Using up tartan scraps...How to make a Tie?

[Pleater]

I had to make three ties out of a very skimpy strip of heavy fabric - for costumes, and so I made a template and cut out three fronts with a seam allowance, then folded each one into the right shape and sewed on a lighter weight backing, like a lining.

I was quite pleased to have made them, but over time and washing they stood up very well. The backing was sewn on by hand, so it took a while to do, sewing through three layers of cloth with my finger underneath the third one so the top, visible layer was not involved. I sewed around each piece using a triple zigzag machine stitch to minimise fraying before I started to join them together.

I was quite pleased to see one a couple of years later being worn as a normal tie and it seemed to be in good condition.

The fabric was a shiny knobbly one so the pattern was not important, it was probably upholstery stuff, with a tartan the placing of the pattern will be important. You can, however, get away with far more with straight grained fabric than bias, as it is much less easy to distort, but once shaped it tends to stay where it is put.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Tobus]

Tartan ties are usually made from a smaller sett so you can actually see a repeat in the tie. Are you sure the sett size of your (presumably normal sett size) tartan is suitable for a tie?

[Elf]

If you happen to have an old tie that you don't wear anymore, the outer material can be taken off it and then you can see how a tie is constructed. Typically, the outer decorative material is cut on the bias (or diagonal) of the material to give the fabric some stretch which allows it to be sewn more easily. Cutting fabric on the bias takes a fair amount of material.A tie usually has three pieces of fabric that are sewn together to create a length and is then folded over a felt like material which gives the tie body. It's not too difficult if you have some basic hand sewing skills.

I used a tie from the second hand store for the recycled inner structure. (However I did not use tartan.)

[Jon Lilley]

I thought I'd make a stole for our minister and she loved the idea, but after talking to her further, I found out green tartan would be the best color for maximum wear during the year. And as fate would have it, I have every color but green right now. She said she'd wait. Thankfully, she's not terribly tall so that strip of unused tartan that results from a double width of cloth after the waist band is taken out is perfect.

Or, what about a tartan cummerbund or perhaps a tartan bow tie? . . . just something else to think about.

Slàinte!,

Jon

[Grizzled Ian]

MacIllfhilidh, PM sent. Ian

[TheOfficialBren]

I ended up buying a tartan tie in the appropriate weight. I'm glad that I did. I sometimes want to wear tartan when I don't feel like wearing my kilt. I don't, as a rule, wear my tartan tie whilst kilted, however.

[Andrew Breecher]

If you're running low on fabric you can also make the blade of the tie in the tartan, and the tail in another cloth - since it will be beneath your collar and behind the blade no one will see.

[Creag]

I had a sample swatch of MacPhail red in 13oz. Hemmed the edges, and even though it is a rectangle and a bit small, it folds into a respectable pocket square. I can't do a pouf or a peak with it, but it looks good flat.

[Creag]

If you're running low on fabric you can also make the blade of the tie in the tartan, and the tail in another cloth - since it will be beneath your collar and behind the blade no one will see.

And if the ratio is right, you can tie some knots (trinity and eldridge, for example) with the body of the tie being the tartan and the knot being the contrasting tail.

[MarcR]

Brilliant.