My boys love neckties. They get it from their dad. We’re talking real neckties. They very much dislike clip on neckties. They seem offended by them. They get that from their dad, too. I have made quite a few neckties for my boys and finally found the absolute easiest way to make a real necktie.

Grab your supplies. You’ll need about 1/3 of a yard of two fabrics. I like contrasting ones. One will be on the inside and will only peek out a tiny bit, so it can be anything, really. 

Essentially, this is what you’re doing. You’re going to use a yard stick to make a straight line across the width of your fabric. Then you’ll draw in your points, connect the dots, sew, flip, sew, flip, and you’ll have a tie. Super easy. After you make the first one, you’ll see. 

Place your contrast fabric right side up on you cutting surface (ironing board, floor, whatever you use). Place your main fabric right side down, lining it up with the contrast fabric. (If you’re using a dark pen or marker on light fabric, you may want to put the main fabric on bottom and the contrast on top so you won’t see the marks through your fabric. It really doesn’t matter as long as you know what you want to be the main fabric.)

Using a yard stick (or whatever straight edge you’ve got), draw a line from one side of the fabric to the other. If you’re making this for a toddler, 36″ in long enough. For a bigger boy, you’ll want to use as much width as you can. (Also, check out the variation at the end of this tutorial for making older boy and man neckties using this same method!)

Using a quilting ruler, line up your ruler so you’ve got a right angle going on at the tip. (See the photo.) Make a line 4″ long from the center. 

Using your quilting ruler, line up the other side. You want the tip of the tie to be a 90 degree angle. (See photo for help lining it up.) Mark 4″ in that direction. 

At the other end of the line across your fabric (also known as the other end of your tie), do the same thing, only mark that side 3″ from the center line. Make sure the tip is a 90 degree angle. 

Use your yard stick to connect the ends of your 4″ line to your 3″ line. This is the side of the tie. It should look something like the picture.

(You can tweak the measurements if you want a fatter or more narrow tie. I do 4.5″ for an adult tie. 3.5″ for a toddler tie. Just don’t make the small end smaller that 2″ or you’ll be kicking yourself when you try to turn it.)

Pin your two layers of fabric together around the drawn on pattern. (Believe me, this makes your life a little easier here in a minute.) Cut out both layers of fabric together. 

You’ve already got the right sides of the fabric together. It is already pinned. You’re ready to sew! Sew the end of the tie. Just the end. (Do not sew the sides yet. It only seems weird the first time.)

Clip the edges.

Repeat for the other end of the tie. Once again, just the end! Not the sides. 

Turn your tie right side out, pushing out the points. Press. The sides are still unfinished at this point. You’ve only sewn the two end points together. 

Fold the tie in half, matching up the unfinished sides. (You’re sewing the center seam that will run down the back of the tie.) Whichever fabric is your main fabric should be on the inside of the fold. You should be looking at your contrast fabric as you sew. Sew the entire length of the tie, matching the unfinished sides together. 

Flip your tie right side out. Press it into the tie shape. The seam should be running down the center back. You can be done here. I do a little extra step because The Pastor (who is the tie expert in my house) says it makes a big difference in how a tie feels. 

See the topstitching on these ties? That is the “big difference”. Just sewing a few straight lines down the narrow 1/3 end of the tie. The Pastor says this makes a ties lay flat on your neck and makes it much more comfortable to wear. I just trust him on it. And it only takes a minute, so I go with it. 

Now for the adult variation:

You’ll want the tie longer. So, it’ll have to be longer than the width of your fabric. I made mine with one 36″ piece and one 18″ piece. It was long enough. You could make it longer if your man has a thicker neck or like super elaborate knots.

You’re making it essentially the same way. So lay your fabric out the same way. I made the large end 4.5″ from the center. I made the small end 3″ from the center. Now, you’ll need to make the ends that will connect the same width. Just make sure you mark it the same on both pieces. Connect the end of the lines in the same way. (See the picture.)

Sew the ends the same way you sewed the ends for the little boy version. Once the ends are sewn, match up the straight ends in the middle and sew them together. Sew the main fabric to the main fabric right sides together. Sew the contrast fabric to the contrast fabric right sides together. 

Flip it right sides out, pressing out the ends. Also, press the seams open. (It’ll make the tie lay flat. If you press them to the side, you’ll make little speed bumps in your tie.)

Now you’ll finish up the same way as the little boy tie. With the main fabric to the inside, fold tie in half and sew the unfinished sides together. Flip.

Press. Sew the lines on the narrow 1/3 of the tie if you want

.

And that is it! You’re done! Well, if you’re like me, you repeat over and over and over and then you’re done.

As usual, you can make these for your loved ones, give them as gifts, sell them if you want. You made them! Just share the free tutorial if asked! 

The post Easiest Necktie Ever appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

For the little lady’s birthday, she had a gardening party. I grabbed fabric to make her an outfit and then after her outfit was made, I realized I had lots of extra fabric. The boys were asking me if they got aprons, so I decided to make all the kids a half apron as a party favor. (They also got a little pot of lavender seeds they each planted.) Really, I’m not usually so crazy when it comes to parties. I blame pregnancy for making me do these things. The aprons are super easy to make. I made 12 with 1 yard of the blue dots, 1 yard of red dots, and 1/2 yard of each green solid and yellow solid. (And I did still have fabric leftover.)

Here is what you’ll need:

fabric

ribbon (I used random scraps I had.)

clips (I had a bunch of pacifier clips that I bought on Etsy.)

Cut your rectangle for the apron front 12-15″ wide (depending on what scraps you have) and 8-10″ tall. Cut the waistband 2″ x the width of the fabric. Cut a small length of ribbon to make a loop for the clip. (It can be anywhere from 4″-8″.)

