Not a great picture :-) I had been meaning to make myself a tailors ham for years, but never got around to it. I used rolled up towels and cushions to press shoulder seams and other curved seams, it never worked very well. I went to buy a ham, both in Spain and the UK, but they always seemed very expensive for what they were, and not particularly well made.I decided to sew these up while I was waiting for the fabric to make the retro-bombshell dress following Gretchen's online course - just look at all those curved seams!
Now I don't know why I waited so long! They were quick and easy to make and are so useful, I have used them a lot already and can't believe I was struggling along without them before.
I had been put off from making them, not knowing what to stuff them with, but a 2 minute internet search told me that sawdust was the best option. I bought some wood shavings, sold as bed bedding and this worked well. I used two layers of fabric for wach side, one of calico and then an outer layer, a scrap of cotton upholstery fabric for one side and a scrap of I-don't-know-what upholstery fabric for the other side - much cheerier than the ones I have seen for sale locally! The only slightly fiddly bit was stuffing them, I had hoped to be able to pack in more wood shavings in the ham, but it is curved enough and really helps pressing the curved seams, I don't think I could have got a good result on the bodice without it!
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