Thanksgiving and a Cravat

The title pretty much sums it up. Between going home, the Thanksgiving festivities, a smattering of other events, and still trying to cram in as much homework as possible, I stayed pretty busy this weekend!

As I positively pine away for sewing while I'm at school, I did fit a few quick projects in while I was home. The first was to hem up a little tree skirt for my mom, which emerged out of a remnant from her stash. After that, the sewing machine was out and threaded, so I decided to keep going. I wanted to make a few cravats for my brother (he just started reenacting, and I couldn't resist the irony of giving him "ties" for Christmas) so I went to the great wealth of knowledge that is the internet and tracked down a tutorial. I found a marvelous one from Sarah over at Romantic History (check it out here!), and after tweaking it a little for a different look, here is the result!

I am quite in love with it!

For the fabric, I used a remnant from my Swiss Body project. The burgundy/black changeable taffeta looks quite sharp in cravat form! It still wants a neckband... I'll add one after I give it to him, to make sure that it will be the right length. I'm planning on making a similar one for myself, too, to wear with the Swiss Body of the same color. It was a quick project--I'd say easily under an hour, even though it was my first one. I'll definitely be making more... lots more! I have a whole stack of fabrics that are now waiting to be transformed into a colorful variety of cravat shapes. Stripes, solids, prints, plaids, single bow, double bow, loose ends, small, large, wide, thin... the possibilities are endless! I have a feeling that my brother will soon have a different necktie for every day of the month. I hope he likes them ;)