Pressing Matters

In one of the FB sewing groups, a poster asked if it would be okay to provide feedback on makes. Specifically, the poster wanted to know if it would it be okay to suggest that pressing the garment before posting would improve the appearance of the garment.

That ignited a hailstorm of responses across the spectrum from a horrified "Never!" to "They're adults, not five-year old children." A few Home Economics-trained sewists, a handful of degreed Textile specialists, and sewists in their sixth and seventh decades provided reasoned advice for pressing as one sews, even acknowledging that sewing only makes up about 30% of constructing a garment. The bulk of sewing is actually in preparation.  

As one sewist stated, pressing elevates your garment from "Look! I made this" to "You can't tell I made this." [And which camp do we want to be in?]

If you're interested in understanding more about the importance of pressing in sewing, check out Bernadette Banner's YouTube video discussion with tailor Barbara Pesendorfer of Royal Black: 

Ann Steeves wrote a blog post on Gorgeous Fabrics website about the importance of pressing and ends the article with a quote from Roberta "Bobbie" Carr: Pressing IS sewing.  She reinforces pressing as you sew and discusses using brown paper sacks as stand-in press cloths.

 

You can view videos and articles on pressing on the Threads Magazine site. Here is the link to an article on press cloths. 

I wouldn’t go out in the hot sun without sunscreen, and I wouldn’t put a hot iron on fabric’s face without a press cloth.

So, fire up your iron, pull out all your assorted press cloths from heavy-duty cotton to silk organza, repurpose your kitchen cutting board if you have to, and ask for a sleeve board for your birthday!