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A Tale of Two Ironing Boards

I had two ironing boards, neither of which worked well.  The cover on the one on the left was loose and slid around during ironing.  This is especially frustrating when trying to press sleeves.  The board on the right had a very thin pad and grid marks from the metal would often show up on clothes being pressed.  What happens when you don't have a decent ironing board?  Clothes that need to be ironed pile up until little boys grow out of them! 


I finally took a cue from Anna and decided to make my own cover.  I considered the two boards and picked the one that worked better for me (the one that does not screech when being opened!) and measured the length - approximately 56".  I was hoping it would be under 42" so that I would not have to buy so much yardage, but alas! that is not the case. 
I went to JoAnn's and perused their decorator weight fabrics - the cheaper ones, not the designer labels, and selected a print I thought would be fun, since I will be staring at this board for many hours, catching up on my ironing!  I bought two yards, as well as 3 1/2 yards of elastic cording - way too much, as it turns out, but I'm sure it'll come in handy with some other project. 

I washed and pressed (on the floor) my fabric and laid it wrong-side-up on the floor.  I set my ironing board top-down on top of it, and cut around the board leaving a 2" allowance.  I also cut a batting layer using this method, with about a quarter inch allowance.  Sorry, no pictures.  I pressed the edge of my decorator fabric under (again on the floor) a quarter inch, then folded it over an inch and pinned all the way around, leaving a one-inch space on the flat end to pull the cord through.  I sewed all the way around using a surger-looking stitch.  I threaded the cord through with a handy safety pin. Layering the batting and then the top fabric on my board, I pulled the cord tight and tied a knot, and voila!  No more ironing on the floor!!  Anna said I needed to post about it, so here you go, the final look: 


The other board is going to charity.  If you are interested in recovering your ironing board, you should read Anna's post, also; she did hers in a slightly different way.  I have a lot of fabric left over; I'll probably use it to make a fabric basket for the laundry room, or clothespins. 
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Comments

  1. ShawnJune 4, 2011 at 1:20 PM

    Your cover looks great Karen,I made one not too long ago for my ironing board. So much prettier than the ones we can buy, love your fabric choice!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JudyJune 4, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    Very clever. It will be more fun to iron with this cover, it is so cheerful and reminds of fun times.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stephanie DJune 5, 2011 at 12:05 AM

    I've seen a tutorial like that before, but never did it. Love the fabric you chose!

    ReplyDelete
  4. CandaceJune 5, 2011 at 10:41 AM

    Great (and funny) post, Karen! With that fabric, maybe the boys would even want to learn to iron (hah)! I'll have to check out Anna's post, too!
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ThimbleannaJune 6, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    WooHoo! It looks fabulous Karen -- you did a great job. I love your happy fabric too -- have you spent all weekend ironing now LOL???

    ReplyDelete
  6. Terrie D. (StarSpry)June 6, 2011 at 6:32 PM

    Great job on the ironing board cover! It will make ironing a lot more fun :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sew Create It - JaneJune 14, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    Looks great! Having a good ironing board makes the whole arduous task a little better.

    ReplyDelete

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