It has been a few years since the tailor’s clapper first hit the quilting market. What looks like just a piece of wood, works so well to flatten quilting seams, better than an iron alone. Let me show you how.
How to Use a Tailor’s Clapper for Better Seam Pressing
What is a Tailor’s Clapper?
As you can imagine from the name, tailor’s clappers were used primarily by tailors in the past. Tailor’s clappers have been traced back to England starting around the year 1900.
In the last five years or so, tailor’s clappers have appeared in the quilting market and for good reason. They do an excellent job flattening seams.
A tailor’s clapper is a piece of hardwood that usually has the sides carved to make it easy to hold the clapper. You will see them made with many types of hardwood, but they are commonly made with Hard Maple, like mine.
Clappers tend to be 2” – 3” in width. They can be any length but these are the common sizes you will find: 6”, 7”, 10”, 12” or 13”.
How to Use a Tailor’s Clapper
In my recent video I share how to use a tailor’s clapper. Check out the video here. Press your seam as normal, but once you lift your iron, you press down with your tailor’s clapper on the seam. The seam will be much flatter after using a clapper on it.
Please note, that unless your clapper is made from a dense wood that makes it very heavy, you need to press down on your clapper. I have seen videos where the quilter simply places the clapper down on the fabric and applies no pressure, but that won’t do much to flatten your seam. As my mother used to say, “give it some elbow grease.”
My Final Thoughts
I hope you found value in How to Use a Tailor’s Clapper for Better Seam Pressing. If you struggle in flattening your quilt seams, a tailor’s clapper could be a good addition to your quilting supplies. If you are interested in the clappers I used in the video, please check out Bobcaygeon Woodworks here in beautiful Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada.
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