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Project Runway Inspired: Wraparound Swirly Tie Skirt

by on Dec 7, 2008

created on: 12/07/08

The Indianapolis Art Center had their annual Student Show with awards on Friday night.  You may remember seeing a creative fourteen year old boy in a post I did last summer. He won the Most  Creative Award for the Youth and Teen division, as well as the Art Center’s Staff Favorite Award

A Project Runway tie skirt inspired him but he chose to run the ties diagonally to get the maximum swirl fromt he bias cut ties. (Can you believe he knew that?)  He came up with his design after he found bargain neckties at a church garage sale (50 ties for $1.00).  Not yet able to make a buttonhole, he fastened the wraparound with Velcro strips in the back. 

His entry in this show was unusual since he wasn’t taking a class at the time. He did the entire project independently. 

This could be adjusted to make a knockout Christmas tree skirt with a variety of red, green and plaid  ties.  If you didn’t have enough ties, you could easily fill in with quilting or other fabric remnants. If you started stitching the ties together from the skinny ends down to the widest part, it would naturally flare into a circle which could be wrapped right around the Christmas tree for an upcycled, colorful tree skirt.  

Tomorrow I’ll get to see a quilt top he designed for a school service project. His parents have hired me to teach him some technical sewing skills that will further his creative talent.  Maybe when he becomes famous, he’ll remember the little folk