Hangin' with my Gnomies...

Here is another man tie creation which shall henceforth be known as the Gnomie Tie set. And it is awesome. Sheer awesome:

Gerald's excited face.

So on our anniversary, Trev and I found a fabric store and found this Michael Miller fabric in it. Immediately we purchased it with the intent that a tie be made for our friend Gerald. See, Gerald and Trevor used to steal each other's gnomes and hold them ransom (and sometimes smash them into bits and send some bits with the ransom letter). Eventually, it evolved into a game wherein Trevor hides the gnome in as many places as he can so Gerald cannot find it for some time (strapped to the roof of his house was a good one). So this tie and cravat were born out of this tradition!

AND I actually took a few "during" photos!!!

Now, I am working on creating my own tie pattern to use for future ties, and this was a tester. Because The fabric I used for the tie was a cotton something-or-other, and not silk, like fancy ties should be, I had to do a fair bit of extra inside work for this tie.

I picked up some sort of thick stretchy wool to go into the middle of the tie. I know that some higher end ties are lined with wool, so I went into The Wool House in Toronto and the man in there helped me out, he was very nice. I don't think that I actually wanted something stretchy like this for the inside, but it was cheap, so I'm not complaining. The man who worked there seemed very confused about why I would want to make all this extra work for myself  by putting an inner bit in. But regardless, when I made Trevor's tie, it was thin and cheap feeling, and Gerald's tie benefited from the extra stability. It felt worthy of being a gift. I didn't really sew this to the fabric so much as I sort of tacked it into place and sewed it where my seam was. It worked well enough for me.

Underneath this wooly bit of lining, I put some fusible interfacing down the centre of the tie. This also helps with the stability. I suppose with the wool lining there, I might be able to omit this part, but since it was a gift, I didn't want to risk it turning out like a piece of crap. I like making ties; they are pretty quick to make, but all the hand-stitching was only going to happen once. So maybe I'll try omitting it next time.

 So, I decided to get fancy and I picked up some polyester shiny yellow stretchy fabric for the back part of the tie. I used it for the back of the cravat as well. I liked using it for the part where the tie gets held in place. Puuuurty.

My technique is far from perfect, but it turned out much better than I had anticipated. Plus, it was a present for no reason! Those are the best kinds of presents, in my humble opinion!

Anywho, in other sewing news, I am giving in. I am going to try to use this tutorial to make a sloper bodice. I have had enough with fiddling around with the Simplicity 2444 bodice, trying to alter the huge neckline gaping, the hugemongous circumference, the extra shoulder material, and the bust darts. Why not start from scratch and make it something really special. So I'll try to keep everyone updated as I go. This should be interesting at least!

Have a great weekend!

{FENTON!}