The last time you sewed, did you have a great result, and yet, when you gave it to the person it looked like it had been slept in? When I first started sewing, I thought all I had to do was sew something and it would look good. What I found was that I had to iron it to get the desired result. Many of the times, when it seems like your sewing has gone wrong, the problem is that you have not ironed your seams.
When you look at your work and it seems like the seams are thick, they probably are. But an iron will make the seams behave. If the fabric doesn’t seem flat when you look at it, that is also probably the iron’s fault. I have found that the more I iron, the better I get along with my sewing projects.
Ironing your seams is different than ironing a shirt. When you iron a shirt, you move the iron back and forth on the fabric. When you press a seam, you put the iron down on the fabric, then pick it up and put it back down. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that you will end up stretching the fabric if you move the iron back and forth. The other is that the seam needs to be “set” and the only way to do that is to put the iron down and pick it up. You will find that you do a lot of pressing when you are sewing corners or pockets.
The biggest mistake that you can make when it comes to ironing seams is to wait until the garment is all put together before you iron it. By then, the seams will have creases in them and they will not want to lie flat. You need to press your seams as you go. When you are sewing, when you finish with a seam, stop and iron it.
The best way to understand the value of ironing is to try it for a few minutes. Take a piece of scrap fabric and sew a straight line. Now look at your seam. It will be puffy. Turn your fabric over and iron your seam. Now look again. You will find that your seam allowance will be flat and the fabric will be flat as well.
When you are sewing, you will want to press your seams at every opportunity. You will find that the more you press your seams, the better your garments will look. It is one of those steps that is easy to skip but can make a big difference.
Also, keep in mind that there are different settings for different fabrics. So make sure you get an iron with lots of settings.