Tie number one.
I had first gotten this fabric with my dad about 15? years ago. I made him a tie out of it but it was horrible. The fabric is a beautiful light silk but I was unaccustomed to working with silk and certainly not used to working with it on the bias. The tie never lay properly and it eventually fell apart. A disgrace.
However, there was enough fabric left for another tie. This time I would conquer it.
And I did 🙂
I lined the fabric with interfacing first. It was woven iron on. This gave the silk the thickness necessary to be pressed nicely. Maybe there’s a better way to do this? But this worked for me.
I used a pattern for the tie, Vogue 7104. I bought several designer ties (Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole) at Goodwill and tore them apart to see how they were made. I also compared the length to my pattern to make sure it wouldn’t end up to short since most commercial ties are made up of 3 parts and this pattern was only 2. I suspect that is so that they can make better use of the fabric since only two parts — while easier to sew — is less economical with the fabric.
For the interfacing, I had bought some, but ended up using the interfacing from the ties I bought. At $2.99 per tie, this was much more economical — and it was precut! Win.
I soaked the interfacing in bleach for almost a day, rinsed, let it air dry and then steam pressed it. Yeah, I know I wanted it sanitary.
The pattern was pretty good. I hand stitched it close which was different from other ties I’ve made but gives it a really professional look. And this was also how the commercial ties all looked.
I self lined it since I didn’t have any coordinating silk. But overall, I think it came out great and my dad was really impressed!
