Bat Bow Tie

Welcome to Day 7 of 31 Days of Halloween Crafts! Today we’ll be making a bat bow tie, perfect for a formal spooky moment.

Materials:

- leather, pleather, or felt (any fabric that won’t fray)

- needle + thread

- 1/4 inch elastic

- Bat Bow Tie sewing patterns (click to download)

The first thing you'll need to do is cut out your leather using the templates provided. There’s a bat shape and a small rectangular piece.

Next, use a double thread that's double knotted at the end to run a line of stitches down the center of the bat. These stitches are spaced out and marked on the template. I recommend drawing the stitchline beforehand. Start from the front and follow the holes for your stitches. As you make a stitch you'll be pleating the fabric and drawing the thread tight. You should finish with your thread on the outside.

Pull your stitches tight again and then take a stitch in the back and make a knot to finish.

Next, cut a piece of elastic that's big enough to go over your head, but tight enough to sit nicely around your neck, and make sure you give yourself an extra half inch to overlap the two ends. I'm hand stitching this in a kind of zigzag shape just to give it a little bit more flexibility when it stretches.

Next, wrap your little rectangle piece around the center, making sure that your elastic is sandwiched in there and the rectangle edges overlap.

I'm using a whip stitch to sew this up. This will keep the edge down. Try to catch a little bit of the elastic as you're stitching, because it'll help keep it in place.

Tie a secure knot and your bat bow tie is finished.