a tie-ny project

TWO posts in a row not featuring me! What is the world coming to?

I've not made much for Patrick over the past year, mostly because very few things that he would actually wear are within my skill set. This is not a man who can be easily persuaded into a T-shirt. I mentioned to him that I'd like to be able to make more stuff for him, and we discussed: 

a) a Liberty print silk dressing gown. This is something I will attempt, assuming we can find some affordable Liberty print silk that I won't be terrified of mucking up 

b) a velvet smoking jacket, because he is ridiculous. We got as far as looking for a pattern, but couldn't find one we liked

c) a green onesie with pink spots, because he is ridiculous. Sadly I'm not sure this fabric exists

d) a few ties for work, as it's hard for him to find ones he likes

I thought I'd start small and have a go at a tie. I bought the Sew Over It tie kit during a recent sale they were having, and when the assistant told me that it was a really easy project with a lot of hand sewing, Patrick decided he was going to buy a kit for himself. He's been looking for a hobby that actually allows him to sit down. 

The kit fabric was a blue polka dot that he would never wear, so I went through my scraps bin and found a remnant of Liberty tana lawn from a make-up bag I made my mother for Christmas last year. We collaboratively constructed a tie, which turned out thusly:

It was, indeed, a pretty easy project. It took a couple of hours from cutting out to finishing, which includes teaching Patrick how to slip stitch and getting him to do half of it. Sew front to back, sew lining, put domette inside, fold up and slip stitch. Done. 

After two days of wearing it to work, the report is that it behaves mostly like a tie ought to behave, and it is noticeably more tasteful than his usual choices. His one complaint is that the narrower end of the tie isn't quite narrow enough and that makes it tougher to tie a decent knot. 

Patrick wants to have a go at making one all by himself (probably using the polka dot in the kit so that he doesn't care if he messes up) and then we're both going to try a few more. We will need to get our hands on some more domette. Sew Over It sells it in 10cm strips for £2.50 each, but John Lewis has domette for curtains at £4.95 per metre. Are they the same thing/similar enough that we can use it to make ties? Because at £4.95 per metre, we could make ALL OF THE TIES. 

I'm not sure if he's thrilled or terrified at the prospect of ALL THE TIES. Oh, Patrick. You and your ambiguous face.