Converting a fat tie to a skinny tie

[Tarheel]

I didn't try to keep the full width when I did my last tie conversion. I like the overlap of the material and the method you used to sew the back. Good job and I am glad you are pleased with your work. Your pride will show in the wearing.

[Benning Boy]

My exwife is an extremely good seamstress and worked for a tailor in Midland, TX when we lived there. She also took in work at home. The wife of a man then worth around $500,000,000 brought my wife her husband's wide ties, all of the top quality, to be narrowed as described here. Narrowing out of style ties is good way to save money and put yourself on the road to fortune.

The rich man's wife also brought my wife some fabric and a pattern and had a gown made to wear to Ronald Reagan's inaugural ball. Total cost about $100. A pennynsaved is a penny earned.

[Tobus]

Does she still offer that service? If so, what does she charge per tie? I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but it's hard to find time to do this type of alteration so I might need to find someone to just do the others for me (at least two more just like this, plus perhaps 4 more of other brands). It might take me years to get them all done myself.

[Taskr]

Thank you Tobus!!

I have three favorite ties that have outwidth-ed current fashion and have contemplated this very thing. Nice to have some direction to go by, now

[Tobus]

I had a couple of free hours over the weekend and decided to have another go at narrowing one of my 4" fat ties down to the same 2.5" width. I used the same process as before with a little more care in the stitching, and the results were great. It took less time too, now that I am more comfortable with the process.

On this one, though, I shortened the length on the small tail end as well. I took off about 4" in length so I can easily tie a Four-in-Hand knot without the tail being too long. I dislike being forced into a Half-Windsor or a Full-Windsor knot just to use up extra tie length. Even on some of my ties that I'm comfortable with the width, I will want to shorten them. So I wanted to figure out an easy way to do it that didn't require removal and replacement of the silk backing liner.

To shorten the tail without complicated tailoring, I removed the grey silk liner by cutting out the stitches and folded the striped outer silk back on itself. Then I carefully folded this into a point around the inner canvas stiffener (which I had cut back in length and shaped to a V-point). The folding of the outer silk was actually very similar to making a paper airplane. Once I pressed these folds to hold their shape, I unfolded it and cut away the extraneous material to reduce bulk. Then I closed it back up, did a final closure bar stitch as usual, as well as a whip-stitch to ensure that the folds stay closed.

That was probably a confusing description, so here's a photo. The result is satisfactory for my purposes, since the backside of the tail isn't visible when wearing.