How to Make a Felt Work Tie
Felt work ties combine the look of a traditional tie with the rough texture of felt. Felt work ties can be made with conservative colors, such as gray and black, or with more vibrant felt fabrics, such as pink and purple hues. Make a felt work tie at home for a custom accessory that can be shown off at work.
Things You'll Need
- Tie to serve as a template
- 1 yard of wool
- Washing machine
- Dryer
- Pillowcase or garment bag
- 1 sheet of paper
- 2-inch by 2-inch triangle of stiff fabric
- Iron
- Fusible velcro
- Iron
- Double-sided fabric tape
Instructions
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1
Put the fabric that will be felted into a pillowcase or a garment bag. This will prevent lint from getting all over the washing machine, since the felting process creates a lot of lint. Close the garment bad or pillowcase and put it in the washing machine. Run the washing machine on the hottest cycle available with the highest agitation setting. Put the fabric into the dryer on the highest heat setting available.
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After the fabric is dry, look at it to make sure that it has felted sufficiently. Properly felted fabric will shrink considerably. The texture of the fabric will lessen and the stitches will be less visible. Repeat the process of washing and drying the fabric if the fabric hasn't felted.
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3
Put the tie template on a sheet of paper. Trace the edges of the tie's outline onto the paper. Cut the paper tie out to use as the template for the felt tie. Attach the paper tie to the tie lining fabric using straight pins. Trace the pattern of the template onto the lining fabric. Cut out the lining fabric into the shape of the tie.
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Put the piece of felt onto the piece of lining fabric. Wrap the edges of the felt around the lining fabric that has been cut into a tie shape. Pin the felt onto the fabric.
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Iron the seams of the felt to create crisply defined edges to the tie.
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Use fabric tape to secure the folded edges of the felt to the backside of the tie. The hanging portion of the tie is now complete.
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Create a knot for the tie. Lay the triangle made of stiff fabric on the underside of the felt triangle, centered. Fold the horizontal edge of the felt over and around the stiff triangle.
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Place the constructed felt work tie onto the reverse side of the triangle. Pin the tie to the horizontal edge of the triangle. Fold uppermost the point of the triangle down 1 inch. Fold each side of the triangle toward the tie. Pin all three corners down. Use a running stitch to secure each of the three folds down. The knot is now complete.
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Cut a piece of felt fabric so that it measures 2 inches by 18 inches. Fold the strips in half lengthwise and use straight pins to secure them. Sew the edges closed. This will form the part of the tie that fits around the neck. Sew the edges of the folded fabric closed.
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10
Fold the neck fabric into a flat v-shape. Attach the center of the "V" portion of the neck fabric to the knot of the tie.
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Cut out a 2-inch piece of Velcro tape and attach it to the neck portion using the sticky, temporary adhesive part of the tape. Put the tie on and close the neck portion, using the sticky adhesive to attach one end of the tie to the other end. Carefully remove the tie so that each side of the Velcro remains attached to the each side of the tie. This will ensure that the tie fits the wearer well.
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Put a hot iron on the felt fabric to cause the Velcro to adhere to the tie. Iron the other end of the tie with the Velcro adhesive in the same manner.
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Tips & Warnings
Use caution when operating the hot iron.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images