First, finish the sides and the bottom of the apron panel.

Next, attach the looped ribbon with the clip attached to the top left of the apron panel. Just sew it close to the edge so the waistband will cover it.

Now, take your 2″ strip of fabric and iron in half. Tuck the cut ends toward the center and iron. (You now have double fold tape.) Line up the center of the strip with the apron panel. Sandwich the apron panel into the waistband strip. Sew along the open edge all the way to the end. (I start at the apron panel, sew to the end, then flip and sew from where I started to the other end.) Tie a knot in the end of the strip.

Done.

Clip a paper towel or rag to the clip when gardening for hand wiping.

Make these to give away, to use, to sell- just make sure you share the free tutorial!

The post Child’s Half Gardening Apron Tutorial appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

My boys often like to point out that I do not sew enough for them. So, for Easter, I decided to sew a little more for them than their usual tie. (Although tutorial for the tie is coming soon, too.) I made them these drawstring spring pants. You could make these for girls, too. They are not boy exclusive. 

You’ll need:

– elastic

– one length of main fabric

– half a yard of contrast fabric

First, you’ll want to measure your boy. (Or your three boys.) You’ll need a waist measurement, a crotch measurement (from the front waist band between the legs to the back waistband), an inseam measurement, and an out seam measurement.

Once you have all your measurements, you’re ready to start! I like to draw everything out and write in my measurements. (All my seam allowances are 1/2″ unless I say otherwise.)

Waist- Divide the boy’s waist measurement by 4, then add an inch for seam allowance. These are loose fitting pants, so no need for perfection. (For Emery, his waist was 19.25″. I rounded that up to 20″ divided by 4 would be 5″ add an inch for a 6″ pattern line.

Crotch- Divide the crotch measurement in half. Emery’s was 14″. Half of that would be 7. Add an inch for seam allowances. Now mine is 8″.

Length- On the main fabric, you’re going to make the length 2″ shorter than what you actually want. So, Emery needed 19″ outseam. Take 2″ away and the main fabric is 17″. (You’ll be adding a 4″ strip of contrast fabric that will make up for those 2″ plus seam allowances.) I use my inseam measurement as a double check to make sure they are going to be well fitting.

If you don’t want to go through all this math, you can just grab a pair of pants that fit your boy right now and trace them, leaving enough room for seam allowances. I prefer to write out my own pattern.

Draw out your pattern onto the wrong side of your fabric. Fold fabric in half, then fold in half again so that the outer edge is double folds. You’ll be cutting both legs at once. Measure your leg width so you’ll know how wide to make your contrast cuff. (Mine was 9″.)

I use my Varyform Curve ruler to make the crotch line. The crotch of these pants is an 8″ curve. If you don’t have a ruler like this, you can freehand this curve or you can use a flexible ruler for the curve.

From your contrast fabric:

Cut 2 rectangles for the pant cuffs. 4″ long and the width of your pant leg. (Mine was 9″ on the fold- so each cuff is 4″ x 18″)

Cut 1 strip the width of the fabric and 2″ tall- this will be your drawstring.

Now you should have 2 legs, 2 cuffs, and 1 drawstring piece. 

First, sew the contrast bottom cuff (though it isn’t really a cuff, it is just a band of contrast fabric) onto the bottom of each pant leg. 

Go ahead and finish this seam. 

Now, sew the inseam of each pant leg. Sew both legs. Finish both seams. 

Tuck one leg inside the other, matching up the crotch with right sides together. (You’ll flip one leg right side out, then stuff it inside the other leg.)

Sew this seam. Finish this seam. 

Fold the top of the waistband over about 1/2″. (You can see here that I serge the top of my pants. If you’re going to be folding the raw edge under, you’ll want a little more than 1/2″ in order to fit 1/4″ elastic in there.) Press it with the iron. 

Now that you see where the top of your waistband will be, add a couple buttonholes. If you don’t like buttonholes, you could always add some grommets. I don’t think it is completely necessary to have 2 buttonholes. If you wanted, you could sew one larger buttonhole for both strings to come out of. I think 2 looks a little nicer and holds up better. 

Sew the waistband closed. No need to leave an opening, you’ll be feeding the drawstring and elastic through your buttonholes. 

Go ahead and hem the bottom of your pants. I find it easier to hem kids’ clothing before elastic goes in, so it lays as flat as possible while hemming. 

Make your drawstring! Fold the 2″ strip in half and press. 

Tuck the raw edges on each side in toward the fold and press. You can do this one side at a time if that makes it easier for you. 

Sew down the middle of the drawstring. I use a zigzag stitch. It is just my personal preference. 

Now that you’ve got a drawstring made, it is time to put it into your pants! Grab some 1/4″ elastic. (I used about 18″ for these pants.) Pin the elastic and the drawstring together, with the drawstring on the top. (See my picture.) Make sure you put a pin in the bottom of the elastic and the bottom of the drawstring so you don’t accidentally pull them all the way through!

Insert the elastic and drawstring in through on of the buttonholes with the drawstring on top. (See photo.) Feed it around the waist casing. 

When you get to the second buttonhole, go ahead and pull the elastic and drawstring out. With the drawstring out on both ends, put the elastic back in and feed it out the same buttonhole it went in. (See photo.) You want the elastic to be completely hidden inside the waist casing and the drawstring needs to be out each hole. 

Sew your elastic together. 

Tie a knot in each end of your drawstring. Feed the drawstring through so it is even. Make sure the elastic went into the casing. 

And that is it! You’re done. 

As usual, make these pants for your boy (or girl). Give them away to a friend. Sell them if you wish. After all, you made them. Just remember to give credit back this way for the free tutorial should anyone ask. Share the free! 

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