Sleeve board: Do I need one? Which one?
Beanhi
| Posted in Equipment and Supplies on
First question, do I need one? I’m using my seam roll for the seam and a small ham for the cap.
Second question, if I do need one which one should I get. I’ve seen 2 main designs out there:
1) 1 ironing surface on a raised base and
2) 2 ironing surfaces (1 facing up, 1 facing down).
I’m particularly confused about the second one and why there’s surfaces.
Thanks,
Nhi
Replies
I think a sleeve board is handy for ironing any tube of fabric that it can fit into. I usually use my sleeve roll for pressing seams open in sleeves and the ham for any curved surfaces such as the cap. However sometimes you just want to iron the whole sleeve, part of a pants leg (such as in hemming), or a bodice on a child's dress and this gives a larger surface than the sleeve roll. I like the double board model. You can put it inside the fabric and then just flip the whole thing over to iron both sides. Also some models have one board that is slightly smaller than the other and then you can choose the one that works best.
Mary
I use my sleeve board a lot when I'm pressing a garment during construction. If I had a seam roll I might use it less, though. My impression is that sleeve boards are really for ironing shirts, more than for sewing, and that's probably why there are two different surfaces (wider and narrower--maybe for men's and ladies' shirts?). However, I really like the smaller surface when I'm pressing any tubular thing--they're great when you're making shirt cuffs, for example, or just a sleeve hem.
Carol
Sleeve boards come in very handy for ironing any seam allowance while constructing a garment wehn you don'r want the area around it to be pressed, - similar to the seam roll, but it really allows the garment to hang out of the way.
Sleeve boards are also better for pressing a sleeve or pantleg when you don't want to press both sides at one time. I have garments that I don't want to press a crease into the sleeve but want to make sure I press all the fabric smooth, one layer at a time. (Silks, fine woolens). I would find it very frustrating to sew (or iron) without a sleeve board!
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