A press-jack such as the tailors use, is made of two hardwood boards,
thirty-five inches long, one inch thick, planed both sides and edges and
cut egg-shape; the wide end being eight inches in width, and the narrow
or small end, four inches wide, one forming the top and the other the
bottom.
Between the top and bottom are screwed two blocks of solid wood, four by
four inches, and six inches high. The first one is screwed to the top
and bottom, three inches from the large end, and the second block is
screwed to the top and bottom, seven inches from the large end, thereby
leaving a space to the small end, of twenty-eight inches, for
convenience in handling the garments while pressing.
The top of the press-jack is left perfectly plain and smooth; the
bottom, however, is padded for convenience for pressing with ten-ply of
wadding, cut the same shape of board or bottom of press-jack. Over this
place a piece of white heavy drilling, drawn tight over the wadding to
keep in place and tacked all around the edges with brass head tacks. Cut
cotton off evenly around the edges beyond the tacks. This completes the
press-jack and is ready for use.
The press-jack as tailors term it, is used for the pressing of clothes,
and is also useful to lay clothes on while cleaning.