Making A Six Fold Tie Drape Well

I think that I have figured it out. I believe that I now know how to consistently make a necktie that drapes well. First off, you need to be able to identify when you have a tie that does drape well. My definition of draping well is determined by a simple test. Fold the tie in half but do not tuck the narrow end into the carrier. Then hold the tie at the fold and sway it back and forth at a steady pace. The necktie should move like a wet noodle and flop back and forth. If it doesn't really move, then either the tie is too stiff or you don't know what you're doing.

Now that we know what the end result should be, how do we get there? I believe that the key to making it drape well is making sure that the folds stick close to the rest of the tie. If one of the folds has a tendency to open up, it creates an extra plane that is not parallel with the rest of the tie. This extra plane then acts in a way to give the tie more structure. A structure that is not desirable. Pressing the tie well is a major part in keeping the folds closed, but its not as simple as just running the iron over the fold.

Water is a key element in making a strong crease. I always use the spray from the iron onto the folds and then iron until the water has evaporated. But ironing from the back side only makes a single crease where the back and side of the necktie meet. The thickness of the tie may be small, but still needs to be accounted for especially if there is an interlining involved. Because of this thickness, two creases are needed. The two creases will be very close to each other and may even seem like one crease, but the result is noticeable when you hold the tie up. With only one crease, the folds will tend to open. Its hard to see when you are ironing because gravity is making it stay closed since its lying face down. A simple test to tell if you have done this well is to roll the tie. Fold it in half first and then loosely roll it up. If the sides start puffing out at the end too much, then something is wrong.


The thickness of the silk can also be a limiting factor in how well the six fold drapes. Because of the number of folds, the thickness of the necktie is multiplied by four in addition to the interlining. This thickness of the silk can limit how well the tie moves no matter how perfectly you crease everything. As a result, some six folds are better made without an interlining. I can only tell by feel which weights should and should not have an interlining. My recommendation would be to making the folds and creases of the six fold first and then examine the thickness of the tie before sewing it closed. If it is thick enough for you, don't use an interlining.

A small issue that I am currently still trying to perfect is on how to attach the carrier. It seems to make a slight dimple in the front of the tie. It is not very noticeable, but if you look really really hard, you can see that the front does not look perfectly smooth.

Where To Buy Silk

Finding the right kind of silk for a necktie is already hard enough because most stores only have light weight silk. And when they do carry silk, they are mostly in solid colors. Solid colors are fine for neckties but that gets boring really fast. If you spend all that time to make your own necktie, you want a nice pattern that will stand out and draw some attention and still be classy.

So far I have only been going to F&S Fabrics. I live in Los Angeles. They have a huge selection of silk especially for neckties. You would think that that was their main business with the amount of inventory they have. The only drawback is that all of it is vintage silk.

Just recently I found out about another store thats a little farther away but has silk fabric for neckties in all sorts of patterns.


F&S Fabrics
10629 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064-2297

International Silk & Woolen Inc
8347 Beverly Blvd
LOS ANGELES , CA 90048-2634

Closing Necktie with Slip Stitch

Stitches

I do not believe that I have found the best way to sew the tie closed yet. The slip stitch is the way type of stitch that should be used, but I do not know the optimal distance to run each stitch. There are a few possibilities, some that I have already tried, but there are many factors that could effect how well the six fold and seven fold tie drapes.

long stitches
____|____|____|____|____|____
____|____|____|____|____|____

short and long stitches
____|_|____|_|____|_|____|_|____
____|_|____|_|____|_|____|_|____

short stitches
_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_
_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|


Then these stitches could be modified so that the stitch do not line up exactly with the top and bottom layers that they are attaching. This might allow for the folds to stay in place better in case the slip stitch was not straight all the way down the tie. It also allows for less stitches to be made.

long stitches
____\____/____\____/____\____
____\____/____\____/____\____

short and long stitches
____\_/____\_/____\_/____\_/____
____\_/____\_/____\_/____\_/____

short stitches
_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/
_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\_/_\


And finally, another variation that doubles the stitching possibilities. When sewing the slip stitch, how many layers does the stitch go through? It can touch only the two layers farthest from the front or go all the way to through the interlining. If it only touches two layers, the tie has the possibility of being a little puffy. Getting a firm crease on the edges of each fold will help keep the tie flat though. But when sewing all the way to the interlining the front may bubble up a little because the folds are effectively sewn in place. The height at each horizontal section is set according to the interlining.

Problems

After closing the tie its pretty easy to tell what the problems are once you put the tie on. The most obvious problem that I had to deal with was making the stitches too tight. Before putting the tie on, everything looks perfect as you let it hang on your finger. But when you tie a necktie, everything will stretch a little. If your stitches were too tight and do not give at all, one of three things will happen. The thread could break, the tie could rip if the thread you used is stronger than silk (thats why cotton thread is recommended), or the tie will bunch up. Unless you pull really hard on the tie, it will most likely just bunch up. The Tie will stretch around the collar and pull the thread in this area leaving less thread for the rest of the tie which forces the rest of the tie to fit on the remaining thread available. To solve this problem, I always stretch out the tie around my neck before making the final knot in the slip stitch. The thread is loose enough to allow the silk to stretch.

Asides from bunching up, sometimes the tie just does not drape as well as you think it should. Ideally, it will drape as well as a single layer of the silk. The silk will not drape as well with multiple layers, but should not be that noticeable. The problem occurs because the edges of the fold do not bend as well as the rest of the fabric. My best guess as to why this is is that the edges are not pressed enough so that the tie moves as if it was just one thick piece of fabric instead of multiple layers with air between each layer. This is where the slip stitch variations may play a factor. Using a lighter silk will be more forgiving since it will just follow wherever the interlining goes. But the pain of using this type of silk is not worth it in my opinion. Its better to just figure out the optimal slip stitch for neckties and do it right.

Conclusion

I don't know which variation of the slip stitch to use yet. But I am leaning towards short and long stitches that go only through the minimal two layers of silk to keep it closed.