Sally’s Corner: Fun Ways to Use Men’s Ties Several years ago my mother bequeathed me with a large supply of beautiful men’s ties and I love the challenge of using them in different projects. Ties are made from many types of fabrics; silk, polyester, cotton, acrylic, and wool. The patterns and colors are amazing and combining the variety can be fun and surprising.

First determine if a tie needs washing, and then place it in a lingerie bag and machine wash on a gentle cycle. Drape over a hanger and allow it to dry. If you plan to use the tie as fabric, deconstruct the tie by using a ripper to open the seam along the back. Remove the and the at each end and iron the tie flat.

Grids & Purse – Using an Indigo Junction this purse was made by strip piecing ties together to create the fabric for the outside of the bag. The handles were constructed from piecing lengths of ties together, sewing a tube, and then inserting cording on the inside. Grommets were installed to hold the handle in place. of yo-yos and make this a one-of-a-kind handbag.

A Little Somethin’ Jacket – a Karen Nye's pattern; with two lengths, and 3/4 or full-length sleeves was made from a rayon/polyester fabric. Mine is the longer version with full-length sleeves. I wanted to embellish the jacket with cuffs and bias around the and a closure to create an Oriental look. The cuffs and trim were on the bias length of a vintage silk tie, fussy-cutting the design for the cuff so it would show all around. The neckline trim was fashioned into a tube and turned with a tube-turner. I ironed the tube flat with the seam in the middle of the tube and fused the tube seam down on the jacket. I used Steam-a-Seam2 to fuse the bias tube around the neckline. This jacket looks very different than the picture on the pattern envelope.

Roses – Roses: Create these unique roses by cutting a 20” length off the small end of a tie. The cut end is pulled back to expose about 1” of interfacing and this is cut off. Roll back the tie fabric and fold the end over slightly so the raw edge will be hidden in the center of the rose. Hold the folded center with thumb and forefinger and proceed to wrap the tie around the center twice. Hand with a large needle and long single through the coil several times back and forth to anchor the center in place. Next twist the length of tie over and stitch to anchor to the center. This creates the petals of the flower. Continue twisting one way and then another and stitching around the rose until you come to the end. Slip stitch the tie end down securely to the back of the rose. Sew or glue a to the back and wear on the , pin to a purse, or decorate a hat. These are fun to make and great to give as gifts. 1

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