DIYPT Series: No.2 Seam Roll (Free Pattern) «

Hello everyone, this is the second installment of DIYPT Series. In this post we are going to make a SEAM ROLL to accompany our tailor’s ham.

So what is a seam roll and what is it for?

In brief, a seam roll is an oblong tubular firmly stuffed cushion, used for pressing smallish curved area and long seams in small and hard to reach part of the garment like sleeves and trousers. Its narrow, long and round shape allows you to press just the seam and not the surround fabric. It also helps prevent unwanted ridges from forming on the right side, making your garment professional and becoming!

There are a couple of ways of making seam rolls. I guess the most economical way is to take a magazine, roll it really tightly (make the diameter between 3″-4″) and cover it with a scrap piece of fabric. Bob’s your uncle. You can find a DIY tutorial from Gertie’s website here.

But in this post, I will give you another method, which is basically just exactly the same as making the tailor’s ham which I described earlier in this post. I think you will find that Dritz makes their seam roll about 11″x 4″. The seam roll I made has the measurement of 14″x3″. You are more than welcome to change the dimension as you see fit as long as it turns out oblong and tubular…it’s purpose is to go into the long small place your ham can’t reach so, I think the width of 3″-4″ is ideal.

Oh and remember the sawdust I used for the tailor’s ham? Yeah, it turns out that 1.5L of that stuff, can probably make me about 6-8 hams (judging by eyes for what’s left over!) so if you are planning to buy some for just one ham and you don’t have a hamster or a rabbit, you might want to consider buying much less than 1.5L ;)

Things you will NEED:

Seam Roll Pattern (see free pattern download bottom of the post)
Cut one 15″x3.5″ 100% Wool fabric of your choice
Cut one 15″x3.5″ 100% Cotton fabric of your choice
Cut three 15″x3.5″ 100% Plain Cotton fabric
Sawdust for stuffing (the left over from tailor’s ham stuffing will do perfectly)

To make the roll, simply cut out the patterns as required above. follow the tailor’s ham method and instead of leaving a 4″gap at the bottom, leave a 4″ gap in the middle of one long side (it’s easier to seal the roll at the end I found). The C.O.R Seam Roll Pattern has 1/4″ seam allowance (instead of 1/2″). And that is all there is to it! I am sorry there is no photo tutorial in this one. I made the seam roll super fast (it took me literally less than an hour) and didn’t take any pictures of the process. My bad.