Fine Heirloom Sewing, Smocking and Hand Embroidery

"Baby will be well and smiling in little garments made by Mother, Auntie, Grannie and loving friends!"

Please join me as I teach the old fashioned techniques and skills needed to sew baby clothes. You will find lessons that start at the very beginning and take you step by step as we sew little baby clothes together. May you find much joy and pleasure in making them.
It's easy and it's fun!!

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Thursday, April 7

Pressing Puff Sleeves the Old Fashioned Way

See the crease in this sleeve?  

That is the way the sleeves on old baby dresses were pressed.

You lay the sleeve out on the ironing board like so.  Then you ironed it.

It left a little tell tale crease but  perked the sleeve right up!

Cute, huh?

"Only one thing matters-
That wherever we go
And however we go
We hear the music of life."
Theodor Fontane





All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2011 Jeannie Baumeister

14 comments:

Kellie said...

Awesome tip... I always have trouble with pressing those puff sleeves!

Bunny said...

This is how my MIL taught me to do them as well. You are the only other person I have ever seen do it this way. I love the way they crisp up and stand at attention.

Julia said...

That's how I press them. It makes them stand up so prettily!!!

Karyn said...

If you hang the dress on the clothes line with a plastic shoping bag stuffed in the sleeve, it doesn't tend to wrinkle, taking away the need to iron them.
Although, if you did have to iron them, this is a great way to do it.

Edward said...

I remember that well, in fact just last week needed to press a sleeve and used this method. Thanks for the lovely reminder. Some things still work just fine.

Laurie said...

That is neat! It never would have occurred to me to press a sleeve that way. I love the way it shapes the sleeve.

Cynthia Gilbreth said...

Thanks for the tip! And it looks so much easier than the blasted puffing iron.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this tip! I'm not patient enough to stuff the sleeves of dresses while they dry, haven't really wanted to buy a puff iron, and press a LOT of puffed sleeves on my three daughters' dresses. I have always wondered what people did in the days before puff irons. I've developed my own approach but hadn't been quite satisfied with it. I will definitely use this and will love knowing I'm following in an old tradition. -Zina

Karen said...

This is the way my mother taught me.

I also read once about spraying the inside of the sleeve cap with spray starch and using a hair dryer to blow into the sleeve cap to dry it while it's being puffed-out by the airflow. I haven't tried it yet.

Anonymous said...

I could never live without my beloved puff iron to get those tiny sleeves, bonnets, and ruffles free of wrinkles. However, this is a great alternative I would never have thought of on my own, so thanks for sharing!

Sunrise said...

Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous little dress. I am coveting that fabric.

Jeannie, I am absolutely in love with this blog. Having just had a baby girl, I have been so frustrated by the modern styles of baby clothing, nothing like what I had always envisioned dressing my daughter in. I can see that if I want to dress her my way without paying boutique prices, I must learn to make her clothes myself.

I have no experience in hand sewing and am still fairly amateur in machine, but I can follow a pattern. Which of your lessons would you suggest for a rank beginner? Is the daygown sew-along series too complex? My mother passed me down a handmade daygown from her own 1950s infancy, and I'd love a few more things like it.

I also, by the way, am made terribly homesick by your photos. I was born and spent my early childhood in Baton Rouge, and most of my extended family is still there. You make this Florida transplant miss my Louisiana all the more, but I love the little bit of Old South I get to savor here.

Jeannie B. said...

Sunrise, the Daygown Sew A Long is intended for a beginner so you would be fine. You would have fun sewing for a little daughter!

Sunrise said...

Thank you! I am off to look at the kit in your store. :)

:: hayati :: said...

it's really cute..thanks for sharing

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