How to press fabric

Pressing is super important to complete a professional looking garment. Using the correct iron temperature, some pressure, and appropriate pressing tools will ensure that all areas are correctly pressed to improve the overall look of the garment.
Iron Temperature control- Most irons have a temperature range from cool to hot. If an iron is too hot, it may melt distort, or scorch the fabric. If it’s too cool then it may not even press the garment. You can test iron temperature with a small swatch of the fabric selected from the garment.
Tips for pressing seams and darts:

• Press all the seams flat to one side. The reason for this is to allow the stitches to settle into the fabric.
• Press the excess of darts toward the center of the garment or down. A tailors ham helps build in the dart excess.
• Press all the seams and darts from the wrong side of the fabric.

When pressing, place paper in between the dart and the fabric to prevent an impression from appearing on the correct side of the garment.
Important Pressing Techniques:

1. Life and lower the iron, don’t pull the iron back and forth across the fabric.
2. Press each area of the garment as it is sewn and before continuing to another sewing step.
3. When pressing any napped or pile fabric such as velvet and corduroy, be sure to lay the correct side of the fabric over a needle board and press from the wrong side of the garment.
4. Use a small seam roll to press long narrow seams. Use a sleeve board.  (if a sleeve board is not available use a towel or a piece of cotton fabric and roll it tight into a cylinder. )