Thursday, October 22, 2009

Jargon of the Week - Pressing



Dictionary.com defines pressing as:

press⋅ing [pres-ing]

–adjective
1. urgent; demanding immediate attention: a pressing need.

–noun
2. any phonograph record produced in a record-molding press from a master or a stamper.
3. a number of such records produced at one time: The fifth pressing of his hit song has sold out.

Origin:
1300–50; ME presing (ger.); see press 1 , -ing 2 , -ing 1

In the crafty world, pressing is a type of ironing.

Ironing is the use of an iron to remove wrinkles from fabric. How does ironing differ from pressing?
Ironing is accomplished by moving the iron slightly back and forth to remove the wrinkles or create a crease. Pressing is accomplished by raising the iron straight up from the fabric every few seconds and setting it down flat on the fabric. There is no slight side-to-side movement when pressing; it is a straight up and down motion.

I get the difference between ironing and pressing, but why would I ever need to press rather than iron?
Quilters press, not iron. This is done because the slight movement of the iron stretches the fabric (come back in a few weeks to learn about the bias and grain lines of a fabric). When the fabric is stretched in quilting, it prevents nice sharp angles and distorts the pieces. What happens then? Blocks will not turn out square.

Do you see when pressing comes in handy?

No comments: