As the latest Style Arc Stacie Jacket heads toward completion I’ve had to drag out all of my pressing aids (which, of course, I just put away when I recently tidied the sewing room) and use them to get the finish I want on the wool blend fabric. Nothing takes pressing like wool. Here’s a rundown on the tools:

Of course there’s the iron. Everything starts with heat and steam. Then there’s the June Tailor Board with the point presser, handy for opening seams, but I didn’t do much of that on this project as I mostly serged the seam allowances together and topstitched them rather than opening them. Then there’s the sleeve roll that allows you to press wrinkles out of a sleeve without pressing in a crease like you would on a shirt sleeve, the tailor’s ham that makes pressing a collar prior to stitching it in place a breeze, the pressing mitt that I use for pressing sleeve heads and the tailor clapper. I think the clapper is my favorite of all the tools. Nothing sets a press like using the clapper. I rarely finish a garment without dragging out the clapper. Any old ironing board will do, but be sure to have a cover with a nice thick pad under it so you don’t press in strange patterns from the holes they put in the (usually) steel base of the board to let out the steam. I’ve got 2 covers on my board. I like cotton covers best.

I once took a tailoring class and the teacher told us all that if you saw someone you thought was good at sewing what you were REALLY seeing was someone who was good at pressing. And pressing is not the same as ironing at all. It’s just what it says, pressing. So it goes like this:

• Adjust the fabric.
• Place the hot iron and hold for several seconds
• Lift the iron and immediately place the clapper over the spot you just pressed and apply slight downward pressure.
• Wait until the fabric cools
• Lift the clapper and move to the next section to be pressed.
• Repeat as needed.

Pressing MATTERS! As I hope you’ll see when I post about the finished jacket in a few days. I still have hems, buttons and buttonholes to add.