Hello everyone!  I hope you are all safe and cozy (if you have been in the path of the winter storms) or safe and cool (if you are in the middle of a heat wave)!

I have been doing a lot of ironing lately.  Most of my fabric gets washed before I wrap and store it.  I usually let the fabric collect until I have a big pile (most of this is ‘collection’ fabric and not something that I need to use right away) and then iron them all at once.  I have a couple of handy helpful notions that I use when I am doing major ironing and it makes that job a lot easier.

The first is called the Better Board.

 

This is a large board (about 60″ x 22″, give or take) that fits over a regular ironing board.  I actually set it on top of my set of drawers with the leaf open.  It extends a bit beyond each end, but works just fine.  It has maybe a melamine type finish.

 

You can see on the bottom that there is kind of a raised molding all the way around, so that if you set it on top if your ironing board, it will not slip off.  This is VERY important, as the board is very heavy.  You can see in the picture above that there is a hinge in the middle with a handle on one ends.  It folds in half for easier storage.

 

Next, I have a very large wool pressing mat over the Better Board.  It is about the same size as the better board, so it gives me a really large area for pressing.  This really comes in handy when I am pressing fabric that is 45″ or 60″ wide – I can get the whole width of the fabric on the board at the same time.  I usually watch tv or listen to a book on take while I am pressing, and the time just flies by.  I have used smaller pressing mats for several years – I have one next to my sewing machine.  I have a laptop stand that has a lace board with a 24″ by 17″ wool mat on the top.  The laptop stand has wheels, so I can move it around to where I need it.

I have learned through trial and error that the steam really does go through the wool pressing mat (especially if you are going to be doing a lot of ironing at the one time).  You do not want to place the wool pressing mat on a regular wood table or any kind of table that is a laminate.  The water can make the laminate bubble and peel (ask me how I know this 🙁   )

Both the Better Board and the extra large wool pressing mat are a bit pricey.  The Better Board is about $185 and has major shipping charges, so if this is something you are interested in, try to find it locally.  The wool pressing mat runs about $150.  While neither of these are absolute necessities, they both make pressing a lot more enjoyable!

This week is a busy one!  I am getting kits ready for my Beautiful Basic Embroidery class, through the Sewing and Stitchery Expo – they will be shipping out in the next couple of days the class notes will be emailed out as well.

Simply Perfect Smocking kits will also be mailed out in the next few days…. if you ordered a kit (this class uses a pleated doodle cloth, so you don’t need a kit if you have a practice piece in your stash somewhere).  Sign ups for this class will be open for another week (class in on Saturday, Feb. 26).  I will be opening the facebook group for this class about a week before the class.

Finally, I am waiting on one more fabric for the Clara Dress class, which I am teaching through SAGA.

I am still waiting to hear from a couple of students for color choice, but once I get in the fabric, these will be going out in another week or so as well.  I believe there are a couple of spots still open.  If you are thinking about signing up, please do so now, so I can get your kit to you!

 

Next week, I will be taking a the French Jacket class from Susan Khalje – I am sooo excited!  Cindy Foose arrived today and another friend will be arriving on Sunday.  They are staying with me – we will be the 3 sewing Muskateers!  I am very fortunate that the class is about 15 minutes from my house, so it is very convenient.  I will post pictures when we are finished.
Here is another picture of an out fit from The House of Gucci movie – I chose this one this week in honor of the jacket class.

 

 

The jacket style above often uses trims at the bottom – sometimes the trim is made from the jacket fabric itself.  You can see in the close up above that the jacket fabric was used to make a rope-like trim that is used on all of the edges.  I would have loved to have been able to really examine the jacket (with my hands, not just my eyes)!  I will post more pictures next time.

Have  a wonderful Valentine’s Day and I hope to run into you soon!

Happy Stitching,

Vaune