Steaming

[ooh-lalah]

When I use the slip stitch method of joining seams there's a bulky surface and steaming flattens the bulk pretty well.

The trouble I have is that areas around the seam also get flattened in spite of my efforts to be quick about it.

Is there such thing as a steam iron that has a surface of 1" so only the seam gets steamed and nothing surrounding it?

The other day I told my daughter I had an invention of such an iron. She said she believes there already is one in existence. I didn't find one when I was researching. Is anyone here familiar with such a steam iron?

I tried using a regular fabric steamer, which did nothing for my bulky seam.

[Barbara G.]

Hmmm...will have to do some checking. They could be available by special order. I know they used to make a really small steamer.

[ooh-lalah]

Walmart has a travel steamer. I aven't seen it, so I don't know what size the base is.

[crochetgal]

There are travel steam irons available.

Another idea might be to use a steam curling iron. It would do the same thing as a flat iron but it has a much smaller surface.

[featherfarm]

I have a really small steamer I got on E-bay. It was under $20 and I use it for everything! It works even better if you use it against something solid like a door because the steam hits the solid object and bounces back and slightly dampens it.

[Maryjane]

Quilters use narrow irons to press the seams open as they are working on the quilt! I don't know if they are steam, might be worth looking into!

[ooh-lalah]

What would I look for, a quilter's iron? Now that I've said it, that's what I'll do. Thanks for the tip.