Silk Tie Pillows
 

Hi...a neighbor who recently lost her husband asked me if I could make a few pillows using her husband's ties. I said yes but never worked with silk and have no idea what pattern to use. I felt sorry for what she is going through and of course would want to make them. She doesn't care how large the pillows are or what the pattern is, she just wants to have one for herself and to give one to her daughter and son.

Would love to know any suggestions you might have on patterns or working with silk. Can I just iron them open?

Thanks so much! I appreciate it!

You need to wash the ties.

I believe one member here places the ties in a bag and washes them in the machine before taking them apart. When I started (and abandoned) my silk tie project, I took them apart first. It's pretty fast to take them apart. Basically you find the single thread in the back of the tie that is holding the edges together; pull on that, cut the thread, then remove the interfacing inside the tie. I tried washing the ties in my sink, but found that some of the red ties bled profusely.

Once the ties are taken apart and washed (in whatever order), you need to iron and add interfacing to the silk to give it some stability and durability. You want an iron-on fusible that is very lightweight. I can go look up what was recommend to me; I bought mine on eBay.

I never got far enough to continue with sewing advice, so I will be watching this thread for additional info.

Edit: Instead of the interfacing method above, which stabilizes the silk so you can piece it together, it might be easier to do foundation piecing. For crazy quilting, you could use a muslin piece as the foundation and simply sew and iron silk strips onto the muslin.

I like the Dresden plate idea, though you might want to wash and iron them first. Both ends of the ties would make nice plates. Any left over "between" pieces, use as "strip" or Basket pattern? And if you do them as "wall" quilts, they might be easier for her to "hang" and then store or give to the children (grand's?) as memory pieces. Good for you doing this for your friend. Every time she looks at what you create for her, she'll have warm memories of your caring ways!

I like the Dresden plate idea too. If you do this, though, you probably don't want to wash the ties first as the interfacing inside the ties is highly likely to shrink and distort the tie. The pillow top could be dry cleaned, so you would want to make the type of pillow where you can remove the insert.

I bought ready made silk pillows and then made a fans from the ties and hand appliqued the fans to the pillows. I wish I knew how to post pictures I could show you how beautifully they came out.

I used Woolite in a bucket to wash my ties before ripping them apart. Then hang them to dry. I then ripped the seam on the back and flattened them. There is an interfacing in the center that needs to come out. I then used fusible interfacing and backed the entire tie. The reason for using a fusible interfacing is that ties are completely on the bias. Once fused, you can cut and use them in ordinary piecing. Silk is a bit like a slippery eel, this controls the slip. Moda has a pattern, Simply Woven, on thier website that works well with ties and is quick.