"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" ~ Lydia M. Child
Perfect for Father's Day, clever bow-tie place cards dress the table with preppy Southern style for Dad's special day. I made a set of these a couple of years back for a seersucker-themed tablescape, but the photos were lost before I could share them with you here. These little accents were my favorite detail of that family dinner, so I wanted to share them with you now. The tutorial below offers directions for making place cards, but you could easily adjust this project to make a greeting card.
Monogrammed Dress Shirt with Bow Tie Place Card
1. For each place card, use a 3x5-inch card. Fold the card in half (short ends together), and make a crisp crease.
2. Open the card, and use a craft knife to cut a slit across the crease, leaving about a 1/4-inch margin on each edge of the crease.
3. At the mid-point of the slit, use a craft knife or scissors to cut a 1/2-inch slit into the front of the card. On each side of this slit, fold the paper down to form a triangle. This will form the collar for the dress shirt.
4. For the placket, glue a strip of white card stock to the center of the dress shirt. The piece pictured is 1/4-inch wide and 1 1/2-inches long. Add three small pearl-sticker buttons.
5. Print a pocket on card stock. The one pictured was designed in Word by adding a text box with monogram to a trapezoid, sized to 3/4-inch long and just over 3/4-inch wide at its largest. A faint dashed line adds a smart "stitched" detail.
6. Use a ribbon of fabric to make a bow tie. (Unfortunately, I don't have the dimensions for the strip of fabric I used, but it won't take much). The finished bow tie is 1 1/2-inch across by 1/2-inch deep. I liked the look of doubling the loops for a fuller bow tie, so I estimate that I cut strips that were just over 1x4-inches in length. Press the fabric, fold the ends under lengthwise, and fold to shape into bow tie loops. Using needle and thread, secure this form with a couple of stitches. Cut a narrow strip to serve as the center knot. Fold each edge under, wrap tightly around the center of the bow tie, and secure with a stitch on the back. Use hot glue to add the bow tie to the collar of the shirt.
Have a wonderful weekend honoring the men of honor who have blessed your life!
