the mad hatter's tie

i've been madly trying to get stuff done for the holidays, but we're all a little mad here, right? so the mad hatter at alex's birthday party is going to be my husband, john. since he is also the one who takes the little one around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating i wanted to get his costume done before halloween. plus alex is alice for halloween (as well as her birthday) it's only fitting that she gets an escort from the mad hatter. a friend of my husband was generous enough to lend me a couple of his bow ties to use as a template - thank you shaffron. i traced the bow ties (he lent me a regular bow tie and a wider bow version also) onto large paper that i taped together and then freehanded a seam allowance. i really should have busted out the ruler and redrawn a pattern after i traced it but alas i was lazy - and this hatter's tie will be a little crazier than originally planned (i will redraw for future bow tie making). but i got this awesome fabric (which if you're a fan of project runway you may have noticed this exact fabric in one of mondo's designs), lined it with interfacing, sewing wrong sides together then flipped and hand stitched the open seam. now all we have to do is learn how to tie it!