Here is another gift I made for my daughter Jocelyn. I made her a super huge sewing ham and a sewing roll. I did find a pattern at JoAnn's but wasn't loving the shape so I made my own version. It is supposed to have wool on one side and cotton on the other. I wasn't crazy about any of the wool I found at JoAnn's so I went to the thrift store and found a cute wool skirt for $3.00 that had purples and oranges in it. I bought coordinating cotton fabric for the back. When I was researching sewing hams every site I found said they were either stuffed with saw dust or wool scraps. I decided to go with saw dust but wasn't sure how I was going to get enough for both of them. I called a local lumber yard and asked if I could buy some from them. When I got there with my bucket they were kind enough to fill it for me for free! So nice!
Directions:
1. Make a pattern for each shape out of cotton fabric. I just used scraps I already had. Here are the finished dimensions of the tops for the two I made. Ham- 14" top to bottom and 10" across the center and the Roll- 20" long and 5" across.
2. Cut out 2 pieces of fabric for the inside, 1 piece of wool and 1 piece of cotton for the outside of each shape.
3. Sew all along the edges of the inside fabric keeping the bottom (straight-ish) part open. Turn it right side out and fill it with saw dust. This was hard. You have to really pack it in there using whatever means available! When filled, hand sew the edges closed. Do the same for the roll leaving one of the rounded edges open.
4. Now make the outside using the wool/cotton fabric. Once turned right side out pull it over the 'inside'. Tricky, but do-able. Then hand sew the bottom closed. Repeat for roll.
I realize you can buy these at JoAnn's and with a coupon it's a deal but my daughter wanted/needed a larger ham than what they sell there. Plus, I couldn't find a roll anywhere. My daughter has been home for Christmas break and has been using it quite a bit. That makes me smile!
Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
2 comments:
Call me crazy but I have no idea what a sewing ham or sewing roll are! Can you fill me in?
Amy, you are not crazy! They are tools used for pressing while you are sewing. The roll is for sleeves or pant legs and the ham is for shoulders, or a bodice where there is a curve. Sometimes the ironing board just doesn't cut it.
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