Preppy Projects Week: Ruffle Tie Necklace

 Our final preppy project is a modern interpretation of a necktie...

for the ladies.

This ruffle tie necklace takes a mere 10-15 minutes to make 

and produces adorable results!

Materials
Tie
Seam Ripper
Scissors (or Rotary Cutter)
Necklace Chain
Sewing Machine
Super Glue or Fabric Glue
Tape
Wood Skewer

Instructions
1.   First, begin by deconstructing your necktie.  Sorry, Tommy, this necktie needed to be sacrificed.

 2.  Iron out your fabric.

 3.  Measure and cut your fabric.  You will measure 20" x 3". 

4.  Seal the edges of your material using a lighter or glue.  If you choose to use a lighter, please use a long-necked one.  Use extreme caution and perform at your own risk.  The Creative Cubby is not responsible for you burning your fingers, your fabric or your house.  
To do this properly, hold flame about 1/4" away from the end of the fabric.  I suggest practicing on a scrap before going for your main piece.  You will notice the edges will begin to melt (look a little plastic-y) and seal the threads together.  Some browning may occur but this can be minimized by holding the flame at a greater distance from the edge.

 5.  Once your piece is sealed to your liking, fold in half longways and pin together the entire length.  I will be using a 1/4" seam allowance and sewing on the fold side.  Therefore, I put my pins right down the middle of my folded strip.  If you're using a larger/chunkier chain, you will need to pin further to the left/open side (non-fold side).

 

 6.  Time to run it through your sewing machine.  You will sew on the fold side.  I repeat - you will sew on the FOLD side.  Also, do not reverse stitch.  You will start and end your seam with a straight stitch.  Again, do not reverse stitch.  Be sure to have a lengthy tail before you start sewing.  You will need the extra thread.
I used the right edge of my sewing foot to guide my distance from the edge, which was about 1/4".  You will want to sew further to the left (non-fold side) if your chain is larger/chunkier. 
Cut from the machine with a long tail.  

**You will notice I used navy thread on the front and white on the back.  Typically, you would use matching thread for top and bottom.  I did this so the following steps would be easier to follow.  If you are new to sewing, this may be a good technique to distinguish front and back on this project as you won't see the white thread when you're done.

 7.  Grab your wood skewer.  Hold fabric front side up.  You have this awesome little gap at the top of your fabric from sewing your seam.  Push the skewer through (flat side first) the fabric tunnel.  Hold the entire length of fabric on the skewer.

 8.  Grab a piece of tape and adhere the loop end (not hook) of your chain to the flat tip of your skewer.  Simply hold the chain parallel against the skewer and wrap the tape all the way around to hold into place.  Then, pull your chain back through the fabric tunnel.  Be careful to keep all the fabric on the chain - do not let your end slip into the fabric tunnel!  You will have to start over!  Once your fabric is safely off the skewer and on the chain, hook the ends together.

 9.  Holding your fabric in one hand toward the right end, hold (firm but gentle) on the white thread.  This will allow you to slide the fabric along the thread causing it to ruffle.  Work from the outside in.  You will notice that you can only ruffle/pull so far before the fabric starts resisting.  This is when you move your hand further down (left) the fabric and start pulling from there - moving all the ruffles toward the center.  Once you reach the center, move your hands to the left side and work from the outside in. 

 You should have a beautiful full ruffle in the middle.

 10.  Finally, tie your ends using simple knots and glue the ends into place.  This will ensure your ruffles stay intact.  

And you're done!  

This necklace can be done with a number of fabrics

but I hope you enjoy your preppy modern lady necktie!