Blog

Nantucket Reds - Bow Ties

I've been in touch with Murray's Toggery Shop on Nantucket Island about acquiring some real-deal Nantucket Red fabric.  What's your impressions of this prototype?  This was made from a thrifted pair of Polo Ralph Lauren reds.  

[gallery]

Check out the website for Murray's Toggery Shop at (you guessed it) nantucketreds.com .  And be sure bone up on the History of Nantucket Reds while you're at it. If I understand it all correctly, reds are made out of sail cloth.  The only thing stranger than having trousers made of sail cloth, of course, is having a bow tie made of sail cloth.

Five Things

Five Things you didn't really need to know about me but I'll tell you anyway.

1. I wouldn't let my husband wear a bow tie to our wedding because I thought they looked goofy.
2. I recently straightened up my sewing room and my 2 year old came in and said "I See the floor". That's pretty bad!
3. I'm really addicted to caffeine so in an effort to try to cut back, I started mixing regular and decaf - now I drink twice as much - I guess that didn't work!
4. I made 41 bow ties in the past 4 days. (and I haven't been in bed before 1:30am)
5. I'm really tired this morning.

Here's a photo of one of the bow ties I made last night out of a pair of nantucket red pants that Andy found at the Thrift store. I made one for my husband and one for a special blogger who will be showcasing my bow ties next weekend in Boston.  Sorry for the low quality - it was taken very late at night with a web-cam.

A Tartan Conversion

"Last year you crafted for me a plaid bow tie out of a necktie with a small hole in it. I've attached a photo taken during one of last February's snowstorms. It looks marvelous! I've worn it in place of a necktie and it's attracted all sorts of compliments. I look forward to surprising my father's (Scottish) side of the family with it at our next get-together. "

Chambray Bow Tie

Here’s another new bow tie I’ve just added to the Store - Chambray. It makes for a beautiful versatile and casual look. I’m a big fan. This bow tie is in the straight/batwing style which looks fine, but I’m thinking butterfly may be best style for this fabric. What do you think?

Two Toned Seersucker Bow Tie

Here's a fun new bow tie that I've added to my online Store - the Two Toned Seersucker Bow Tie.  This was a special request from a customer, but I loved it so much I decided to make it available to anyone who wants it.  Why not?  

Aren't you glad Easter is gone so we can start wearing seersucker again?  I'm thinking of making THIS dress for myself out of blue seersucker.  I think of making dresses all the time but it never seems to happen!

The Butterfly, The Straight, and the Diamond Point Bow Tie

Here are some pictures of my classic 2 3/8" butterfly bow tie, the diamond point and the straight style bow tie.  Some gentlemen have been asking what the difference is and hopefully these pictures will help answer it.  I can make virtually any size bow tie - I've even been asked to make 4 inch bow ties!  And most of the time when someone has a special request I can certainly work with him.  That's the benefit of custom ordering directly from the artisan.

The Classic Butterfly Bow Tie - Measures 2 3/8" tall

Diamond Point Style Bow Tie - Measures 2 1/4" tall

Straight Style Bow Tie - Measures 1 3/4" tall

You can judge for yourself what you like.  Over the past few months, I have sold each style about equally.  I was surprised how many ordered the less popular bow ties.  I love them all and they all have different looks.  The diamond point and straight bow ties are much harder to find, but the butterfly can be more readily found at men's dress shops.  I do them all depending on what you choose.  As soon as I take a good picture of the narrow butterfly I'll add it to this post.

I'm Back with Gingham Fabric for Bow Ties!

I finally made it through my first trade show this past weekend. I'm tired but ready to move on with making more of my spring bow ties. I found some great ginghams that I've Added to my  STORE.  

And here are my seersucker ginghams

I placed an order for a few more madras fabrics as well so hopefully they will be here soon. It's going to be a fun season!

Samples of boys bow ties and neck ties

Here's my little man in his very own freestyle bow tie.  It was a little tricky trying to keep him still long enough to get it tied, but it also clips in the back so I don't have to re-tie it every time.  Doesn't he look so cute?  Like he's just come home from a dinner party.

It's amazing how good it looks all tied up.  It totally looks like the real deal, even on a child.

And here is Big Brown Eyes in a sample bow tie and a sample neck tie I made for a friend of mine who sells my bow ties through HER children's clothing boutique business.  We're hoping these fabrics sell well for Easter.  The top one is a 100% cotton blue and green gingham and the second is a seersucker blue and yellow gingham.   I'll try to get more children's things listed on the Store soon.  I have more fun children's fabrics I'm excited to play with.

Maybe someone will see this cute boy of mine and hire him as a model.  And make us rich.  Or at least pay for the cute kid's college.  Come to think of it, I put him in shoes too big for him today, and he got a nice strawberry rug burn on his forehead.  It may have been a modeling career-ending spill.

The Antique Swan Couch

We're in the middle of a renovation on our living room right now - actually for the past six months!  Starting with the hardwood floors, my husband totally refinished them.  Then he went on to paint all of the wood paneling, the ceiling now some built in shelving, and soon the doors.   I've been avoiding shopping for this room for all this time because I knew we wouldn't have anywhere to put it, but a couple of weeks ago, I found my anchor piece!  So now I would like to present my antique swan couch.  One of the coolest couches I've ever seen!

So after looking and looking and looking for almost a year at couches, I'm so happy to have just the right one - and found at a reasonable price from a habitat for humanity store. We hope to have the room all done painting very soon and we can start decorating and making curtains. I'm so excited!

I may as well show you another thrifted item I found on New Years Eve. This is a pretty cool vinyl chair. I got it for $40 at goodwill.  I'm not sure if it will end up in the room with the swan couch or somewhere else.  Isn't it fun?

My custom stamp and a sneak peek at more bow ties

If you've ordered one of my bow ties, then you may recognize this stamp.  I send every order with a handwritten note that I've stamped with my beautiful stamp that I purchased from this seller on etsy.  I have absolutely no idea how these things are made, but It is one of my most favorite things.  I'm about to order a couple more to use as return address stamps.  

I'd encourage anyone who is in the market for something like this to support this business.  Their service and shipping was unbelievably fast and I've been using this stamp regularly for months now and it still works as well as it did the first time I used it.  And I feel like the price is extremely reasonable.  

And for all of you who are wondering when I will refresh my stock of silk bow ties, I've got a few more made up and hope to get them on the store this weekend but as always, if you see something you like, e-mail me and I can reserve it for you.  They are all $23.