I only used silk ties. I took them completely apart. Once you get the hang of it they disassemble in just a few minutes. Maybe I was just lucky, but many of these still had price tags on them, so had probably never been worn so I didn't feel the need to launder. I pressed the fabric flat with the silk setting, no steam. Then I used light-weight fuseable interfacing. After that, I treated them like a cotton while sewing, except keeping the silk setting on the iron. Since they were now stabilized, I did not pay attention to bias. There is a lot of silk in one single tie. I did save the linings if they came apart easily with the tie. Used that to make pin-cushions.