New and improved Joker products! With a new secret ingredient: Spoonflower!
I’ve sewn up a storm working on these ties and may have gotten a little carried away with my Joker costume project …
Of course, my inability to resist temptation also makes you the direct beneficiary to my Joker costuming efforts!
Not only did I make several extra ties of each style (most of which have already sold via my Etsy Shop), but I’m making the actual Spoonflower print designs I used to make these ties publicly available, for those of you who want to make your own! 🙂
Here’s a quick look at and breakdown of each of these ties:
Necktie 1
This is the necktie the Joker wore shortly after his “rebirth,” during his meeting with Gotham’s crime bosses (in which he was ironically LARPing as Jack Napier).
Here is a link to my Spoonflower design for this necktie, intended for use with Spoonflower’s “silky faille”:
One needs a minimum of 1 yard for a necktie, although that yard may yield several neckties.
FYI, McCall’s 2447 includes a pattern for a necktie, which works great for this one!
Here’s a replica necktie I made with this Spoonflower print, pictured with my orange Joker shirt:
Original vs. my replica:
I think this print turned out quite well (if I say so myself)!
Necktie 2
This is the necktie the Joker wore during his surprise visit to Vikki Vale’s apartment.
Here’s the link to my Spoonflower design for this necktie, again intended for use with Spoonflower’s “silky faille”:
One needs a minimum of 1 yard for a necktie, although that yard may yield several neckties.
As I mentioned above, McCall’s 2447 includes a pattern for a necktie, although in this case I’d recommend narrowing the lower front of the tie a bit to produce a slimmer tie like the original. (I narrowed the lower front of the McCall’s pattern piece by ¾”.)
Here’s a replica necktie I made with this Spoonflower print, pictured with my green Joker shirt:
Original vs. my replica:
Also, I lined each of the aforementioned neckties with a Batman print … because it’s just awesomer that way!
Bow Tie 1
This is the bow tie worn by the Joker three times in the film:
Here’s the link to my Spoonflower design for this bow tie, again intended for use with Spoonflower’s “silky faille”:
FYI, one yard may yield up to a dozen (adjustable) bow ties!
However, I suggest being VERY careful when poking out the corners, because I found the fabric unfortunately prone to both discoloration and tearing if poked too hard. So be gentle!
Also, a single layer of muslin interfacing makes for a great bow tie. 🙂
Here’s a replica bow tie I made with this Spoonflower print, pictured with my green Joker shirt:
Original vs. my replica:
Bow Tie 2
This is the large bow tie the Joker wore during the brief scene in which he shot the television.
Here’s the link to my Spoonflower design for this bow tie, intended for use with Spoonflower’s “satin”:
https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/8990188-batman-joker-bow-tie-2-satin-by-obsessive_costuming_dude
Depending on how you cut your ties, a single yard may yield up to a half-a-dozen or so of them.
As with the other bow tie, I found a single layer of muslin interfacing with the satin produced a satisfying result.
Here’s a replica bow tie I made with this Spoonflower print, pictured with my green Joker shirt:
Original vs. my replica:
I’m VERY happy with how the fabric print turned out, but I’m honestly not quite happy with the shaping of the tie itself.
I tried strips of fabric of varying widths before determining that the original might have been a “diamond bow tie” or some variation thereof … but everything I tried seemed a little “off” somehow.
To my eye, it should be a bit “poofier” … but this was the best I could do, and I honestly don’t know how to improve upon it.
If you’d like to give it a go, by all means please do so! That’s why I’m making these Spoonflower designs publicly available! 🙂
At least this was by far the Joker’s most obscure tie from the entire film, in terms of screen time.
Cravat
And finally, this is the Joker’s iconic cravat, which he wore during the movie’s parade/cathedral climax.
(I call it a “cravat,” but I honestly don’t really know what the hell it actually is – only what it’s not.)
Here is the link to my Spoonflower design for this cravat, again intended for use with Spoonflower’s “satin”:
FYI, I just widened the lower front of the aforementioned necktie pattern a bit and “butted” two tie fronts together (with the seam being at the center back).
The original cravat(s) appear to have been single-layer fabric, with the edges simply hemmed.
However, the fabric print is obviously one-sided, so a replica tie with this print needs to be two layers seamed together, turned, and pressed. (Same with the matching handkerchief.) It’s up to you if you want to topstitch around the perimeter of the cravat as a “faux-hem stitch” to mimic the stitching on the original or not.
In this case, I didn’t bother interfacing the satin with anything (not even muslin), and I’m pleased with the result.
Here’s a replica cravat I made with this Spoonflower print, pictured with my orange Joker shirt:
And a close-up:
NOTE: Ties are often cut on the bias, which is great for malleability but has the unforeseen consequence of the darker circles occasionally stretching into slight ovals. (Of course, all one has to do is stretch the fabric a bit horizontally to undo the effect.)
However, I suggest simply cutting this cravat on the straight grain or crossgrain.
Conclusion
Whew!
That was considerably more than I was originally planning on doing … but my projects do have a way of escalating, LOL.
I know the Joker wore a few other ties throughout the film, but these were the only ones I was interested in doing right now. If there’s a lot of interest, then I may come back and do a couple more later.
But for now, I hope you enjoy the Spoonflower prints!
If you enjoyed this blog post, please support my costume research on Ko-Fi!
Every bar of gold-pressed latinum helps me produce more sewing/costuming resources like this. 🙂
The poofy purple Tie is actually a Tradition Mexican Tie called a Mono Tie, pronounced Mon-yo