it but it always looks kind of fun and for this outer fabric it's a little more stiff so the lining I've selected something that is a little bit thinner and you can go vice versa if you have a fabric for the outer that is more on the thin side use a thicker fabric on the lining that just gives nice weight to your tie you don't want it too thin and you definitely don't want it too thick or it's going to be difficult to tie it in a knot okay let's pin this thing together you want to fold the entire tie in half lengthwise and match everything up it should match up perfectly cuz it's a symmetrical shape and pin it in place and then we're going to sew down the whole length of the tie but as we're pinning we want to insert a little Loop into there which you'll find on the back of neck ties about 6 in up from the end and what that's used for is that when you have your tie on and you tie it around your neck you can insert the back in there and it just kind of holds everything together you definitely don't have to add that in there it's optional but it is kind of nice and it adds a good Finishing Touch and you can use a variety of different things I actually used some bias tape for this one you could use ribbon you could use twill tape which is what I'm going to use right here you can purchase this at the fabric store and you want to cut enough that it's just a little bit shorter than the width of this whole tie so that it's not sticking out beyond the tie so that looks about right I have it folded in half here I'm going to cut it and again I'm inserting this about 6 in it doesn't need to be precise it goes right inside here we're going to sandwich it right inside our tie as we sew it pin that in place and then just keep pinning down the side okay our whole tie is pinned and we're ready to sew right down I'm sewing with a/ qu inch seam allowance here start at the top do a little back stitch and then just sew down the whole length when you get to the part where we inserted that little Loop just kind of go slowly make sure your machine isn't getting stuck or having a hard time going through it okay just like that and we're almost back to the other end do a back stitch catch your threads and now for the big reveal moment grab a safety pin and attach that to one of the ends and then we're going to pull this through and pull the whole thing right side out go down inside push it down and then just keep pulling I mean if you ever made a scrunchie in the 80s similar Vibes it can get a little bit crowded when you get near the middle here but just do your best you'll work through it there's our little safety pin okay now just pull the whole thing through there we go okay there is our tie now it's not quite finished yet it still looks a little funny so come to your iron here and and this seam that goes down our tie is going to be in the back middle area so that on the front it looks nice and perfect and the great thing about this is that if you are off at all on your sewing you can make this point centered exactly even if the back of the tie doesn't look perfect so make sure that looks really nice okay that's great there and press that all in place and this step you really want to get a nice firm press maybe go over it a couple times use good strength of your arms make it nice and flat here's our little Loop that we sewed and we going to press that flat as well and you could make these ties with fancy Fabrics as well like silky Fabrics or brocade or different things like that it's fun to play around with different fabric types and see what happens okay I think I've pressed it enough okay one last little step let's kind of tack this little Loop in place it doesn't flop around like that I have a needle and thread here I'm just going to go into the fabric and make sure that you're not going through to the front fabric I'm just grabbing the back Fabric and I'm going to sew I don't know a couple little stitches nothing big and when you're done with that tie a little knot in it like this cut that off okay trim this up a little bit just get rid of any excess little thread tails that are hanging around make it look nice professional and there you go for more ideas and tutorials visit my website made everyday.com and for more information on sewing machines go to babylock.com where it's all for the love of sewing I'll see you next time bye d\n"