Bowties

The perfect project for all of those squirrely scraps.

Ingredients.

  • 4”x9.5” scrap of fabric (for the main bow)

  • 3” piece of elastic (connects to the dog collar), I used a 2” width, but use what you have. *

  • 3/4” x 4” scrap of leather, vinyl, ribbon or other (for the bowtie center)*

  • Sewing machine, thread, steady hands

    *See maker notes section for additional details

Fold both long ends of the 4” x 9” fabric into the center, use your fingers to apply pressure (finger press) the edges down. You can also use an iron if you’d like.

1.Fold and Press

2. Overlap the ends

Fold both of the short ends to the center, leaving an overlap of a 1/2”.

3. Sew the overlapped ends

Sew down the 1/2” overlap that you created. I used a straight stitch with the length set to 3. Only sew through the overlap, since we’ll need to be able to layer in the elastic in the next step. This doesn’t need to be perfect, this end will get folded down and will be in the back of the bowtie. This seam won’t be visible.

4. Sew the elastic to one side

Set and sew the elastic to the middle of the overlap that you created. I used the same stitch as before, since the elastic does not need to stretch from this seam. You can sew through one or both layers, just keep in mind that if you sew through both, you may see visible stitching on the front.

5. Turn the elastic and sew

Turn over the elastic to form a loop and sew this to the other side. Admittedly, this was a tricky part of the sewing. Take a deep breath and sew slow.

6. Make the pleats

Phew. Almost there, this is the step where we start to see the end goal. Fold down the area you just added the elastic to, making sure to keep the layers of the bowtie together. I chose to fold down both edges then add a pleat by pushing my finger through the middle of the fabric fold. Here’s a picture of the backside without elastic for reference.

7. Wrap with leather binding

Here’s where we keep all our hard artistic work in place. Hold one part of the leather in place (leaving about 3/8” inch for your finger to hold and to add a seam allowance) and wrap the middle of your pleat. I hold the remaining leather on the other side to keep everything firmly in place. The second picture shows the front (with the picture unobstructed by elastic.)

8. Sew it all down and clip

VERY carefully and slowly, position the bowtie underneath the sewing machine foot, move your fingers out of the way and sew as closely and tightly as you can to the bowtie. I typically use my right hand to scrunch down the bowtie as I sew, but it would have impeded the picture. The leather will keep the pleats in place. I clip the ends as close as I can to the bowtie.

9. Enjoy!

Revel in your success! Push the elastic loop through the buckle of the dog collar and enjoy!

Maker Notes

  • The 3” length of elastic leaves me with about 2.5” of elastic leftover to get over the buckle of my dogs’ collars. You may need to remove some (about an inch for extra thin collars) or add some for extra thick collars.

  • The material I used here was a remnant that I found at my local fabric store and was leftover from when I made the leashes and sling projects that you see on the homepage.

  • The leather I used here was leftover from those same homepage projects, but was also a recycled bit of leather that was used as a door covering. I plan to make a post about this soon, but be assured that you can use scraps (my fabric store has remnants) or re-use by cutting up an old, worn out wallet, purse, or even shoes. Just make sure it’s thin enough to sew through with your machine.