SEWING AND IRONING SHORT CUTS FOR THE HOME DRESSMAKER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 80, 11 August 1948, Page 3

SEWING AND IRONING SHORT CUTS FOR THE HOME DRESSMAKER

As soon as you have sewn a seam, press it. Pull out the tacking threads and give it a first pressing quite flat, just as you have sewn it, then open it out and press it again. If it should be left closed i.e., an armhole seam give it a hard pressing closed up. Rayon fabrics need a cool iron, real silk a warmer one; next comes wool, then cotton and finally linen which needs a really hot iron. Always press silks, apart from shantung, on the wrong side and under a dry cloth. Press lace and embroidery from the wrong side and lay them on a blanket. * Velveteen can be pressed on the wrong side, lying flat on the board. But real velvet must either be pressed on a proper velvet pressing-board or you.must get someone to hold up the material while you run your iron against it on the wrong side; it is best to hold the velvet in the steam of a kettle before and after doing,this. ' Always press wools on the wrong side df possible and always under a damp cloth. As soon as you have pressed a piece of wool, lift up the damp cloth and smack the material sharply with your hand until the steam stops rising from it; if you do not do this, you are shrinking the material, not pressing it. Conversely, if you want to shrink woollen material, as you may for the top of a sleeve or the elbow fullness —first gather the material and draw.it up •to the required length; then press the gathers under a damp, cloth without smacking the material until all fullness has gone. Pressing is not the same as ironing. In ironing, you move the iron about on the material; in pressing you press the iron heavily on the material without moving it at all then lift it up and press it down heavily in another place. Remember, in laundering you iron, in dressmaking you pressf If you iron while dressmaking you may pull your material out of shape. If you are making a second buttonhole press the material as soon as you have machined it; press it open after you have cut it; press it when you have tacked it into place; press it after you have herring-bon-ed it; give it a final pressing after you have covered it with the facing. After that it may begin to look a bit more professional. Do not press a hem until it is completely finished. If you press it when it is only tacked, it may shift about before you have finished sewing it and then the edge will be pressed on the wrong side. Do not press skirt pleats until you have finished your hem. Never press over pins, particularly when pressing pleats; always tack them into place first. Finally, primarily, and most important of all: as soon as you have sewn a seam, press it!