Although it might not be fun pressing is an essential part of sewing. It helps your seams lie flat, removes creases and can fold hems into place before you stitch. Using the right tools can help you get the most from pressing your projects. Below we round up our favourite Prym pressing tools.
Pressing cloth
Ideal for protecting delicate fabrics that you don’t want to risk scorching or melting with the heat of the iron. This thin cloth lets the heat and steam through whilst protecting the fabric beneath.
It also comes in handy when you are doing applique, it’s transparent enough for you to see fabric through it so you can check on the placement of your applique. But it will stop you getting any glue from the fusible web onto your iron.
The sausage shaped seam roll has a solid filling which gives you a solid yet slightly rounded surface to press against. It’s ideal for sleeves and cuffs, or for someone like me who likes to sew bags and pouches it works well for those tricky to press side or base seams.
This is a larger rounder version of the seam roll, again its purpose is to provide a solid surface to press the iron against. Because it gives a curved surface it’s perfect for darts, folds and curved surfaces.
Both this product and the seam roll have 2 surfaces as you can see in the photo above. The wool side is for pressing delicate fabrics on a low temperature and the cotton side for pressing sturdier materials like cotton or canvas at a higher temperature.
This heatproof ruler has metric markings along it in both horizontal and vertical directions. This allows you to fold your hem to the perfect size and press into place before stitching. The horizontal markings are ideal for long hems along the bottom of top or skirt for example and the vertical ones are great for shorter hems like on cuffs.
You get 2 different sized rulers in the pack. The rulers also have small holes that allow you to transfer chalk markings onto your fabric.
As the name suggests this mini ironing board is the perfect size for shirt sleeves, making them much easier to press. It also works well for smaller stitching projects like quilt blocks or foundation paper piecing. It allows you to set up a mini ironing board on a surface near your machine, it would go perfectly with the Prym mini iron!
You can buy the above mentioned Prym pressing aids from Pound Fabrics, Jaycotts and Sew Essential.
