The Duct Tape Tie

Have you ever been to an occasion where you wish you brought a tie because everyone else has one, or went to work and realized you forgot your tie? After you read this guide, you will know how to craft a tie on the spot in order to look great and catch everyone's eye. Soon they will be asking for some for themselves! When we are finished with this lesson, you will have a tie like the one in the picture below!

First, we must begin by laying a red foundation. This foundation will be the entire length of the visible tie, so don't be afraid to make it long. For my tie, the piece was approximately 1.4 feet long. But here, use your own judgement. (Measure a tie if you need to! Remember, this is a fake tie, so you won't need to make length for a knot, extra slack, and so on.)

Next, we must unroll a second, equal length of red tape. When we place it, we must make sure the first end intersects with the original piece. The second end must stem out at an angel and overlap the second end of our original piece. (See the picture for a visual description of placement.)

Now we must create the point of our tie. Unroll a small length of red tape, approximately 3.5 inches long. (Refer to the picture below for a visual reference of length.) Now, we must place it at a 45 degree angle from the outside edge of the long piece of red tape. (refer to the picture below to see what I am describing.) Once we have this piece placed, we must repeat these steps for the other side of the point.

Once the two pieces are in place, we must trim the edges. We will carefully use our razor knife to remove the excess tape and refine our edges. When this step is complete, the tie's point should look like the picture below. (Compare the picture above to the picture below to get a better idea of how this process is executed.)

Now we must lay our inside foundation. Unroll a long piece of white tape and place it according to the picture below. (In this step we are creating red borders around a white inside.)

Here, we must repeat the process we used when we laid our red tape foundation. However, this time we are implementing a border. Accordingly, on all white tape placement, be sure there is red tape showing on the outside. Now, unroll a second piece of long white duct tape and place it according to the picture below.

This process is exactly like the red tape process. So, accordingly, we must unroll two short white pieces of white duct tape to form another point for our tie. Repeat the red point process, but this time, allow the red border to surround the white tape. (Scroll up if you need to touch up on the red point process.) However, do not trim the edges just yet. Here we need to implement a slightly different technique.

Here, in order to refine our edges, we must lightly trim the white tape. This is acceptable because our red tape will hold everything together, even if we do press a little too hard with our razor knife. So, like the picture depicts below, tim the excess tape to refine the point of the tie.

When the red foundation and white foundation stages are complete, the tie should look like the picture below.

What is a tie without any fancy accents? Let's spice our tie up with some red designs. In order to begin this phase, we must lay a red piece of duct tape to cut our designs.

Next, we must lay a regular sheet of paper over our tie, and mark the key points of our designs. This will enable us to guide our cuts so they will look appealing when placed on the tie. Here, I took note of the corners for a triangle. I also compensated for a bit of space from the edge of the white duct tape foundation. (Please feel free to create your own designs and variations here.)

Here, I connected my marks with straight lines. Do the same on your design.

In the picture below, I drew my large curved line. This is what the final design will look like. Once we have our designs fully drawn, it is time to cut them out.

We must trim our paper and fasten it over the strip of red duct tape.

Next, we must cut along the solid lines on our white paper.

When the duct tape is removed, the design should look something like this.

Now, we must place the design on our tie. Once it is fixed, it should look like the picture below.

Our tie is still looking a bit plain, so let's add a few more details! Now, let's lay another small piece of red duct tape on our cutting board. On each side, as depicted in the picture below, we must remove approximately one-fourth of an inch.

Now, we must cut a small triangle off of the top of our red duct tape. Refer to the picture below to see how i produced my cut.

Now, we will make an identical cut half an inch below the original cut. Separate the two pieces. When we are finished with this stage, our result should look like the picture below.

Now, as the picture below dictates, we must make another somewhat identical cut. However, near the end of our cut, we must taper downward to give the cut somewhat of a curve.

Now we are finished with the additional flare. We must now place our new designs. When they are fixed in place, they should look like the picture below. Finally, we have completed the body of our tie! The only things left to create are the components which will go around our necks to unofficially hold the tie in place.

In order to create these straps, we must lay a red piece of duct tape and a white piece of duct tape. These two pieces should be identical in length and they should span approximately 4 inches long.

Now, we must cut them in half, with the grain of the duct tape. To see how i cut my pieces, refer to the picture below.

In order to craft our catchy neck straps, we will lay the white piece on top of the red piece. Be sure to taper the amount of red tape shown from front to back. When you look at your neck strap, the red should look like a long triangle. Do the same for the other neck strap, but be sure to invert the tape to compensate for the fact that it will be on the other side of the tie. When we are finished with our neck straps, they should look like the picture below.

Now, attach them to the tie, and we are finished! Our final product should look like the picture below!

Have no fear, you can now make ties! These sweet things are sure to grab all of the attention in the room. Be sure to stay tuned for future lessons! Get creative! I would love to see some of your projects and results! See you next lesson!