He's at it again...

...he being my friend Joe, and it being tie making! I must admit, apart from making my husband a tie from a basic kit, the ins-and-outs of ties didn't really interest me that much until recently. Joe's enthusiasm is infectious and I'm now becoming strangely fascinated by them!  He came over for a visit a few weeks ago all set to make another tie. Instead of the Sew Over It tie kit that we'd used for his first tie, he now wanted to make a seven fold tie. I'd never even heard of a seven fold tie, so for those of you who are similarly in the dark, here's a quick bit of background:

A seven fold tie refers to how the tie is constructed. Instead of using a separate domette, or interfacing, the tie is made from one single piece of fabric that is folded seven times (the clue's in the name!) There is far more fabric required to make a seven fold tie, resulting in a weightier feel, a superior drape and a more luxurious feel. As a consequence, these ties are very expensive to buy. The extra fabric and body also help achieve larger and more consistent knots. Joe did give me a demonstration of various knots (half Windsor, full Windsor etc) but I'm afraid my mind wandered at that point. 

Anyway, that's what a seven fold tie is, and Joe wanted me to help him make one - I was happy to oblige. He'd come prepared and bought a posh looking tie from a vintage shop to unpick and use as a pattern. The owner assured him it was a seven fold tie, but when we unpicked it, there were only six folds! Apparently there is such a thing as a six fold tie, still luxurious, but one notch down from the seven fold in the tie hierarchy. A six fold is folded in a more symmetrical way than the seven fold (obvs) and includes an interlining. Undeterred, we made a six fold tie instead….

Ironing the tie as flat as we could, we chalked around it to get the shape, including the all-important fold lines. At this point, I think Joe was a bit worried about my slapdash tracing skills, but I was confident that a good press would hide a multitude of sins. For fabric, he used this gorgeous fig design Liberty lawn from their archive collection. Like last time, there was very little sewing involved, most of our time was spent at the ironing board. And my prophecy was correct, pressing really does hide a multitude of sins! He soon had a very posh looking six fold tie. 

The all important label!

For a finishing touch, he wanted to use the same open running stitch and button feature that can be seen on this fab Italian video - how a sette (seven fold) tie is made. I rather like the finished effect, the yellow thread and button really pop against the dark background colour of the tie.

There's no stopping him now, next time we'll definitely be tackling a seven fold tie. Watch this space!

My, what a posh looking tie Mr Alessi