Got the ham, but is it ok?

[amethyst73]

So I ordered a tailor's ham, which arrived today.  Yay!

However, on looking at the edges of the cotton side, I'm wondering if it's defective.  Take a look at the pictures below, and let me know what you think:


Bottom side, which really looks bad and kind of unusable - wouldn't the wrinkles here transfer to any cloth above?


Top and side edge, which are a bit better but still kinda disturbing to a newbie

So - is this a usable ham, or do I need to get a different one?

Thanks!!!!

Comments

[onyoukai.livejournal.com]

Hi there, Sionna directed me to this post because I like hams.

Yes, this ham doesn't look right. A tailor's ham is supposed to be stuffed as tightly as possible to minimize wrinkles. You need that smooth surface to lay your fabric over, because the iron's heat and the pressure between two flat surfaces is how you flatten curved seams and get the wrinkles out. You don't have a flat surface when there are lots of ripples.

I have a Dritz ham (with red plaid wool) that I bought at a local store 6-7 years ago, and mine is stuffed much more than what I'm seeing in the photos. Now, there is going to be some wrinkling at the large end of a ham in any case because that's where it's been hand-sewn shut, but the wrinkles on mine are actually less pronounced than the sides of the ham in your photos.

Sometimes after a lot of use or impact force, the sawdust inside of the ham can compact toward the center and create more of a rippled look at the seam. When this happens, I can give it a good pounding to flatten the ham a bit more and tighten up the edges again. If that package is resealable (meaning, you won't break it by taking the ham out), you could test pounding it flatter, making sure not to get the surface dirty, and return the thing if that doesn't work. My ham is not nearly as round as that one appears to be.

If getting to the ham would require breaking the package and voiding your ability to return it, I'd just return it and get a new one. By eyeballing it, something tells me that this particular ham is understuffed and doesn't even have a properly cut pattern - that back end looks gathered. If you have the ability to shop locally for a new ham, all the better - that would enable you to inspect the actual object before buying so you can get one as tightly stuffed as possible.

[/novel]

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!!!!

I thought it looked poor. And yeah, it's inside a sealed clamshell, so I can't try to fix it without making it unreturnable. Joann's, here I come...

Thanks again!

[onyoukai.livejournal.com]

No problem. On an aside, if you don't have one already, I recommend getting a seam roll too while you're there. A seam roll is the exact same idea as a ham, except it's shaped like a bar doughnut. They're used for ironing the seams of sleeves, pant legs, and similar tube structures.

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about it - it looks more versatile (and more durable, from what I've seen in the Amazon reviews) than a sleeve board. I also saw somewhere online that you can try substituting a rolled-up towel for a seam roll, but that seems like it wouldn't work as well, just because of its tendency to unroll.

Curiously, the ham that I purchased was a Dritz product. Amazon had all of two hams available, both from Dritz; the other one got complaints because it was smaller than advertised, and at least some people found that theirs had a lot of puckering along the seams. I bought the other one, which (at the time) had two reviews, both generically positive. I will be adding... a not-so-positive review!

Thanks again for your help! (You must be the person that hoshikage said had 'mad sewing skills' and loved his ham. I'm thinking of putting together a filter of people who know about sewing - I'm sort of new at it and ask basic questions. Would you be willing to be part of my go-to list?
:)

[onyoukai.livejournal.com]

I've done the rolled towel thing, and it works in a pinch - say, if I've forgotten to bring my seam roll to a con or if the seam roll is a little too big for a given purpose. But it doesn't provide as solid a surface as a seam roll or a sleeve board, so it's not as effective.

The one I have is available at Joann's in their notions section, I -think- it's with other pressing tools. It's got white cotton and red plaid wool. I think it was labeled as "Dressmaker's Ham" when I bought it years ago, but they may have since changed the name to a more gender-neutral "Tailor's Ham".

Ha ha, that would probably be me considering she emailed me late last night with a link to your post and asked for feedback. Sure, I don't mind. Sometimes I post about costume stuff, though FYI, I also ramble about life stuff, video games, or my cat and swear like a sailor, ha ha.

[hoshikage.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's him! He's the sewing specialist with all the awesome tailoring skills, I just do jack-of-all-trades type stuff because I don't have the patience that truly awesome sewing requires. ;)

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, JoAnn's only had the same make and model of the ham I ordered. Fortunately, both were at least somewhat better made than the one I'm returning! And OMG the markup compared to Amazon... Sheesh! Glad I had several 50% coupons!

(Picked up the seam roll at the same time; it's in the same bluish plaid as the ham.)

I like cats! And video games! And life stuff! (Go back thru my entries a bit, you'll see some of the same.)

I post more under Google+ than I do here, but I'll try to at least post links to the G+ stuff, most of which is public, and much of which is cats.

[onyoukai.livejournal.com]

Ah ha ha ha, and I still think a lot of my stuff sucks. *nitpicky and remakes all the things*

[onyoukai.livejournal.com]

Huh, how strange - I've always seen the red one at my local Joann. (Which I guess is no longer my local Joann because I just moved)

Okay then! Just friended, feel free to ping me with sewing-type questions. I also use Google+ and Tumblr, but not nearly as often as LJ because LJ is my Real Blog. (Tumblr is 100% cosplay, crafts, and cats, though: http://kingoftreno.tumblr.com/ )

[hoshikage.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute, you have a Tumblr? Why did I not know this? :P *immediately adds to Follow list*