Making a Seven Fold Tie

How does a tailor makes a seven fold tie and why are there so few makers of seven fold ties today?

Seven fold tie is at common name to call a necktie constructed by folding fabric 7 times. Folding the fabric will create the thickness in the body of the necktie.  These layers will will help the knot stand nicer, but these is not the only reason. The tailor doesnt use interling when a true hand fold tie is created. Instead he is using only the necktie’s fabric which could be silk, linen, wool and so on. The majority of necktie makers and necktie brands find convinient to call the Italian 6-fold construction, as a Seven fold tie. The reasons for these are commercial and practical. Reality is that this is a 6-fold tie with hidden interlining. We will analyse more about necktie construction types in a seperate article.

The makers of a true seven fold tie are few because making one is expensive and time consuming. Additionaly such ties address more style savvy audience. To make a seven fold tie by hand, that is without the use of a sewing machine, can take about 3 hours for a tailor with skilled hands. Depending on the characteristics of the fabric used it can take more than 3 hours. A tailors or a semastres’ attention to detail can increase the time required to finish a seven fold tie. In some occassions it can take as much as 4 hours of work. Time costs money, so for some brands to be able to provide cheaper ties, they prefer to use sewing machines and pay less attention to detail.

In the quest for a cheaper tie, some brands use interling. We will discuss this in another posts. Interlining gives a tie different properties that relate to its thickness, to its knot and can affect the wearers experience. Interlining is not necesseray bad, but there are also various qualities of interlinging. What makes much difference in the production cost of a necktie, is that the use of interling saves silk, which is a more expensive fabric. So here you have some brief reasoning of why there are few seven fold tie makers.

To be fair there are some lighter fabrics that can only be made into neckties with the aid of intelining.

In the following brief video you will see how a seven fold tie is made. From cutting and sewing the blades together, hand making the hem and sewing the spine of the necktie. You can alse see finishing of some of KYDOS trademarks such as the perfectly balanced inner folds, the invisible seams and the “tear” at the tips of the necktie

KYDOS is one of those very few and rare necktie makers who still makes its ties in house. What makes KYDOS seven fold tie construction even more unique and rare, is the absence of any kind of machines. Sesewing or cutting machines are absent in the creation process, making these ties truly hand sewn,. Hand sewn is a level higher than that of handmade. Our tailor makes each tie by hand, using only scissors, needles and the finest materials available, based on the skill and knowledge of our family’s ancestors. You can see the three type of necktie construction we make in our Making of page

You can browse our seven fold tie collection here