Step By Step Process To Making A Six Fold Tie

	Get Silk You will need 1.25 yards of silk, but a little more to be safe is always nice. If your silk pattern repeats in wide steps, having more will allow you choose where you want the pattern to start on the tie. The tie silk that I have found and prefer to use comes in a width of about 25 inches. My pattern was designed for this width. With the six fold, a lighter silk will work just fine. In fact, a heavy silk suitable for a seven fold tie turns out to be a little to hefty for the six fold unless you decide to leave out the interlining. Other than the woven satin silk meant for ties, I have used charmeuses which is lighter and drapes better. It makes a nice six fold, but the fabric is frustrating beyond belief to work with. It stretches a lot and doesn't hold its shape at all before you sew it to the interlining.
	Get Interlining When buying an interlining for the tie, I believe that you need to get an interlining specifically made for ties. But I have not tried anything else. It needs to drape well and be able to stretch a little and return back to its original shape when you knot your tie. Like the silk, it is cut on the bias so some of the fabric is wasted. When asking for it at a fabric store, its referred to as interfacing. Maybe it is called interfacing.
	Prep Silk Now that you have your fancy silk, you should prep it a little. Make sure that you have a nice wide surface to work with to keep the silk flat and un stretched along the bias. Iron the back of the silk to get out any wrinkles or folds while its easy to do so.
	Prep Interlining Prepping the interlining is important because some time in the future, your tie might get steamed or cleaned. Depending on the material, most likely wool, it needs to be preshrunk. To do this, soak it in hot water for 5-10 minutes and then let dry. Afterwards, I like to iron it and possibly shrink it a little bit more. Afterwards, the interlining will be softer than when you first bought it.
	Use the Pattern Now that you have the your fancy silk, you need to use your fancy seven fold tie pattern. Either make one or buy one. Arrange the pattern so that the centerline is exactly on the bias. If you do not cut the tie on bias, it may not hang nicely when you wear it and start to twirl a bit. Make sure that you lay all the pattern pieces out so that you are sure you have enough silk. WIth my pattern, the joining sections of the pattern are already cut 45 degrees of the center line. So you just have to make sure that edge is parallel with the edge of the silk. Double check which section of the silk will show up on the bottom of the tie. Now that everything fits, place a paper weight on the pattern and use your chalk to trace the pattern on the back side of the silk. If your fabric is wide enough, you can overlay the two halves and save yourself the step of sewing the two halves together.
	Cut the Silk Now you can use either a sharp pair of scissors or a rotary blade to cut the silk. Just make sure you do not stretch the silk too much when lifting it to cut. Now you should have two nice pieces of silk ready to become a luxury tie.
	Interlining In the same way, use the pattern to trace the interlining and then cut it out.
	Draw Sewing Line To make everything easier, draw the sewing lines on the wrong side of the silk. Now you will be able to line up the base silk portion with the facing.
	Attach Facing (part 1) For the initial attachment point, I sew it by hand because its more difficult to hold everything in place for the sewing machine. The first stitch will be to attach the facing with the base section but only at one point. The thread should hit just the edge of the folded facing section on the inside. From there, sew a straight line to the edge of the base fold. (left according to picture)
	Attach Facing (part 2) Sew the edges of the the tip of the tie. This part is very straight forward as long as you start at the right point. Begin sewing at the center point of the facing where the thread penetrated the silk from part 1. Use the silk pins to hold the two piece of silk in place together. From there, make a simple running stitch along the sewing line that you drew to connect the edges of the base and facing. (yea yea yea, I didn't sew on the line) More detailed tips
	Attach Facing (part 3) The last part was tricky to figure out but is actually quite easy to do. If you hold the tie up by the tip that you made so far, you will notice that the facing is a little wider than the base. But the base and facing will be sewn so that the edges are even with each other. Slightly shift the base upwards until the protruding section from the base match up with the facing. You will see that there is a small gap between the sew line in part 2 and the edge you are about to sew. Simply fold that little gap down and sew right through it. The sew line will be in line with the rest of the base.
	Invert Facing Before I invert the facing, I usually cut a little off the tip so that it is easier to make a sharp corner after inverting the fabric. But leave enough room from the stitch otherwise the stitch will fall off and you'll end up with a hole instead of a tip. Now, invert the facing and push out the point at the tip of the tie. Now it is starting to look like the back side of the tie that you are used to. If all is well, you should see as section of the base folded onto the same side as the facing. The side edges should be such that the sew line is exactly at the edge and hidden from both sides. Now you can press the facing so that the edges and corners are straight and sharp. Repeat the "attach facing" steps with the other end of the tie.
	Attach Halves Now line up the two halves along the dotted line so that the edges flow together. Use silk pins first to make sure its straight. Then use a sewing machine or a normal running stitch to attach the two pieces.
	Insert Interlining If you chose to use a fabric that stretches, attaching the interfacing may prove to be a little frustrating. Slide the interfacing tip into each tip of the tie. Pin the tips in place so that they do not shift around when you are folding and sewing the tie closed.
	Make Folds For the six fold tie, the folds should be very easy as long as everything stayed in proportion. Usually there will be a little fudging in the lengths of certain parts, but that's ok. The most important fold is the fold closest to the centerline that give the tie its final shape. With the six fold, I fold the edges to the centerline first so that the two edges will be flush in the center. This is an important presentation fold for when people turn the tie over and open it up. Then use the pattern to make the other folds and lightly press each fold. Check to see that the tie is symmetrical before making a deep press with steam or a bit of water.
	Use Silk Pins Pin the tie closed with the silk pins to hold everything in place. Now you can pick up the tie and examine it for any lumps. You can make small adjustments by taking out certain pins, moving the fabric and then inserting them back in.
	Make the Carrier Cut out and sew the carrier for the tie. The carrier is usually cut along the grain of the fabric. This part is a little frustrating because after you sew it, you need to flip the small tube inside out. There is a tool for this I think, but I didn't have it. I sewed a knot onto one end. let the needle drop through the carrier lengthwise and then pulled the thread to invert the carrier.
	Attach the Carrier Before sewing the tie closed, sew the carrier to the edge of the side that overlaps the other side.
	Sew the Tie Closed Now slowly sew the tie closed with a slip stitch. As you move along, pull out the silk pins as you approach them. Make sure to leave enough of the tie open so that you can see the folds. This should be right below the carrier. Also make sure that you do not sew all the way through the tie and have the thread showing on the front. When you're done, make a loop or something. But before you make a knot at the end, remove the needle from the thread and then simulate putting on a tie. Wrap it around your neck and gently pull on both sides and run your fingers all the way to the tips. This is done so that the thread is as long as the tie can stretch. Otherwise you may break the thread when actually putting the tie on. Or it will cause the tie to bunch up and appear very lumpy after you put it on. I'm not exactly sure on how to finish the slip stitch. After the tie is closed, fold the carrier down and sew the two sides to the tie with the slip stitch again.
	Sew Down Carrier After the tie s sewn closed, spread the carrier out so that it lies flat on the back of the tie. Since it is already attached to the tie at the centerline, Use a slip stitch at the far edges of the carrier so that it stays pressed to the tie.
	Press the Tie Now that all the sewing is done, the tie is still a little puffy. What I did was place a piece of cotton cloth over the tie, spray it lightly with water and then iron it at the silk setting. This was enough to evaporate the water and press through to make a nice strong crease on the silk.
	All Done Now that its done, you can compare it an everyday tie and be amazed. Then you can put it on and be even more amazed at how nice it feels.