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Monday 16 April 2012

Double Ham on a Roll, Hold the Mayo!

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[Haha I couldn't resist a red-tab top style header title for this post ;) ]


I've not forgotten to reveal all from my earlier post (a little over a week ago now) and, most of you indeed guessed correctly (yay!).

Yes, the mystery item was indeed a HAM HOLDER!

Here it is pictured below - along with the trio of other made-by-me DIY stylee pressing tools.

01 – Tailor’s Pressing Ham, Contoured Ham, Seam Roll and Ham Holder
My own homemade Pressing Tools: seam roll, tailor's pressing ham, and contoured ham
Yup I made me: a Tailor’s Pressing Ham (a bigger version of Dressmakers Ham's you often see in the shops), a Contoured Ham, a Seam Roll and a Ham Holder.

More gratuitous ham 'n' roll shots below :D!


02 – Tailor’s Pressing Ham in Ham Holder

03 – Seam Roll, Tailor’s Pressing Ham, and Contoured Ham


 Sawdust Notes...
I created the patterns myself, and let me tell you now for all three of my sawdust-filled beauties it took approximately 2 packets of sawdust to fill 'em up! It true what they say - keep on pushing that stuff in and when you think you're done just keep going! (They're like a blackhole were sawdust goes to disappear haha!).

All the classic style vintage sewing and tailoring books ask you to use a hardwood sawdust - but I found it tricky to find that stuff, so I'm hoping the pine sawdust I used will be fine - we'll see in time LOL!

I won't kid you - it was a lot of work to stuff and fill these up, and pretty messy too (top tip - don't wear a knitted woolly jumper, or anything fleecy during construction; 'cos the sawdust will linger people!!). It took me the best part of a day to fill-up all 3 of them

NB: [For UK folks] I picked up my 2 packets of pine sawdust for £1.99 each (about $1.25 USD) from a pet shop called Pets At Home (luckily for me, they have a big superstore close to the supermarket I visit for my weekly groceries run). In case you wanted to pick up some for yourself; the dimensions of the packet they sell (they called it a "Small") is approx. 36cm x 6.5cm x 14cm / 14¼" x 5½" x 2½" (Length x Depth x Height). Each packet weighs 1.3kg. 

Other UK online stores selling similar products are PetPlanet.co.uk, and MonsterPetSupplies.co.uk (although unless you have one of their bricks 'n' mortar shops nearby you'd end up forking out for delivery - boo!), or this seller on Amazon.co.uk (for £1.99 + £1.95 delivery), Other places I've sometimes seen these small packets of sawdust are: Wilkinsons (although recently, they only seem to have the wood shavings for £1.00 each), and the the chain of 99p Stores (not had much luck in Poundland really). There seems to be some for sale on eBay - but double check the listing details as some auction titles say "sawdust" but in the fine print say "shavings"! You might be able to pick up sawdust for free from your local Timber Merchant or Builder's Merchant (if they cut wood to size on site) for safety please don't use MDF sawdust! That stuff is potentially seriously hazardous to your health (eek!)



  I definitely plan on doing 2 tutorial posts:
  (Both are in draft stages currently :)  with PDF files to be completed)
  (1) How to Make Your Own Tailor's Pressing Ham and Seam Roll
  (2) How to Make a DIY Pressing Ham Holder



20 comments:

  1. Awesome! Oh, they look great. My little me-made ham is shabby by comparison (or at least, under-stuffed... I used fabric scraps.) Now I will be looking out for sawdust next time we're at the pet store---it hadn't even occurred to me to look there!

    Can't wait for the tutorials :)

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  2. I love your choice of fabric, it makes for a cheery set of hams. I have inherited a ham and purchased a seam roll, but I don't have a holder and that has driven me crazy more than once. I'd be interested in the tutorials, there are other shapes/sizes that I think could be handy to have.

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  3. Like the coutured pressing hem. If you're interested, I made a pdf pattern too some time ago. Thanks for the sawdust links!
    http://bombardone.com/sewingprincess/2011/01/tailors-ham-and-seam-roll-free-pattern/

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  4. I struggle on with just an ironing board and a sleeve board - I really should get down to this myself.

    I've left you a Liebster award over at Sycamore Stitches :)

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  5. This look really really good. I LOVE my contured and tailor's ham. I have two seam rolls that are also of different lengths. The right pressing tools seriously make all the difference.

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  6. Nicenicenice! These are super-expensive here in Melbourne and shipping them in from elsewhere is bit of a b*tch shipping-wise. It'll be interesting to see how you put yours together. PS please install disqus so I don't have to play the hideous recapcha game of impending blindness for every comment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bit late (9 years opps!), but I am making a YouTube video tutorial on "How to Make a Tailor's Pressing Ham" for "The Sewing Weekender" (taking place 12th & 13th June 2021). Later on I plan on another video for making the Ham Holder too ☺️

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    2. have you made the ham holder video yet????????????????????????? i want to make one!!!!seriously@!!!!!!!

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    3. Hey @patty96, not yet (apologies). I plan on doing a YouTube video tutorial and a blog post with PDF document to download for the wooden pieces this summer 2022 :-)

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  7. Looking forward to your directions for the ham holder. Best price I could find here (in the US) is $26.95 + shipping! Hubby has all kinds of scraps and is intrigued. Says he'd be happy to make one for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bit late (9 years opps!), but I am making a YouTube video tutorial on "How to Make a Tailor's Pressing Ham" for "The Sewing Weekender" (taking place 12th & 13th June 2021). Later on I plan on another video for making the Ham Holder too ☺️

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  8. What a great idea! I read on another blog that she went to her local lumber store/yard, (large home improvement store in USA) and asked for a few bags of sawdust from their dust collector at the saw. She brought along plastic shopping bags. And it was free!
    I've looked through your posts, but haven't been able to find a follow up post with patterns. Have you created them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bit late (5 years opps!), but I am making a YouTube video tutorial on "How to Make a Tailor's Pressing Ham" for "The Sewing Weekender" (taking place 12th & 13th June 2021). Later on I plan on another video for making the Ham Holder too ☺️

      Delete
  9. Still hoping for the DIY ham holder directions .... hint, hint, hint

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bit late (5 years opps!), but I am making a YouTube video tutorial on "How to Make a Tailor's Pressing Ham" for "The Sewing Weekender" (taking place 12th & 13th June 2021). Later on I plan on another video for making the Ham Holder too ☺️

      Delete
  10. http://petshop.co.uk/ deliver all stuff pet related for you! This is where I shop for my pet supplies as popping out becomes a pain!

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  11. Did you ever make the tutorial on the pressing tools and the ham-holder? would love to see them, as I am in the process of making my own clapper and point press, I thought of just continuing with some ham and sausage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bit late (5 years opps!), but I am making a YouTube video tutorial on "How to Make a Tailor's Pressing Ham" for "The Sewing Weekender" (taking place 12th & 13th June 2021). Later on I plan on another video for making the Ham Holder too ☺️

      Delete
  12. I would love to see how to make the tailor's ham holder. I have some pretty wood to make it, but not sure how to cut the wood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am making a YouTube video tutorial on "How to Make a Tailor's Pressing Ham" for "The Sewing Weekender" (taking place 12th & 13th June 2021). Later on I plan on another video for making the Ham Holder too ☺️

      Delete

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