The Sewing Lady’s Iron

I will never forget the day I was talking to my father-in-law and stating that as a quilter I do a lot of ironing. He was very surprised by my statement and wanted to know what it was that I had to iron. As I explained having to iron out the wrinkles in my fabric before cutting, then having to press seams as I sewed blocks and then rows together and that I had to press fabric when making a binding for my quilts. After my explanation he said, “Wow, I didn’t realize there was so much ironing involved with quilting.”

I believe this is true for anyone that doesn’t quilt and hasn’t been around a person while they are quilting. This is why having a good iron in the sewing room is imperative to getting the job done right. So, what is a good iron? A lot has to do with one’s budget, how hard you want to work at getting the job done and durability.

For many years, I didn’t think there was much difference in irons other than the price I might pay when purchasing one. I hung onto a Black & Decker for several years. In the beginning, I think I would have told you it was sufficient. That was until I purchased a Rowenta Iron made in Germany. I found a big difference in the number of steam holes on the bottom plate as well as how hot I could make the iron when working with 100% cotton. The Rowenta also seemed to heat up quickly and I didn’t have to stand around waiting to use it. Between my Best Press starch and the steam, I could easily take wrinkles out of my yardage, press a seam and fold over my fabric for a binding. BUT, it was a heavy iron. In the beginning, the weight was not a big problem and I didn’t think much about it.

After a few years, I started to notice my right shoulder aching a bit as well as my right wrist (I’m right handed) when I had a day of sewing. I started to look for things that would lessen these aches and pains so I could keep sewing and doing what I loved, quilting. Some of the things I changed were the height of my sewing table, how I cut my material and I also started looking at my iron.

If you’ve ever watched Jenny Down from Missouri Star Quilt Company, she uses an Oliso iron in her quilt block videos. Wanting to know if the Oliso might be a better iron in my sewing room, I started to investigate what other quilters used and do some research on the iron to see if it would be a good fit.

The TG1600 iron has features that quilters and people who sew love! Now, before I go any further, I have to tell you that this is a heavy iron . . . But it has these little feet on it that when you lay the iron flat, horizontal and remove your hand, these feet lift the iron up off your fabric. This technology makes it so that I don’t have to put my iron up right and then pick it up and put it down onto the fabric. When I want to stop, I just let go. When I want to iron, I place my hand and grip it and move it along my fabric. So much easier on my wrists and shoulders. Also, not as easy to knock over when I’m repositioning my fabric. Oliso calls this auto-lift and as far as I know, there’s not another iron out there that lifts off your fabric and keeps it from being scorched and burned.

I also like where this iron has its fill opening for water. Right there in the middle under the handle. Easy to see, reach and fill. I don’t know about you but when I normally fill an iron, I end up spilling the water because of the angle the fill hole is on and how small it is for pouring the water into the iron. Plus the water tank holds 12.7oz of water. The TG1600 Pro features a 30-minute extended auto-shut off for sewers and quilters as well as bead blast stainless steel soleplate, flat pressing surface, detailer tip, and a 12-foot cord for full range of motion. It’s a powerful iron with 1800 watts.

I know I’m going on and on about this iron but I really am impressed with it performance so far. I encourage you to check it out and read about all it’s features. I would love to hear what you think about this iron in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and happy sewing!

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