When it's OK to be two-faced.

Actually, it's never OK for us to be two-faced, but a necktie with two faces is most appropriate heading into Father's Day. That's right, a reversible tie makes a great Father's Day gift! Or is that "two" gifts?

A reversible tie is a quick and easy way to create something unique and personalized. Making it from cotton is a little more casual for the summer, and there are so many more fabric choices to reflect personal style or interests...

...like sports, hobbies, characters or seasonal themes...or just a great print.

Choose Your Fabric

Selecting the fabric is the hard part; making the tie is easy! Pay attention to the scale of the prints so that they are not too large; you'll want the motifs to be small enough to be visible on the tie. You'll need 3/4 of a yard of two fabrics.

Tip: Select two fabrics that have a similar background color, or are low-contrast to each other, so that when you stitch and turn the tie, any portion of the reverse side that might be visible along the edge will not be noticeable.

For this example, I chose two gray and black fabrics, one with gold metallic. These are from my stash, purchased as souvenirs from Keepsake Quilting in New Hampshire on a New England vacation in 1999. (They have now aged properly and can be sewn up.) Check your stash first...maybe you already have the perfect fabrics!

Prepare Your Pattern

I recommend using a commercial tie pattern as a starting point. Vogue has two men's accessory patterns with ties, 7104 and 9073. Simplicity has four patterns with ties: 1506, 8023 and 4762 are men's accessories, and 8180 also includes a shirt pattern.

You'll want to use only the center part of the tie pattern that is the width and shape of the finished tie...cut off the remaining part of the pattern at the foldline (highlighted below).

Cutting

Stack the two fabrics on top of each other on the cutting table, wrong sides together as they will be in the tie, then line up the edges and smooth them out. Place the pattern pieces on the fabric using the grain lines as a guide. (Ties are cut on the bias to allow them to flex in the knot and around the shirt collar.)

The pointed lower ends of the tie (circled, below) should be facing in opposite directions as they will be in the finished tie if you are using an allover print, so that the print direction is consistent. If you are using a one-direction print, you'll want to have the pointed ends heading the same direction, to make sure that the print is upright on the tie.

Cut out the tie adding a 1/4" seam allowance all around.

Next, stack two pieces of fusible interfacing, fusible sides together, edges lined up as you did for the tie fabrics.

Tip: I used fusible tricot interfacing because I didn't want the tie to be too stiff.

Remove the pattern pieces from the tie fabric and place them on the fusible interfacing as you did on the tie fabric. This time, cut the exact shape without adding a seam allowance.

Place the interfacing pieces, fusible side down, on the wrong side of each of the four tie pieces. Notice that the interfacing does not extend much into the seam allowance, in order to reduce bulk. Using a pressing cloth, fabric remnant or other piece of fabric to protect your iron, fuse the interfacing in place.

Tip: After placing the interfacing on the fabric, I spritz it with a little water from a spray bottle before putting the pressing cloth in place; this may allow the interfacing to shrink up a bit before you apply heat. When the pressing cloth is in place, I use a dry iron to fuse the interfacing to the fabric. Then I remove the pressing cloth and flip the pieces over, pressing lightly from the right side, too.

Now the Sewing Begins

Lap the two matching tie pieces right sides together as shown (this is the part of the tie that will be under the shirt collar) and stitch in a 1/4" seam.

Press the seam open (I used my fingers). Trim off any points that stick out.

Stack the assembled tie pieces, right sides together, matching seams, and pin in place. Stitch all the way around the tie in a 1/4" seam, leaving a 4" opening near the center of the tie on one side near (but not including) the seam area.

Tip: When stitching around the pointed corner areas, stitch to within one stitch

of the turning point, then take a single stitch diagonally across the corner before turning the corner; this reduces bulk in the points when the tie is turned. I also shorten my stitch length when going around the corners, which reduces the possibility of poking through the fabric when the tie is turned.

After the tie is sewn together, trim the seam allowances in the corner areas.

Turn the tie right-side out using your favorite tube-turning method. Several years ago I discovered a tube-turning system called Fasturn. If you turn a lot of tubes, this greatly speeds up the process. (I'm actually using their tie pattern as well.)

Once the tie is turned, you'll need to straighten out and flatten the edges all around. Unlike a typical facing, you do not want to roll the sewn edge to one side; you'll want to even out the sides so that neither print shows on the flip side. Pin this in place as you move along, then lightly steam it from the back to set it before removing the pins. Then give it a final light pressing on both sides.

The final step? Turn in the 1/4" seam allowances from the gap you left on one side in order to turn the tie, and topstitch the opening closed near the folded edge.

Now your custom, personalized reversible tie is ready to be presented to someone special!

Until next week, keep those sewing machines humming!

DTFM

danthefabricman@yahoo.com