In this Instructable I will show you how I converted my old regular school tie into a cool fashionable 'skinny tie', and I will also show you other customizations I made to my old school uniform.

The majority of schools across Britain require that you wear a tie as part of your uniform. It is the governments idea that if everyone in school dressed the same looking like robots, then bulling wouldn't occur because poorer children won't be picked on for looking different. This is of course a load of rubbish, so why not make a statement and customize your uniform.

Skinny ties are very popular at the moment and are fairly easy to make providing you have some idea of how to sew or stitch.

Step 1: Items Needed

You will need most of the following;

-a tie

-a de-stitching tool (if you dont have one just use a needle or something)

-a pair of scissors

-a pen

-a needle and some thread or a sewing machine (I didn't use a sewing machine but if you want your tie to last a while I would strongly recommend that you use one)

-an iron and ironing board (not neccessery but still useful)

-pins (not neccessery but still useful)

Step 2: De-Stitching the Tie.

First you need to turn the tie inside out to access the stitching, this is simple to do, just start pulling the inside out through the opening at the wide end of the tie.

Using the de-stitching tool is easy, slide the pointed end of the fork under the thread and cut using the sharp edge in the middle of the fork then begin picking the thread out,

Step 3: Iron, Draw and Cut

After de-stitching, you will find that there are a lot of fold creases in your tie, it will make your life easier if you were to iron out these fold creases.

Next you need to draw your template, (I recommend that you do this because I to start cutting straight away and I ended up with not enough material, luckily I had a few ties to play with) I folded the thin end of the tie and laid it over the wide end and drew round it because it was the perfect size.

Then you need to cut your tie.

Step 4: Stitching You Tie Back Together

I sewed up my tie using a needle and thread because I couldn't get my mom's sewing machine to work properly, but this should be fine as many of my other ties appear to be sewn up in this same way. Just remember to sew the tie inside out then turn it back in on itself so that the stitching is on the inside and not visible from the outside.

to finish off you may want to iron the tie again so that it holds it's shape.

Step 5: Other Things a Did With Bits of My Uniform

I also did other things with other bits of my old uniform.

The first was a secret pocket on my blazer. One year at school the senior staff decided to ban all electronics include phones and mp3 players, they used to conduct searches every so often so I decided to make a simple hidden pocket using Presstuds to hide my phone, mp3 player and a few other objects that were not allowed in school.

The second is a Trilby hat that I used when my mate and I dressed as the Blues Brothers for comic relief day. I tied the remains of my failed skinny tie attempt round the hat and slotted two playing cards under it, I probably wouldn't have worn this to school although it does look good with the tie.