Is there anything cuter than a little boy in a bow tie and matching hat?
At the very least, it's right up there with kittens in boxes for sheer adorableness.
Don't you just want to pinch his cheeks? I've never in my life pinched a child's cheeks, but all dressed up in a dapper driving cap and bow tie, and I can hardly keep myself from trying to reach into the screen to pinch them.
When I started planning the Rain Gutter Regatta birthday party, I had a clear vision of James wearing a matching cap and bow tie in a preppy, fun plaid. I have two girls, though, and have no idea where even to start looking for such items. So, as usual, I decided to attempt to make them for myself.
You'll notice that I used the same technique for the preppy, no-sew headbands I made for the party as well. Start by cutting out a rough rectangle of fabric (oh, ok, you can be neater than I was--I'm just saying it doesn't HAVE to be neat at this stage). Iron on a lightweight interfacing to give the light cotton seersucker fabric some extra body.
Once the interfacing has been ironed on, it's much easier to cut the fabric into a nice rectangle. Remember to leave a little bit of extra fabric to hem the edges.
Fold the raw edges over, and use a glue gun to "hem" all four edges of the large, bow tie rectangle. Glue/hem the two long edges of the small rectangle that will wrap around the center of the bow.
Gather the bow in the center, and wrap the small rectangle of fabric around that middle point. Glue in place using a hot glue gun.
Cut a long, narrow strip of fabric (mine was 16" long for a 5 year old boy). "Hem" the long edges, again using the glue gun.
Glue velcro to the ends of the long strip of fabric, and glue the bow to the center of the strip.
Ta-da, bow tie! With nary a stitch in sight!
In fairness, making a real bow tie sounds like a pretty easy project actually to sew. But then I'd have to learn how to tie a bow tie, too. I chose the easy way.
Want to know how to make the completely awesome newsboy cap? Well, I'm not going to teach you. Mostly because me giving a sewing tutorial would pretty much make me feel like a fraud--I am NOT qualified to teach anyone to sew with my meager abilities. But also because I just used the free printable pattern and excellent driving cap tutorial from Bouncing Buttons. Go there and learn from her, because she clearly knows what she's doing! I mean, look--even I made this hat using her pattern and directions! With a sewing machine. And it's even LINED. All official-like. Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with myself.