How-Tuesday: DIY Geek Power Tie

julieincharge

Story by julieincharge

Published on Nov 23, 2010 in Make

Photo by 15 Fresh Handmade Gift Ideas

Looking to create a handmade gift for the geeky guy in your life? Michele Beschen of HGTV and DIYNetwork fame has created a fresh new tutorial that celebrates the power of code just for you, fair How-Tuesday readers! 

To expand your handmade gift repertoire, be sure to tune in and watch 15 Fresh Handmade Gift Ideas, airing November 26 at 7 p.m. E/P on HGTV. Hosts Taniya Nayak and Michele Beschen will share over 100 handmade creative gift ideas, many from designers right here on Etsy, including one-of-a-kind gifts for men, women, kids, pets, trendsetters, techies and everyone else on your holiday gift list. Step-by-step instructions for all the projects and gift ideas featured in the show can be found here.

Geek used to be a term that described guys with more substantial IQs than wardrobes, but times have changed. Today’s tech hungry men can play the rugged and chic cards just as well as the smart one.

When I was asked to share a project that was geared towards geeks and dudes, I immediately started contemplating the many interesting ways I could incorporate code into something. I don’t even know what much of that tech jargon means, but I sure like how it looks — the text, the symbols and the layout. I played around with different ideas and just kept seeing it on a tie: not a stuffy, business-like tie, but a tie that looks great worn loose and casual with a vintage short-sleeve button down. Keep your dude in stylish duds this holiday season, and add a little personality with this “power of code” tie that you can create in an afternoon.

 

 

 

Let’s get started!

Materials:

  • 1 yard medium weight, smooth fabric (Keep color in mind, as you’ll be printing on it with black ink.)
  • Freezer paper
  • An old tie disassembled carefully to use as pattern. Or, you can also use a ready-made tie pattern, if desired, like the one to the right.
  • Iron
  • Printer
  • Sewing machine or needle and thread
  • 1 piece of 8-1/2″ x 11″ card stock
  • Sew in interfacing or duck cloth (I prefer to use the softer material or a lighter-weight interfacing.)
  • Scissors/rotary cutting blade and mat
  • “Personalized Code” laid out on a page to cover an 8 ½” x 11” area. The four pages of text we used are available to print below, if desired, or you can customize your own.

        

Directions:

1. Trace card stock onto dull side of freezer paper to get (4) 8-1/2″ x 11″ panels.

2. Cut out each individual pattern and draw a small grain line in center from lower left corner to upper right corner (portrait positioning of paper).

3. Place freezer paper shiny side down, on wrong side of fabric, on the bias, using grain line as your guide.

4. Use hot iron with pressing cloth to secure freezer paper to fabric.

5. Carefully cut out each panel. You want clean edges so it feeds through your printer nicely.

6. Run each panel through your printer just as you would a standard piece of paper – single sheet feeding works best.

Tip: All fabric/printer combinations vary, so if you experience any trouble feeding through your printer, place a narrow piece of painter’s tape width-wise across the edge of one end (freezer paper side). This will make it even easier for the printer to grab on to.

7. Do an additional heat set of ink by pressing over printed side with hot iron and pressing cloth.

8. Peel freezer paper away from fabric.

9. Lay out panels in desired order and carefully stitch ends together (wrong sides facing) to create one long strip. Pay attention to how you line up your text so that it stays straight and your text doesn’t overlap.

10. Trim and press open seams.

11. Place the wider bottom section of old tie pattern wrong side down on the right side of your printed strip and cut out.

12. Place thinner top section of old tie pattern on the bias, right side of the pattern on the wrong side of unprinted fabric and cut.

13. Place facing patterns for the ends of the tie on the remaining unprinted fabric on the bias and cut out.

14. Stitch wider section to thinner section to create the full length of the tie.

15. Stitch facing to ends using old tie as reference. (I did a test on scraps of fabric to make sure I had the technique right beforehand.)

16. Repurpose interfacing of old tie to use in the new tie or use as a pattern to cut new interfacing.

17. Tack into place along one edge of the tie, as pictured.

18. Fold and press edge on opposite side and then fold each side in towards center, starting at thinner end. Pin to hold.

19. Hand stitch closed using a hidden stitch along center. You can add a creative tag for a ‘personal label’ to backside, if desired.

20. Press lightly using pressing cloth to finish.

 

   21. Wear proudly. This tie is safe to spot wash by hand, as needed.

 

Michele Beschen is the host and creator of original how-to television programs such as b. organic on public television stations and B. Original on DIYNetwork and HGTV. Visit borganic.net to score more of Michele’s do-it-yourself projects, tips and ideas.

Thank you to Michele Beschen and the good folks at HGTV for sharing this project with us. For more projects and gift ideas, check out HGTV’s Handmade Holidays.

HGTV on the Etsy Blog | More How-Tuesday Posts | Gifts for Guys on Etsy

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