Pressing seams is so important to the finished outcome of any sewing project.
Pressing seams gives the dress or garment that professional look that is so rewarding, and therefore giving us so much confidence knowing we are wearing something that looks great!
Press to impress
Don’t you love it when someone comes up to you and says, “where did you buy that?” And you say, “I made it!” And they are shocked!
Maybe that doesn’t happen to you and you wish it would.
Let me tell you what you can do to make it happen. It doesn’t even take long!
Press every seam carefully! Isn’t that simple?
Press as you sew and press again when the dress is finished. ( I am talking to myself as well as to you.) Pressing seams is very important!
Pressing seams: tools
Starting with a good iron is by far the most important! An iron that steams good is the best. I had an iron for awhile that, um, I dropped a couple times,😑 and, well, it didn’t steam anymore after that!
And I really missed the steam function. The steam just really does help a lot in how the pressed seam looks and stays in place.
The next important tool is an ironing board. A towel on the table top works great too! I have used that many times if my ironing board wasn’t available at the moment.
Another really handy tool to use that I don’t have at the moment is a sleeve board. It is basically a mini ironing board.
It works so well for, yes, pressing or ironing sleeves, but also any small space that the large ironing board doesn’t let you get at properly.
One other tool that I use on certain fabrics is an ironing cloth. I used to have an official ironing cloth but I don’t know where it went!
Now I use a piece of cotton fabric that I lay over the seam I am going to press. It’s good to use for fabric that may stick to the iron or texture if the fabric becomes flattened or scorched easily.
How to press
Now you might say you know how to press already!
And I am going to say, “I’m going to tell you how anyway!” 😊
Of course the first step is to sew the seam first. This blog gives tips on sewing a good seam.
The next step is to press the seam flat along the stitching. Just set the iron on the fabric, press down a couple seconds, then lift up and press another place.
No need to move the iron back and forth like you’re ironing a large piece of fabric. Simply place iron on the fabric and press down firmly.
Pressing the seam like this first anchors the stitches into the fabric creating a stronger seam.
Next press the seam open or to one side.
Open like this.
Or to one side like this. Be sure to get the seam and fabric very flat…
…like this
And not rippled like this.
Once seams have been pressed on the wrong side of the fabric I like to press again on the right side just to make sure the seams are lying nice and flat.
Press each seam as you sew, especially seams that will intersect with other seams. For example, waist seams before sewing the side seams.
Pressing seams is easy to skip or do half heartedly, but if we want that professional look we can’t skip this step. So slow down, press carefully and wear confidently! 😊
Do you have an ironing technique you would like to tell me about? Leave it in the comments below!
