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Brynwood Needleworks - My Steam Station |
When I was a kid, I used to see a commercial with a woman who stood at her ironing board. She looked exhausted, with messy hair, and she'd say, "I'm Gertie Schmertz, and I iron shirts 'til my fingers hurts." I have no idea what the commercial was actually selling, but obviously, it left an impression on me. (I'm not even sure why!)
I was about ten when my mother taught me to iron my dad's white work shirts. He was a school teacher, so he had a clean shirt for every day. Not only did I learn to do his shirts, but I got really good at it, too. I enjoyed ironing shirts just for him. All these years later, I still think of Dad when I iron a white shirt. Handsome wears white shirts when he performs music, but he also loves wearing cotton shirts.
These days, I'm certainly no Gertie Schmertz at the ironing board. I have a number of irons, but when it comes to ironing shirts, I use my Rowenta Steam Station. It has a water reservoir, so I'm not constantly refilling the iron so I have constant steam when pressing those cotton shirts.
You'll notice that the steam station is sitting on top of a cart. You've likely seen these carts somewhere before, as there are a lot of places that sell them. Here's one from Amazon to give you an idea.
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Brynwood Needleworks - My Ironing Cart |
Usually, the top piece is inverted from how I'm using it. It's another compartment for art or kitchen supplies, but that's not what I needed. I needed a platform to hold my steam station, so I flipped it over to make that surface.
I keep the rest of my ironing supplies (starch, pressing sprays, and linen sprays) in the bottom two compartments. In addition to those sprays, I have my pressing forms, and a couple other irons. Then, when I need to use my iron, I just roll the cart out of the studio closet and take it to where I need it.
That's what I did yesterday. Handsome had some shirts that needed pressing, and there were table cloths and napkins that were used over the holidays. I love cotton and/or linen, and they always need to be pressed after they're washed. It didn't take that long to do my work, and I watched a couple recorded shows (Home Town - home reno, and The Curse of Oak Island - about treasure hunting) while I worked.
The result was a room that smelled heavenly from my Cotton Linen spray, and all my ironing caught up. It's always such a satisfying feeling being caught up with my ironing. I have a tendency to put it off, but always feel so great when it's done.
I'll get back to working on my embroidery today. I'll have a much more enjoyable time knowing that my tasks are caught up. Now I can just play again.
