Friday 20 March 2015

Tie by Joe


Today I have another gent-in-a-tie combo on the blog and it's not even Christmas! Let me introduce you to my friend Joe Alessi - actor, bon viveur, devoted uncle and snappy dresser. I've known him since I was 16, which will be 30 YEARS AGO this year. god that makes me feel old! Anyway, here we are in about 1987, when oversized baggy T shirts were flavour of the month…. 


…and here we are during OWOP last year outside Liberty. Thankfully we've both scrubbed up a bit in the intervening years. 


When I posted about my tie making adventures at Christmas, Joe was super keen on the idea of making a tie himself, so last week he came over for a fabulous day of sewing. And cake eating. And visiting the allotment. And looking at old maps with Jon (what is it with men and maps?!) Amidst all this high octane excitement, we did eventually find some time for tie making and let me tell you, he's a natural!  I should point out that his dad was a tailor so it's in the blood, but still, he was fab.

Pinning the pattern to the fabric - note the sophisticated pattern weights
For fabric he chose a Liberty-esque floral lawn from Classic Textiles on the Goldhawk Road. The fabric is a lovely weight, with a bit of a silky hand to it, so perfect for a tie. In fact it's much better suited than the quilting cotton I used for Jon's tie, which looked bulky by comparison. For the pattern, we used Sew Over It's Tie Making Kit, with the following small changes:

Increased the length of the back tie piece and the back lining piece by 10cms. This matched the length of a RTW tie Joe had brought along for comparison. 

Decreased the width of the back neck section by about 5mm on either side, as it overlapped his shirt collar. Well, we drew the changes onto the pattern, but were too busy chatting to actually cut along the lines. Whoops! It's a change he can implement on his next tie in any case!

First seam!

Here it is later, all pressed and gorgeous
We'd ran out of domette, which is the special tie lining that comes with the kit, so improvised and used a double layer of cotton flannel instead. Personally, I think the flannel is an improvement as it's not quite as springy as the domette. Pressing the tie into shape around the lining is the only slightly tricky part of the whole proceedings. You've got to line it up perfectly in order to get that central line down the back of the tie. Look at that furrowed brow concentrating! If he was a toddler he'd have his tongue sticking out.


By the time Joe left, all he had to do at home was invisibly catchstitch the central back seam, which he did beautifully.



Look! A 'Tie by Joe' label.  I'm not going to lie, when he sent me the final photos of his tie, all perfectly stitched and labelled, I totally blubbed (it doesn't take much!) Just look at it though - it wouldn't look out of place in Liberty or Paul Smith, I'm so bloody proud of him! He's got fabric to make more ties and when he posted these photos on Twitter his friends were lining up to place orders! I'm not surprised, I think this is the start of a wonderful tie empire. Remember, you saw it here first!  x

Mr Dapper





62 comments:

  1. This looks wonderful! Such a great fabric choice too :-)

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  2. Great tie. And love your 80s earrings.

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  3. That is so beautiful. Great job both of you!

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    1. I didn't do much, just showed him what was what and he was off! x

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  4. It turned out so lovely, well done Joe. I get a bit emotional looking at things my sister's made - I didn't even really teach her single-handed!

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    1. I know what you mean! He arrived with some fabric and left with a tie, what's not to cry about!?! x

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  5. That is so cool! I love the comment about sticking out a tongue in concentration - something I still do...

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  6. Wow, that is one gorgeous tie! You can see in the photos that his work is impeccable.

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    1. It really is impeccable, what a star! x

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  7. What a beautifully neat tie, he's done a good job! I'm with Vicki Kate though - tongue sticking out while concentrating is definitely not restricted to toddlers - I do it all the time! I do it when I'm roller skating and one of our coaches always tells me off because she's worried I'm going to fall over and bite it!

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    1. That roller skating story made me REALLY laugh! x

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  8. Wow that is so great and what good taste in fabrics he has! Well done Joe (and Jane)

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  9. Love that. Just watched the couture ep of s2 sewing bee and one of the contestants didn't finish in the 3 hours. I appreciate the work it takes! So much nicer to have handmade and not mass produced

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    1. I think a beautiful finish really shows and Joe's really was beautifully finished. I' so PROUD!! x

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  10. Amazing tie! What a handsome chap.
    And you look like Alice from The Vicar of Dibbley in that photo from 1987!

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    1. Haha, had to look her up as I never watched it. Must be the fringe and the mad eyes! x

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  11. That's so fantastic - another great story, Ms Marland. Can I marry Joe, please? I promise I'll let you be bridesmaid.

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    1. A proposal of marriage??!!! But what about the Man Outside Sainsbury's?! x
      ps. I'll only be bridesmaid if I can wear a massive meringue

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  12. This whole post just made me smile :-)

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  13. Wow! What a gorgeous tie, and what a wonderful friendship! Teaching an old, dear friend to sew is basically the happiest thing I can think of! Now, perhaps you and Joe wouldn't mind sewing up the Liberty tie I cut out for my fella nearly four years ago? Eek, I'm terrible!

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    1. Ah it really was a pleasure, we had such a fun day! The tie I made for my husband was the ONLY thing I've ever made him, so I'm just as terrible as you Sonja! x

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  14. Wow, what a lovely tie and a lovely man, too. Well done, Joe!

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  15. Love that gorgeous tie!!!

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  16. very nice, wish my other half would wear one of these.

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  17. This makes me almost want to make a tie for my husband. Almost. Thank goodness tie wearing is banned by the NHS! but seriously a lovely effort from both of you.

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    1. Aw thank you! A tie is about all my husband's ever going to get made for him by his adoring wife. He's just too fussy! x

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  18. Looks brilliant! Not surprised he's already taking orders xx

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    1. I'm not surprised either, the finish is impeccable! x

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  19. You two are the cutest and, my, what a handsome man with a well-made tie.

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    1. I'll have to ration these comments, they'll go to his head! x

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  20. This post makes me want to sew a bunch of ties, and I don't even have any men in my life who would wear them!!
    AMAZING job! If only all our first attempts were so AMAZINGLY successful!!

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    1. It's much better than my first attempt! x

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  21. Tie making workshops for you next? Lovely fabric choice - really impressive - would never guess it was a first attempt.

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    1. I think a tie making workshop taught by Joe - he's a walking advert for one! x

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  22. What a really beautiful and well made tie. It's not easy either. He wears it very well too.

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    1. I agree, he pulls off a tie with panache! x

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  23. Great post Jane ... Is it bad that I'm still wearing oversize t shirts and hoop earrings 30 years on?!

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    1. Haha I think it's great. God I LOVED those hoop earrings! x

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  24. Lovely tie love the fabric 😃

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  25. ahhhh thats a lovely story, of 'the man behind the tie' so to speak!
    bestest
    Daisy j x

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  26. This post made me feel ALL the feelings, Jane. I need to make Nic a tie and then teach him to make his own. The photos of you and Joe together are the sweetest and his tie is just perfection!

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    1. Thanks love' his tie's fab isn't it?! I think Nic is one of those men who looks splendid in a tie, so you HAVE to teach him how to make one! x

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  27. I would love a tie like that, it looks amazing! Is it made from the same fabric but different colour way as your blouse? It looks like you had a lovely day together x

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    1. Aw it was a fab day! You know, I think the fabric IS the same as my blouse. The only problem is, I always thought my fabric was a real Liberty print but it now looks like it's probably a good knock off! x

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