Finished!

You could try using rolled up newspaper or a magazine for a pressing roll. I've heard this works, but haven't tried it. HTH Barbara in SC

Wooden rolling pin wrapped in a lint free tea towel is better: hard rather than squashy. For suit sleeves I like a sleeve board as well... But for pressing a whole suit, I'd pop it down to my friendly local dry cleaner, who is great, and get it in his steam cabinet!

Ursula, I'm certain your kimono looks fine: we are always our own worst critics!

Instead of a clover iron, consider getting a piece of half-round dowel or wooden stair rail -- something with a curve to the top like 6519 here. It's very useful for pressing seams open, especially for something narrow like french seams. I don't know where you'd find it in Germany, but I could get something similar at the local lumber yard for about $1/foot. Sand the wood smooth, leave it unfinished and you're ready to go.

I'd suggest a couple of lengths: one about 3 dm and one about 1m. Sometimes one size is easier than the other for a particular job.

When you get around to getting a serger, though, you're likely to forget about doing "proper" french seams... they go zippity zip when you do the first stitching on a serger, and none of those annoying escaped ravels to carefully pick out of the second stitching.

Kay

Let's try this again...

That is a great idea! I wonder why I didn't think of it before: When we redid the staircase in our house, DH removed the more recent stair rail from the wall that had been brought up to help his aged parents. Nice round beech wood like # 6040, about 6 cm in diameter. We weren't sure what to do with it; although it was nice to have it, our stairwell is to narrow that we are not sorry for the additional space. So we moved it from here to there, not willing to throw it out, but with no use for it. I'll grab one of the shorter bits that used to be at the bottom of the stairs and mount it on a piece of wood with a square profile. And I think I have a leftover rolling pin so I can use that one, too.

Should I cover all items with 'ironing board fabric'?

Thanks to you, Kay, and to you, Kate. This is the greatest brain pool ever. Oh, I'm so glad I know you all...

OK, I've got an unusually happy day today. Don't know why - DH and I were out until 3 a.m. and got woken by a phone call at 8 a.m. from DSIL telling us that something with DD was amiss. Nothing was wrong, it turned out when they showed up here; in the end she just was a bit homesick, I guess. I should be tired as anything but I'm OK. The evening was very nice, and I was dressed quite well with my kimono. Since most of the participants were master craftsmen with their wives and only two local politicians attending, neither the food nor the entertainment was too fancy to make one uncomfortable (they had a cold and warm buffet, with a roast suckling pig, well, actually two of them, as a highlight). My DH who never goes out since he gave up darts insisted on staying and they had to throw us out, more or less, when it was literally getting light again about 3 a.m., along with the other high ranking members of the guild. Little booze involved since that was charged extra, and table water was free. They are a thrifty lot, craftsmen, not wanting to call them a little stingy. ;-)

U. - and now we'll have breakfast, DH and me, just the two of us... ;-)

With the flat bottom, you probably won't need to mount it on a board, at least not in my experience. Just sand any finish (varnish, shellac, paint) off the wood so you can press on bare wood -- that gives you the flattest seam.

If I'm going to cover the pressing surface with anything (and I might, for something really prone to snagging, like chiffon), I'd probably just use a scrap of muslin, not "official" ironing board cover fabric.

Personally, I like the higher profile stair rail that I first mentioned because the flat base is a bit wider and the taller silhouette makes it easier for me to get my hand under the fabric when pressing, should I want to.

Then, when you decide how much you like your new seam stick, you can get DH to sand all of your leftovers, cut it up and take it to sell to your classmates.

The bottom, flat piece also makes a good tailor's clapper, or you can just sand a piece of thickish flat board smooth. Kid's building blocks often do nicely.

The other wooden pressing shape I use often is the pointy part to the left side here: it's great for pressing shirt collar seams on when you turn the collar. The commercial ones all have a very flat profile on top with a very square edge, and I sometimes used to get the edge shape showing up on something that I pressed. So I took some coarse sandpaper and rounded the sharp edges that you see in the photo, then smoothed it all out with fine sandpaper. (Cabinet makers call that "relieving the edge" here -- that tiny bit of rounding, instead of a 90 degree corner, keeps paint and other finishes from cracking on corners.) It stops the edge from imprinting when I press a collar seam open.

I see your point. The rail we have is untreated, but still, you might be right that it isn't as suitable as a rail with an omega profile. I spent already some time online to find out where to get something like it. So far I only found a company that sells exactly what I'd want but has a minimum order volume of about 200.- for first orders. A bit more than I wanted, and the company is located in Bavaria, which means I can't drop by and as them for a bit of leftover material. :-( I'll have to check local DIYs but if they fail I'll have to go to local cabinet maker shops. I'll try to do most of it online or via phone; if I drive everywhere, the cost might easily exceed the ones for a ready made object.

Thank you for telling me that term; in German it is called 'Kanten brechen' which translates literally as 'breaking the edges'. And I know how that is done; relieved miles of edges during my years as a cabinet maker. ;-) Is the top of that thing in your picture slightly concave? And what is that little white thing made of? It looks like a bone folder of some kind. I wonder if I shouldn't try to make one myself... I still have some horse leg bone from my re-enactment days somewhere.

Now that is a real treasure. I guess I'll try to make my own ham and mitt. And the instructions for that pressing board for all curves look easy enough so I might try that one, too. I find the fact that the fabric objects are filled with sawdust very interesting. OK, I've got to go, but I feel that I can't thank you enough for your useful hints. Are you a pro or did you acquire your knowledge on your way through life? Either way, your shared knowledge helped me so much is so short a time (here my gratitude for the tip with the starch comes through) that I shared the info with everybody admiring my new outfit. ;-)

U.

I see your point. The rail we have is untreated, but still, you might be right that it isn't as suitable as a rail with an omega profile. I spent already some time online to find out where to get something like it. So far I only found a company that sells exactly what I'd want but has a minimum order volume of about 200.- for first orders. A bit more than I wanted, and the company is located in Bavaria, which means I can't drop by and as them for a bit of leftover material. :-( I'll have to check local DIYs but if they fail I'll have to go to local cabinet maker shops. I'll try to do most of it online or via phone; if I drive everywhere, the cost might easily exceed the ones for a ready made object.

Thank you for telling me that term; in German it is called 'Kanten brechen' which translates literally as 'breaking the edges'. And I know how that is done; relieved miles of edges during my years as a cabinet maker. ;-) Is the top of that thing in your picture slightly concave? And what is that little white thing made of? It looks like a bone folder of some kind. I wonder if I shouldn't try to make one myself... I still have some horse leg bone from my re-enactment days somewhere.

Now that is a real treasure. I guess I'll try to make my own ham and mitt. And the instructions for that pressing board for all curves look easy enough so I might try that one, too. I find the fact that the fabric objects are filled with sawdust very interesting. OK, I've got to go, but I feel that I can't thank you enough for your useful hints. Are you a pro or did you acquire your knowledge on your way through life? Either way, your shared knowledge helped me so much is so short a time (here my gratitude for the tip with the starch comes through) that I shared the info with everybody admiring my new outfit. ;-)

U.

Hang on! Somewhere I have patterns for one of those things... With your skills and a bit of nice deal, you could make the whole thing.

OK, not quite what I was looking for, but here's a pattern to buy: >

And yes, bone would be good. My white point turner is cow bone.

Ah! Now THAT was what I was remembering! :D Fankoo, Kay! Have downloaded it (prolly AGAIN!) for use by Himself!