Doctor Who: Matt Smith's blue S6 bow tie

[Risu]

Continued from the posts in the necktie thread. Here's the fabric I found for my S6 rough spun silk blue bow tie.

In the next couple days I'm going to dye it with some navy blue to get it closer to the right color. This will give a bit of an idea what it will look like, though.

 

[HaroldVonBraun]

Hmmm, it still lacks the white "stripes". Although it certainly is closer than the Duponi fabric.

 

[thorneyboy]

Depending on the outcome I would love to get in on a run of this...

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

This should be interesting. Looking forward to the prototype.

 

[Risu]

It's been delayed a bit because my Jo-Ann's is sold out of all of the useful colors of Rit. Hopefully they'll have some navy on Friday so I can get to work.

As far as prototypes go, I won't be making one out of this fabric as I'm only buying yardage if people sign up. I can knock one out in some other fabric, like a regular dupioni, though.

 

[Risu]

OK, dying went well yesterday. I did pull it out as soon as the dye kicked and I think in the future I'll leave it in a couple minutes longer to make it a little darker. Here are a few pictures to show how it looks now under different lighting conditions.

So, what's the consensus on the fabric?

 

[HaroldVonBraun]

Looks wonderful in all the lights except for direct sunlight, it looks darn good in the other photos.

 

[Risu]

What's wrong with the direct sunlight? Anything specific?

 

[thorneyboy]

I have seen enough. Sign me up when you go ahead with the run. I love how the dye has worked so I am definately in for one of those...

 

[HaroldVonBraun]

What's wrong with the direct sunlight? Anything specific?

It just looks a bit too... Gritty. Atleast in my opinion, the weave is too apparent. But it might just be me.

 

[Risu]

Bright lights can do odd things to close up shots. What you're seeing there is what's left of the lighter blue bouncing off a lot of extra light. Can't say for sure that's going to go away with a longer dye bath, but hey, you said it yourself you wanted to see white spots.

Anyhow, I'll mock up a test bow (just two ends with a knot) to test out the pattern, then start a new thread in the junkyard. It'll be a few days.

 

[Risu]

The pattern is finished. I'll sew it up tomorrow.

 

[hellfire171]

looks pretty cool

 

[Risu]

OK, the prototype is done. Some notes before the armchair tailors point out the obvious:

This is made from cheap poly shantung. Therefore it wrinkles and behaves differently from the final tie.
There is no neck band, it's haphazardly pinned to my collar, hence the sloppy look in the first picture.
The first picture is intended to show scale. It's the same height and width as the screen used tie. The second picture is the bow arranged a bit more neatly. Because this one is pinned and sewn together to emulate the correct knot appearance, it's very difficult to get the exact right look. Tying it properly would produce better results, as would actual silk.

One final note, when I produce these for real, I'm going to modify the pattern slightly to make the bows slope down to the knot in a slightly straighter line. Just have to correct a curve.

So what does everybody think?

 

[HaroldVonBraun]

In the words of nine "Fantastic" although-oooo, i'd say the bow might be too wide, compared to the real bow tie.

And also, the middle of the bow might be too wide aswell. Here's a reference pic giving an idea of the width of the middle.

 

[Risu]

I went back and forth on the width for a while. If its the general consensus that it should be skinnier I'll knock off 1/4".

As for the middle, the part that's visible in that picture is the neck strap. The knot is formed by the pinched section at the ends, not the strap, which are just over an inch wide in this case. Mine came out looking a little wider than it should because the real one (silk) wrinkles up and folds together. It's the fiber content and the tension of the knot that does that, I didn't have either on the prototype.

So mods to be done before the run:

Make the wide parts 1/4" narrower
Straighten out the curve

For sale thread in the junkyard:

http://www.therpf.com/f13/doctor-who-matt-smith-blue-bow-ties-152560/#post2334483