Replies

1. 
   soie | Jul 25, 2007 08:13am | #1

   Have you peeped inside a ready made tie that you like to see what was used?  I seem to recall using a lightweight flannel as an interfacing.  It may depend on the weight of the tie fabric. 

2. 
   user-60627 | Jul 26, 2007 11:17pm | #2

   Go buy the best looking tie you can find from the thrift shop and take it apart.  Its very educational about how a tie is constructed and you might be able to reuse the interfacing, if its in good shape.  Proper tie interfacing is a soft, fuzzy woven lambswool interfacing that doesn't trickle down in the marketplace to us mere sewing mortals, although if you check some of the tailoring sites, like Atlanta, you might find some.  If you do, it will probably be pretty expensive, too.  It is used/cut on the bias, like the fashion fabric for the tie.

   The previous post about flannel is a very good suggestion.   Get 100% cotton and wash/dry it a few times.  You might have to use 2 layers.  When making ties, you need something soft and drapey with a bit of backbone to support your thin bias-cut outer fabric. 

1. 
   Zetlander | Jul 27, 2007 11:05am | #3

   Thanks soie and Bel Argent.  Of course, examining a bought tie is clearly the answer!  I had a look at half a dozen of my husband's ties and found that they were all a relatively loosely-woven, slightly fluffy cotton.  I have an interfacing like that but it is a fusible and I think a tie needs a non-fusible to avoid the adhesive showing through and also to give the tie that smooth 'body'.  Thanks for the Atlanta link but I am in the UK so I'll get in touch with Wolfin Textiles near London.  They specialise in industrial textiles and basic fabrics for manufacturing and art.   They might even offer advice if I ask in the right way!

3. 
   CostumerVal | Jul 27, 2007 05:23pm | #4

   Go to http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com and scroll down to tutorials.  Dan Hober has complete instructions and uses wool cloth to interface.  Some other great tutorials there also.

1. 
   Zetlander | Jul 27, 2007 08:03pm | #5

   What an excellent website! Thank you.  I think I might recreate my own new tie patterns based on the tutorial advice there.  I have tracked down some tie interfacing at last - from The English Couture Co., and also from a lining and interlining specialist in London - Bernstein & Banleys.  I'll have a spot of experimentation when it all arrives.

   I might also forward the Ask Andy site to my son who I am sure will appreciate the sartorial advice - maybe.

4. 
   DONNAKAYE | Aug 08, 2007 04:10am | #6

   I still have a good sized stock of an old tie interfacing called Tie Shaper.  It's the best stuff I ever used.  I still use it to sharpen shoulder lines (cut on the bias and folded, with under edge slightly shorter than the top edge, and hand stitched between the sleeve seam and the garment seam).  I don't know if it can still be gotten, but I'll take a look around.

1. 
   Zetlander | Aug 08, 2007 11:50am | #7

   That sounds like good stuff, DonnaKaye.  If you do happen to come across some from an online outlet, I would be interested to know the source.  Meanwhile, I bought a few metres of a polyester/viscose 'tie interfacing' from a source here in the UK which looks like the stuff in all my husband's ties.  Another company, where I get all my linings from also sent me some fine wool - I think it is called 'nun's veiling' - so I'll be spending the weekend experimenting with these.

   Incidentally, I have noticed, during my recent tie research, that there is quite a variety of tie construction style and quality.  The piece-de-resistance (apply your own French accents) of my husband's tie collection is an Italian silk tie from a prestigious store in Edinburgh and it's hand-made luxury and quality far surpasses the other mediocre ties on the tie rack.  There seem to be multiple folds of fabric inside and they haven't skimped on the quantity of lining which extends quite a way up into the tie.  The stitching is all very precise and thorough but I can't get enough access into it to see how exactly it has been made.  He tells me that it also makes the best knot.  A reasonably good high street tie that I picked up in a local charity shop and then dismantled, looked well-made superficially but was clearly thrown together at speed when I had a close look inside.

   So, research and experimentation continues until I can achieve the perfect tie - the Italian silk from Edinburgh being the current goal! 

1. 
   DONNAKAYE | Aug 08, 2007 02:49pm | #8

   I do have a tie pattern and instructions (my mother used to teach the men's tie class).  Would you like me to get the stuff together for you and tell you what I've got?

1. 
   Zetlander | Aug 08, 2007 04:49pm | #9

   DonnaKaye, I would be thrilled if you could assemble some instructions for me.  I find that the most difficult part is adding the lining and making a perfect V-shape at the ends of the tie.  I understand the principle but the 'doing' of it always comes out very variable!  I look forward to hearing from you.

5. 
   Tessa | Aug 09, 2007 10:04pm | #10

   You can buy tie interfacing from Peggy Sagers at http://www.silhouettepatterns.com/notions.htm   She sells it by the yard but I wish she would sell it by the *bias* yard as you always use it on the bias.

   She promotes it for easing jacket sleeve caps - I cut a 1" wide strip on the bias and stretch it as I stitch to the sleeve cap. It works well and also works as a header.

   ~~Tessa~~

1. 
   Zetlander | Aug 10, 2007 11:08am | #12

   Thanks, Tessa, for the Peggy Sagers site.  There are some interesting features in there.  I think that her tie interfacing is the same stuff, or similar, that I found here in the UK.  I'll have to go with the UK stuff to keep my costs down but I did like your idea of using the 1" strips on the sleeve cap.  I am about to start an evening jacket for myself for a wedding we've been invited to in a few weeks so I'll try that out with the tie interfacing I have just bought.

6. 
   moira | Aug 10, 2007 12:35am | #11

   I see you're getting lots of answers to your question about interfacing! My daughter made a tie a few weeks ago and I gave her some curtain interlining to use for the inside. It has a sort of fluffy side which helps it 'grip' the tie fabric, and we cut it on the bias. It felt quite good, and I'd love to make another myself to see how we could improve the whole thing.

1. 
   Zetlander | Aug 10, 2007 11:22am | #13

   Hi Moira.  Your curtain interlining seems like a good idea.  I'm beginning to think that really, anything that you can lay your hands on is suitable for interlining.  If I couldn't have found a specialist shop selling 'tie interfacing', I could have used all sorts of remnants lurking in my sewing room!  The essential thing would be for it to have a bit of body so that you get that slightly springy feel to the tie rather than it be flat and thin.

   I'm setting aside much of tomorrow to create my own tie patterns and make sample ties up with the various interfacings that I have found in the past couple of weeks.  I'll post my findings here next week.