Continuing from my previous post ‘PETS LOVE LIBERTY ART FABRICS‘ , where I basically made bow ties, neck-a-chiefs and scarves for pets using fabric from Liberty. I thought a tutorial on how to make a bow tie might inspire some of you to get crafting and have a little fun.

I followed this tutorial from the blog Cotton & Curls , it’s a really great tutorial and shows how cool it looks on kids. They are very good at sewing, neat and precise too, I’m a sewing novice in comparison to their skills! However my skills improving, I think that it comes with practise and experience, hence making so many bow ties for the pets featured in my previous blog post.

Follow this easy step by step craft tutorial to create this velcro bow tie. Dress your pets, kids or even yourselves up and have fun!

What you  will need :

• Fabric, I’m using Liberty fabric
• Rotary cutter
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Ruler Track
• Sewing thread
• Sewing needles (a separate needle is needed for sewing the velcro as it gets covered in the velcro glue)
• Velcro
• Iron
• Spray starch
• A cat or a dog, this could even work for kids too! I’m using Hansel as my trusted model.

Cut your fabric :

Main bow tie fabric – 19 x 10cm (7.5 x 4 inches)
Small centre strip – 4 x 10cm (1.5 x 4 inches)
Collar – Measure around neck for a rough length, for a loose cat collar I tried 4 x 35cm (1.4 x 13.5 inches).

All of these include space for seam allowance.  To cut your fabric try using a rotary cutter  and ruler track.

Get the main bow tie fabric and an iron ready for this next step. Once you’ve sewn this together it should look a little like this.Now for the centre fabric strip.  Fold the small piece of fabric in half, length ways so that it’s inside out. Sew together along the longest side using a sewing machine. Then turn it inside out to  reveal the correct side of the fabric. To help do this, I used a safety pin and pulled it through, see below.

Then iron this little piece with the seam at the back. You may notice that this piece is quite long, the size will vary due to the fabric you choose. As my fabric is quite thin and delicate, I don’t need to use much. Wrap it around the centre and tack with a needle and thread to the correct size.

Trim the excess fabric.  
Now turn this little piece inside out to reveal the correct side of the fabric and hiding all seams.

Pull the bow tie through this piece so that it fits in the centre. I used a safety pin again to help.

Depending on the thickness and rigidity of the fabric you may need a little assistance in keeping the shape of the bow tie. Feed a pencil through each loop to help plump up the shape. Now spray the bow tie using spray starch on both sides, use a hair dryer to set the starch. This trick works wonders!

Now it’s time for the collar. Take your pre-cut piece of fabric and sew it length ways (inside out), using the same technique as the centre piece of fabric. Turn inside out and iron.Make sure that when you’re measuring the collar, leave enough fabric to overlap itself. This way, when the velcro is added it can be adjustable. Fold over the edges and sew, then add the velcro. I bought self adhesive velcro which works well but I feel it needs a little extra security by sewing a few little stitches. If you choose to do this, you may want to use a different needle, slightly thinner and one you don’t mind getting covered in glue.

Once the velcro is added, sew the bow tie to the centre of the collar. Make sure all of the pieces are sewn well together and voilà a custom velcro bow tie! (please excuse my messy velcro sewing!)
Introducing my model, Hansel.

SO happy!

If you don’t want to make the collar, you can alternatively make a small velcro loop that is sewn on the the back of the bow tie and can be clipped onto any collar.

Please send in any pictures of your creations and I’ll add a link or even feature in the gallery below.

[portfolio_slideshow id=3800]

For more pets in bow ties follow this link to my previous blog post, Pets love Liberty Art fabrics

Have fun making!

H x