Necktie project #2: Fabric Selection / Weave

I was in the process of writing a humongous post on fabric selection for neckties, when I decided to stop and to break it up in digestible chunks of information. 

There will be three short posts on fabrics: fabric weave, fabric types, and fabric design.

This post will explain the weave. I also suggest to visit websites of some famous tie manufactures to look at the fabrics they use for their ties (such as Drakes London), as well as to go to local stores that carry quality neckties to get a feeling for what you should be looking for.

If you look around in stores that carry ties, you will find ties in all three fundamental types of textile weave – plain, satin and twill.

Plain (or tabby, or taffeta) weave is the simplest, most frequently used weave, in which each filling yarn passes alternately over and under one warp yarn (crepes, shantung organdy, taffeta, flannel)

Satin weave has long warp floats, which produce smooth, lustrous or glossy surface. The threads of the warp are caught and looped by the weft only at certain intervals

Twill weave has a diagonal rib, right or left-handed.

The weave makes difference when it comes to extensibility, drape, wrinkle resistance, pill or snag. If you want to learn how the weave affects these fabric characteristics, please, read this excellent article

Necktie project: An Intro to fine ties

This video by the Guardian explains it best, what I will try to accomplish. Stay tuned for a detailed list of suggestions for tie fabrics, interfacings, tools, notions and resources. Feel free to join any time or leave a comment with questions or suggestions.

Project Necktie

I apologize for the lack of finished garments this week - I still need to photograph them, which is the most challenging part for me. However, I would like to compensate for it by introducing a new project that makes a perfect Father’s day gift... custom neckties! 

As I found out during my recent trip to the Garment District, the idea of home-made ties is by far not an original one. In fact, there are literally swarms of well-meaning wives, girlfriends and boyfriends on a hunt for tie silk, interfacing and lining, snapping pictures of their finds and mailing them to their significant others for design approvals. 

Armed with the collective tie-making confidence level, I picked fabric for two new silk ties for Mr. Frabjous, which will be constructed using one of his beautiful but worn-out ties as a guide.

While sewing itself doesn’t take longer than an evening, there is some careful planning involved, especially if you are doing a tie for the first time. And since sharing the process with you, dear readers, is so much more fun, I decided to document it on this blog. I will start on Wednesday, May 4, and finish the project by May 20, which gives me two and half weeks to make two silk ties well in time for Father’s Day.

I will be re-creating a higher-end commercial silk necktie, using a standard tie construction method with a full-length interfacing, lined tip, and hand finishing.

Here is a quick breakdown of the upcoming necktie posts:

1. Necktie types and the anatomy of a tie
2. Notions & Tools
3. Choosing fabric and interfacing
4. Creating a pattern and a blade form
5. Cutting silk, interfacing and lining
6. Sewing: lining the tip
7. Finishing: folding and hand stitches

If you decide to join me on my tie-making feat, leave a comment here and I will make sure we will have an appropriate forum to exchange ideas, ask questions, share the images of our self-made ties so we can all ooh and ahh over finished creations. Now, how cool is that?