can we talk about how handsome my cat is?

if you can draw yourself away from that face for a moment you will see he is wearing a purple polka dot bow tie, made from fabric left over from maya's spunky polka library dress. today i'm going to share a tutorial on how to make your own cat bow ties.

materials

scraps of an awesome fabric (i used fabric left over from a recent lil' man flannel)
coordinating thread
velcro

instructions

1. have a glass of wine or pint of a delicious beer. we're making a bow tie for a cat. sobriety is not required.

2. cut your pieces. you'll need: 1 long piece for the collar (11 inches by 2.25 inches), 3 small pieces for the bow and band (3.25 inches by 2.25 inches).

3. fold the long piece in half length wise (right sides together) and sew it together with a narrow seam.

4. trim the allowance and flip it in on it's self. (i find for this it's best to attach a safety pin to one side and pull it through). tuck the ends in on themselves and iron the whole thing flat so that the seam is along the center of one of the sides.

5. do the same for one of the small pieces, except only tuck in one of the ends.

6. now for the bow. pin the two remaining pieces right sides together. sew together with a narrow seam leaving a small opening (about one inch) along one of the long sides.

7. trim the seam allowances everywhere except the opening, then flip the bow and iron.

8. tuck the uncut seam allowances of the opening inside the bow and either edge stitch the whole bow or hand stitch the opening closed.

9. pinch the bow in the center and secure with a few stitches. then attach to the collar. it doesn't need to be pretty as this will be covered up by the band.

10. wrap the band around the center of the bow. in the back slip the untucked end into the tucked end. stitch into place.

11. stitch the velcro to the ends, making sure to close them in the process.

12. stop to admire your work for a moment