Good morning sewists, I hope you are well and enjoying the last bits of Summer. We are watering regularly to keep what is left of our plantings alive. We need rain, we really need rain.
I am posting this a little earlier than planned because it is at a reduced price on Amazon right now. If you are interested😁
That said, lets get to the matter at hand. Now, is this item essential for the quilter? Certainly not, quilts have been made for centuries with nothing more than a piece of wood, with a blunt end to push the seams apart. But you all know how I am with my tools.
Mine is the Steamfast SF-680 Digital, I bought it from a LQS, sort of an impulse buy and paid a bit more for it. It is available on Amazon, right now, at a discount, HERE, if you are interested, there are several other similar ones, different brands, different price points, different add-ons. I went for the medium price range, no adds, and I am happy as a clam. (does anyone know if clams are really happy? Next Friday we will have Linguini with clams, I'll let you know.)
You can read the features on the Amazon page so I will just summarize my experience.
- It is sturdy, it needs a sturdy base to rest on. There is a table for purchase, noooo, way too expensive.
- It does get really hot, the cotton and linen settings are doozies, be careful not to touch that stainless steel housing, it is hot, ask me how I know!
- I put mine on top of my Kiwi-Acorn cabinet, took off the pressing surface and the wool mat because the machine was slipping a bit. A sturdy base is essential because as you are opening and closing the presser, movement is going to happen.
- The base is just the right size for a 11-12 inch block. I have done some a bit larger and need two presses to do the whole block but it worked really well.
- I used just a wee bit of spray starch on the block to stabilize the bias seams and prep the blocks for trimming. Not my favorite task.
- It took a little longer for the press to come to the cotton setting than stated in the manual, but that burst of steam, with the heat!!!! Wowsers, I am in quilting heaven.
- I've had it for about 2 months now. Good purchase.
- As an FYI, in my experience, it would have been delivered faster if I had ordered it from Amazon. I waited about 6 weeks from the LQS. Just an honest comment.
- Have I used it for garments and linens. Yes I have. T shirts, OK, but easier with a regular iron. My fancy little T-towels, smaller table cloths, yes. Good press. Shirts, blouses, not so good. I have seen video's with a man pressing trousers but there is no way I could get a nice smooth surface around a button, buckle, or zipper. It's great for flat stuff.
Have a lovely weekend. Photo's taken from merchant stock because I am still fussing with photo transfer to the blog. Toodles.
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