Ties: Made for a Man, Cute Enough for a Woman

Before New Years eve I had wanted to get something cute and new to wear for the occasion, but I didn't have much money to spend. So I find in those situations it's best to go to a vintage shop because 

A.) It's "new" to me 

B.) There's always unique things that you're very unlikely to see someone else wearing and 

C.) CHEAP! I ended up getting a nice dress for only $16, but that's another story.

While I was shopping in this particular fabulous vintage shop I saw in their jewelry display case a lot of fabric necklaces and upon further investigation I realized they were made from men's ties! Fantastic idea, and I knew I could easily do it myself.

So while having a craft day with my best friend, we went to Goodwill in search of some good tie candidates to be made into ties. I found a sharp dark gray and silver one and best part: only $1.50

So what you need to make your own tie necklace:

Old tie

Needle

Coordinating thread 

Straight pins

Embellishments; beads, sequins, buttons, whatever you like really

Lay your tie out on a work surface. Using straight pins, pin the tie into a circle (you can adjust the size later). Then begin to make pleats in the tie, remember to make it curve so it sits right when you wear it. This is the experimenting part, so put in all your pleats with pins and adjust according to how you like. Then using your thread and needle, make small stitches at each pleat to hold it in place. Then go wild with embellishments!

I used iridescent sequins and glittered buttons

My best friend made me a pin with her button maker

And when you're tired of making necklace ties, nap on them! (Fanny the dog)