Tailor's Ham Tutorial

Tailor's Ham; Sewing Ham; Seamstress Ham; That Small, Hard Pillow Thing You Can Iron Curvy Things With:  whatever you want to call it, here is how you, too, can make one.  They're super easy and strangely satisfying to make, and hit.  Really, if for no other reason, you should make one for the fun-to-punch factor. 

 

Materials needed:

-sheet of standard 8.5" * 11" paper

-1 fat quarter or 1/4 yard of cotton muslin

1- fat quarter of 1/4 yard of cotton print (or plain, if so wanted)

-1 fat eighth of wool interlock

(you can pick this up much cheaper if you shop Goodwill--look for wool coats or pants to cut up)

OR

You can skip the wool.  That side will be for ironing woolen fabrics.  If you are skipping, one fat quarter of the cotton print will still be enough for the entire ham.  You can get two cuts out of each fat quarter.

-sawdust or other materials you can pack firmly (fabric scraps were suggested on one tutorial I found.  The store-bought hams usually are packed with sawdust or horsehair.  I had access to sawdust, not so much the horsehair.)

Begin by making your pattern.

Fold the paper in half lengthwise and draw your cut-out markings as shown

I actually made my second ham with less cut out from the top, and liked how that turned out, as well--less pointed.

Cut away curves

trace onto material. 

You'll need four pieces total:

2 muslin

1 cotton print

1 wool

sandwich pieces:

muslin

muslin

wool

cotton print

***wool and cotton print need to be right sides facing***

Mark about 3.5 to 4 inch gap, for opening, along one side.

sew together, starting at one end of marked gap and ending at the other end of marked gap

Turn

Open up at your side gap, seperating both the inner and outer bags (inner of muslin, outer of cotton and wool)

It's time to stuff.  Since I was using sawdust, I opted to use a crude funnel I made out of a piece of cardstock.  I shoveled the sawdust in using a garden trowel.

Keep on packing that sawdust in, stopping periodically to really pack it down with your hand or whatever.  You want it to be very firm and full.

Here I took a picture of before packing...

And right after

As you can see, there is a lot of air in there you want to press out to get the best end results.

When you feel as though you can pack no more, grab a needle and thread.  Because I really wanted to make sure the sawdust didn't find it's way out, I doubled my thread.

Whipstitch the gap closed

I wanted a more smooth, finished look, so after whipstitching, I folded the seam in along the gap and did a blind stitch like so...

Ending in a knot that I wasn't sure how to hide.  Any suggetions on that for next time?  I'm sure there's a way

And that's it!

Super easy!

I'm giving this ham away.  Enter here.