Prym Iron Rest and An Ironing Tip

All we can tell from the package is that this is heat resistant and non-slip.  But it is made from silicone so is good for short term resting of the iron while ironing a project.  I can see making use of it when working on miniatures where you have lots of fiddling to do when pressing.  Or, there are those of us who are quite forgetful and have the scorched iron imprints on our ironing board cover to show for it. At a retail price of $8.99 it could save replacing ironing board covers for us forgetful ones.  The raised bumps keep the iron off the flat surface.  We could have used on at the retreat in November.

It looks like it might work as a big spoon rest for the kitchen.








Speaking of pressing, here is my favourite tool.  It is a seam roll.  You could use pressing hams too.  I am sure there are heritage versions at yard sales and in box lots at auction.  It has muslin on one side and a plaid fuzzier fabric on the other.

The seam roll is used for pressing sleeves on shirts.  It is firm and covered in fabric.  I know women used to make them out of old shirts and sawdust packed hard.  When you are piecing small blocks or blocks with many pieces the seam roll makes it easier to concentrate on pressing one area without turning other seams.  Lay the seam you want to press on the roll where it curves down.  The rest of the block falls away so you are pressing along the line of stitching and not a large area.  It keeps the seam allowance from pushing on the front fabric creating a shadow or ridge.  The plaid side has enough nap to keep the cotton from sliding around.