Tie on that Patriotism

This is one of those projects inspired by the fabric itself. It's from Riley Blake's All Star line. When I saw the paisley I knew exactly what to do with it: Ties!


These were taken on July 4 in my mom's backyard. The flag made for some really fun pictures, although it was stressful trying not to let the boys drag it on the ground!


I love the chest puffs...


The sweetness...


...And the enthusiasm. But enough about my cute boys. Let's talk about the ties.


I had originally planned to make them like a classic tie so I wouldn't have to mess with the clip and all that. But when I cut them out, measuring from a Children's Place tie, I forgot to account for the part that goes around the neck, though at least I remembered the knot!


My local quilting shop sells clip-on tie patterns and the clips, so I made an emergency run over there to buy the clips so I could finish the ties in time for Independence Day. I didn't know how to do the knot (and still don't!), but I just played with it until I got it right, then put in a few stitches to keep it in place.


I made three of these ties. On this one I top stitched the red "lining" in place. In the other ones I sewed then turned. It's nice to try different ways.


Since I cut the ties out on the bias of a yard of fabric I had plenty of leftover material. Here's the first tie, along with matching skirts that went to my nephew and nieces for their birthdays. I had never made little girl skirts before so I had a blast with these.


Here are the girls wearing them on July 4 (taken with a cell phone in Milwaukee--so far away!).


Little Patriots

I suppose I should have posted this for Independence Day, Labor Day, or even September 11. We're closest to that last one, so let's just say this it's 5 days earlier :)