Pressing systems

[Barb T]

Hi all,

In the thread that I just posted on the progress of Hamish's 100th kilt, I included a couple of pictures of pressing the kilt. Several people PMd me with questions, and I thought I'd pull out the useful kiltmaking items and start a post here.

In both pictures below, you'll notice that the ironing board is set really low. I'm a short person (5'3"), and, if the ironing board is set at its highest (which is about my waist level), I can't get my weight behind the iron. So, I lower the ironing board until it's below the level of the tops of my thighs.

The following picture shows my pressing system. A couple of you were aghast that I was pressing directly on the wool with my iron, so I thought I'd better explain!!



After visiting the Wizard at Freedom Kilts a couple of years ago and trying out the pressing system that he has, I hustled home and bought one for myself. It's a boiler system, and you can see the black hose past my right elbow that connects the iron to the boiler. I also ordered the extra teflon sole plate cover (teflon iron shoe) for the iron, which lets you press directly on wool without a press cloth.

Although the pressing system was expensive, I've saved its cost many times over. I can press a kilt in 1/3 the time that it used to take me, I can actually see what I'm doing, and the quality of the press is much better. And, with the steam boiler system, a kilt doesn't get as wet as it used to when I pressed with a spray bottle and press cloth. Here's the system I have.

http://www.bestvacuum.com/reliable-i300-steam-iron.html

If you go to the web site above, you'll see the teflon iron shoe in the lower right inset picture. I Googled "teflon sole plate" and "teflon iron shoe" and found this description:

http://westchestersewing.com/consew/...hoe/index.html

And Joann's has one that they claim will fit any iron:

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/p...PRODID=prd3110

I haven't tried this particular one, but, for under $10, it sure would be worth testing out with some scraps of tartan. If you read the reviews listed on the web site, it sounds like people are really happy with it. In fact, I'm going to order a couple for my regular iron.

Another person asked what tool I was using in the following picture (and in this pic, you can also see the pressing system better, with the metal boiler behind the ironing board and the stretchy spring that holds the white iron shoe onto the iron):



The wooden tool is called a "tailor's clapper", and it is used to force the steam into the fabric while pushing down with something hard and cool to set whatever you're pressing.

Any piece of wood would work for clapping pleats - this one is just set up for tailoring and has edges and points for narrow edges and is set up to have a handy "handle". If you use a piece of lumber, just make sure it doesn't have pitchy spots, though.....