freesewing/markdown/org/blog/benjamin-bow-tie-beta/en.md

---
author: 1
caption: "If you like it, put a bow on it"
date: "2017-11-14"
intro: "Our family of freesewing patterns has grown once again, and the benjamin of the family is... Benjamin ."
title: "The Benjamin Bow Tie pattern is now available in beta. And I didn't even have to do anything."
---

Our family of freesewing patterns has grown once again, and the benjamin of the family is... [Benjamin](/designs/benjamin).

Benjamin is a bow tie that comes with a variety of options to control pretty much every aspect of your bow tie.

You can opt for a made-to-measure bow tie, or draft Benjamin with an adjustment ribbon to allow
some flexibility in the fit. Something that makes this a great handmade gift for the upcoming holiday season.

## Benjamin is more special than you realize

Here's the thing about Benjamin that I'm most excited about: I didn't do anything.

![A collection of bow ties from Wouter, who designed and coded this pattern](https://posts.freesewing.org/uploads/bowties_4f3e05ec53.jpg)

That's right, Benjamin was designed and coded by 
[Wouter Van Wageningen](/users/xdpug) who has over the last couple of months
been teaching himself the ins and outs of the freesewing platform:

> I had a blast making the Bow Tie pattern. 
> I basically used it to move from the BabyBib tutorial into something that was 
> original and not too complex (and actually useful). 
> I wanted to get the whole process under control before venturing out into the real stuff. 
> 
> That I was able to pick things up so easily is due mostly to the great 
> [BabyBib tutorial](https://freesewing.org/tutorials/pattern-design/) 
> and the help you've provided [here](https://discord.freesewing.org).

## Who will be next to contribute a pattern?

When I released freesewing as an open source platform, I obviously hoped that others would
join the effort. 

But I never thought that less than 3 months after the public release of freesewing, 
we'd have our first pattern from the freesewing community.

![Benjamin is kind of a big deal](https://posts.freesewing.org/uploads/giphy_7a40f62815.gif)

So yeah, Benjamin is a BFD, Wouter is a badass, and I am hopeful that this will be the first
of many patterns that we as a community will be able to make available to all.