Last year, I retired the big tree I used for the glass menagerie I put up in the front room. I acquired a new tree last week, the first big fancy tree I’ve bought new at full price, I think, in forever.
After the big bead garland caper of 2020, this big over-the-top tree needs a big over-the-top skirt. Cue my thrift store obsession with silk neckties:
The project came to life as I was thinning out my wardrobe. As I got to my ties, I realized how many gold and burgundy ties were going into the go-away pile.
That is where this project started. I pulled in any red, blue, and green ties I was giving up and laid them all out, spacing out the the four color, alternating them with gold ties. Then I started stitching them together by hand with a blanket stitch using three strands of red embroidery floss (which also came from a thrift store stash).
Twenty hours later, I had a ten plus pound skirt with a lot of narrow tails flopping about. I had some ideas, and I wanted to use the entire tie as is, without cutting, lining, etc.
Once I had a completed circle, I laid it out (I had an extra an extra quarter of a circle and left it attached until I tested the weave. Neckties work as they do because they are cut on a bias. This caused some difficulties while stitching them together, but really helped snugging up the weave on a curve.
This is incredibly close to what I held in my head at the initial thought of the project. It reuses low-cost found materials, it hits my goal of lavish over-the-top holiday decor, and has an amazing texture and color mix.
Left to go: stitch up the woven overskirt (it is currently just pinned together), clean up and attach the perfect tassels for this skirt, and decide if some beaded details might actually be too much…
our cattywampus cottage 
Wow! This is absolutely amazing! Beautiful ❤
thank you! ❤
😯 Wow, your creativity never ceases to amaze me. And, your dedication to making an idea a reality, astounds me! Your work is incredibly inspiring and a blessing to me. Thank you for that. 😉
So, will the whole thing be woven, or just what is already done??
this is essentially the finished thing. I have to secure the woven section, add some tassels, and maybe some beading…
Oh, right…I see the red stitching now. Well, it looks really nice! I’m sure, you being a silk tie aficionado, that keeping the essence of the ties was important. I love the woven part the most though (I’m not much of a tie person, lol). I’ve just never seen anything woven, quilted, etc. that is quite as spectacular as this. And, knowing that it came from repurposed material is quite fun. I could see something like this selling for lots of money. And, could one even fathom the multitude of silk ties hanging in thrift stores these days. I can’t wait to see the finished product – do share, please!! 💙🙂