DIY Sewing Tools

Ok, so I know I said no more destash sales, but I was helping a friend run a stall at a hard rubbish pickers market. On one of the other stalls I found this for just a few dollars:

The stallholder didn’t know what it was, and was relieved that someone did and took it off their hands. It was, er, naked when I bought it, so I made it covers like it has on the maker’s website – though I’ve seen videos of people using sleeve presses with no covers so I probably didn’t need to.

I decided to use the six butterfly pattern pieces of cotton canvas to make pattern weights.

Then used those when cutting out fabric offcuts to make a pressing ham.

Instructions from Sustainable Style, which I got for my birthday.

I’ve been rewatching The Great British Sewing Bee from the start. I’ve picked up more sewing tips and methods second time around. I think I was more focussed on the results than the method on the first watch.

I couldn’t really comment on the book’s contents yet, because I’d need to try sewing something more complicated than a pressing ham to get a feel for how good it is. But it is nicely presented. While the title suggests it’s all about sustainable clothing or approaches to sewing, not all of the patterns have any obvious ‘eco’ focus. It’s more a collection of projects selected from a couple of seasons, with a few extra patterns and ideas.