Pressing seam roll?

Called a 'tailor's ham' I think. My husband made a couple of different ones when he did tailoring as a hobby years back. Maybe try a tailor's supply store or website. I'm in Australia so can't help directly. Cheers Bronwyn

Atlanta Thread SUpply has them:

HTH, Taria

Dorothy wrote:

On Sewing with Nancy there was a hint years ago and I kept one around for years, when I was sewing garments, roll serveral Magazines together, Martha Stewart Living are a good thing, tape them with duct tape, then roll a towel around....secure with more duct tape or as a permanent construction,stitch towel together or stitch a cover..... Mauvice in central WI

And another link for "ham"

Mauvice in WI

Gosh I've seen them at Walmart and fabric stores.

Sharon (N.B.)

It's a little different from a tailor's ham, which is ham-shaped for pressing odd areas like sleeve caps. A seam roll is a long padded cylinder that goes right under the seam, so when you press it open, you don't get lines from the fabric edges pressed into the visible side of the cloth. The outside is able to fall back away from the iron, but you still get a good crease right at the seam line.

Should be able to make one yourself -piece of wooden broom handle, dowel or curtain rod about a foot long, wrapped in a few layers of cotton batting, covered tightly with a muslin case. Roberta in D

"Br>> I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with this item but it was widely

If there is anything for sale under the sun that someone in this group can't find, I don't know what it could be.

I don't often have use for one, so I just roll up a big bath towel and use that. Easy to store, too -- just unroll and put back with the other bath towels :)

Julia > I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with this item but it was widely

Have you tried an all-around fabric store? If they sell wool they should be selling this item also. Joann's and Hancock's come to mind. I'm not in Michaels very often so I can't say on them. Wouldn't hurt to call first---just make sure you get someone that knows what you are asking about.

HTH

Butterfly (I got mine a long time ago at an all around family owned fabric store)

I got mine at JoAnns several years ago along with a tailor's ham. Wish I had a holder for the ham. I think that would be handy.

For some reason I had DH take a 1" dowel rod and slice it in half so I have a half circle. I think it's when I was making lots of pants for my mom. That 36" length was perfect for pressing side leg seams open. I didn't pad it or anything. Just plain wood.

Hmmm. I may have him cut into a smaller, more manageable length so I could use it for quilting. It would work if you press seams open or to one side. It could also take care of the way the seam showed on the quilt Leslie was worried about.

I'll have to try it.

Cindy

For a 'down and dirty' sort of substitute, I have a magazine rolled up and stuffed into a tubey sock. I won't tell you how many miles it's been but I think the magazine was published by Thomas Jefferson. Polly

Another thing you can use that would be quick & easy and a lot less money than a "real" seam roll would be a piece of dowel tightly wrapped in heavy fabric. You can use any diameter & length of dowel you want and if you get real creative, you can wrap it in leftover pieces of batting and then firmly wrap that with any heavy fabric. Works great even if you just take a piece of dowel and toss a towel over it and stick it under the seam to be pressed. The advantage of using a piece of wooden dowel instead of a rolled magazine or paper is that it is much firmer. A word of caution when pressing seams. If you are pressing wool or cotton, etc. there's no problem. BUT -- if you are pressing something more delicate like silk or satin, you should have a wider strip of fabric that you put between the seam allowance and the garment. This, plus the use of a seam roll will keep the edge of the seam allowance from leaving a mark on the outside of the garment. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

Belva Barrick sells a tool she calls a "Seam Stick" that is a large diameter dowel cut in half so that it is a half circle on the ends. this is treated so that you can press on it, or use a "sock" that goes with it to cover it. Several places carry it, I believe Clothilde's does, and Nancy's. (But not positive.) (Belva is a local and teaches at one of the community colleges here in the Valley. She is a great person and was really surprised at the demand for the "sticks" when she started using/selling them.)

Pati, > Polly Esther wrote:

Cindy,

has a wooden ham holder. I tried to get DH to make one for me, but he wasn't too interested:( (Probably way more trouble than it would be worth, since I'd probably rarely need it.)

Cindy,

I have seen the seam roll in JoAnns recently. I did check their website, but didn't find it.

Yeah, that's what I need! I knew they were out there. But man, $20. You're right - there ain't $2 worth of wood in it. I bet my Dh wouldn't be much interested either.

Cindy