Improvements

It is a new year and its time for some improvements to shine forth. Maybe a little late for the Gregorian calendar, but just in time for the lunar calendar. After a bit of reflection on the sewing pattern and constructive comments from customers, I have pinpointed some area in which to improve. More instructions are needed, the shape of the pattern, details on the pattern, and a few extra bells and whistles for the website.

After making a number of ties, I took for granted a few steps that someone unfamiliar with my pattern may not realize. So with some work, a set of more detailed instructions have been written and will be sent with each pattern. These steps should take out some guess work of how to fold the seven fold tie. These instructions correspond to the new markings on the pattern itself. I haven't gotten a chance to change the website instructions yet. But that will soon follow with more detail and a printer friendly option.

The pattern itself looked a bit off to me after analyzing it to death. The width of the tie changed a little quickly as it approached the collar. Along with the width rate change, the widest portion of the tie is now 3.75 inches instead of 4 inches. A few requests have been made by gentlemen of a larger stature for a longer and wider tie. To accommodate them, the limited number of patterns have been scaled up to 4.25 inches. The length of the tie could always have been extended with a little extra thought, but now there is an extra extension that can be sewn into the pattern. But the best way to go about it still is to probably just cut one section a little longer or shorter to adjust the length.

With length being an issue for a few, I decided to have a little more fun and try to figure out the optimum length for each person. This moves us into the bells and whistles part of the improvements with a handy dandy uber-cool length calculator. A few more improvements are still needed. And finally when those are done, I can finish up the redesign of the website that gives it a cleaner sharp look.

Finish Sewing the Facing on a Six Fold Tie

The last of the tricky parts is to sew the sides of the facing down. After you invert the facing, you see the position of the fabric as it should be when its done. The folds around the tip are pressed down. At this point, it is important to mark where the fabric should line up. When you uninvert the facing to sew it, the facing will not naturally sit at this same position.


Marking where the facing will line up
I mark the position by simply trimming either the extended tabs of the facing or the base section to match the other.


Uninvert facing and hold position with pins
Line up the bottom of the tabs so that everything will invert correctly. Keep this position by inserting silk pins so that it will not move when you make the seam.


Sew the facing to the base section
Now that the position is set, the next detail to check is that your stitch line is in line with the rest of the tie. These need to be in line so that after its inverted, it will appear as if its one uniform piece of silk from the front side.


Tricky part
I begin sewing from where the bottom of the tabs to make sure everything stays lined up. When you move towards the tip of the tie, you will notice that there is extra fabric on the facing side. This determines what the two corners on the inside of the tie look like. Make sure that the side edges of the facing and base section stay parallel. Otherwise the edge will be curved when you invert it. Do not let the fabric bunch up until after you sew over the stitches you made earlier. Then simply fold the extra fabric down towards the tip and sew it down. All of this should be done in one line.


Example of corner when stitched wrong
There is all sorts of wrong with this corner. The stitching is what made that ugly fold above the corner. The seam is also no where near the edge, its 2cm from it. UUUUUUGLY!


Stitches of correctly sewn corner
This is how everything should look when you are done sewing the facing onto the base section


Invert and press
After inverting it, you will need to push out the corners and edges so that everything lines up evenly. The edges next to the tip should be as they were when you first pressed them. The other two edges need to be pressed such that the seam is at the every edge and unseen.


Double Check Symmetry
The last thing you can do is to double the check and make sure that the end is symmetrical. With the six fold, the left side is suppose to match the right side. This will make the folds much easier and will result in a even tie. Obviously mine didnt turn out this way. It just means that the folds will have to be adjusted so that the end result is a symmetrical tie from the front. But when opened up, you will see that one side doesnt get folded as far on the inside.

Sewing the Tip of a Six Fold Tie

Making the tip is one of the two tricky sections in attaching the facing to the rest of the tie in a six fold. The most important part of the tip is the point where facing is attched to the rest of the tie initially. Each seam that sewn start from this point.

Connect Facing to base section.
This is the important inital point that determines where the tip of the tie will be once it is inverted. The facing and the base section will be folded in half with the display side of the silk facing each other. The edges should line up when folded with the point of the facing touching the corner of the base section, not the folded mid point. Just sew this part by hand inserting the needle at the sew line where it will just hit edge of the facing where it is folded.

Another view of initial connecting stitch
When you open it up, this is how it will look on the side of the facing.

Reinforce hand stitch with sewing machine
On the side where the main section of the tie is, there is an extra section that you will sew closed. The stitch on the right side was done by hand just to keep it closed. I then went over it with a sewing machine. (I cant sew straight, but the machine can) Make sure you dont pull out the initial stitch you did by hand because it has the vital connection between the base section and the facing. (Ignore the fact that i already sewed the edge in this pic)

Sew edges touching the tip of tie
Now we need to sew the two edges. Fold over the extra little flap so that you dont sew it down to the rest of the tie. It needs to stay up. Then start sewing from the vital point where the base section connects to the facing. You will sew all the way until the end of the base section. The facing will be a little longer now. Repeat this for the other side starting at the same point and making sure to not sew the extra little flap down.

Sew edge until base section ends.

Snip extra fabric at the tip.
Now that the edges are sewn, you can trim down the fabric at the very tip. This will help make the tip when you invert the fabric. Just make sure you dont cut too much or else your stitches will fall out and youll have a hole instead of a tip.

Invert the tip.
Invert the section you just sewed and iron it flat. The tip will naturally want to fold down to a certain length depending on how well you sewed the edges and lined everything up. The next part will be to sew the right and left sides down. Minor adjustments can be made at this point to ensure that this section will still remain nice and flat after sewing the sides and inverting it again. Thatll be in the next post.

A Well Constructed Six Fold

Making a necktie look good from the front is relatively easy. Just make sure that it is symmetrical and comes to a nice even point at the bottom. You only have to get the fat end right too. If the tail of the tie is a mess, no one will know. So aside from just making it look nice in the front, we need to make the craftsmanship stunningly precise from the back.

First off, we need to know what we are trying to accomplish. What does perfect six fold tie look like from the back?

Perfectly symmetrical with the corners matching up. This example is a little flawed since the right side is slightly higher than the left.

Hidden corners from the hidden folds match up as well. When opened up, the inner folds should also line up evenly on along the centerline of the tie.

Tail of the necktie flares out with symmetrical matching corners. The tail section isnt cut so that it folds into a flare naturally, it is a result of the folding.

The inner folds of the tail are symmetrical just like at the head.

Inner most edge does not overlap on either side. After attaching the facing and flipping it inside out, this is how the edge should look.

The facing does not bunch up when flipped inside out. If the facing is not sewn to the base section of the tie, it will cause the facing to bunch up when flipped inside out. The width where the base section overlaps onto the back side should be the same distance on the left and right.

The six fold does not take as long to make as the seven fold, but is a bit trickier because it is self tipped. You need to know how the folds work and where the stitches are after flipping it inside out. If you follow the lines on the pattern exactly, there should be no problem. But if your stitches are off, it can still be easily corrected if you understand which part needs to be proportional. I will cover these proportions and give tips in the next few posts.

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.