Easy Adjustable Baby Bow Tie

The Little Mister has a cute Sunday shirt that I found at Crazy8, and this is actually the second one I've bought him. The first was part of his blessing outfit, but he's outgrown it already. When I went looking for a replacement, I found a larger size on the clearance rack. Score!

 The only problem with these shirts was that the plaid bow tie was sewn on. Since I'm not buying multiple white shirts for a kiddo who will outgrow them in just a couple months, I removed the bow tie so it would match all the sweaters and pants we might pair it with.

But what to do with the little bow tie? It's too cute to just throw away, and it does match one of his sweaters.

I decided to make it into an adjustable bow tie, similar to this adjustable neck tie that we got from one of his cousins.

I carefully removed the bow tie from the shirt. It was just tacked down with two rows of stitches and came off easily.

Here it is with the bow tie removed.

The back of the bow tie. It was sewed together, so even when removed it held its shape.

I gathered my materials: the bow tie, some wide velcro, and some twill tape.

I used the blue neck tie to get an idea of how long to cut the twill tape (elastic would work also), and cut a thin piece of velcro.

I sewed the velcro pieces to the ends of the twill tape with my sewing machine, then hand-sewed the bow tie to the twill tape at the midpoint.

And now our little cutie can wear a bow tie:

the shirt's a little big for him, so it makes his chubby neck disappear even more than it already does :)

Or a {clip-on} tie:

Or a sweater vest and tie:

The twill tape is thin enough and narrow enough that it easily hides under his collar. The velcro makes it easy to adjust and easy to remove.

Such a handsome little boy!