Update Your Mangy Ironing Board

Okay, so maybe your ironing board cover isn't mangy, but mine certainly was. So I fixed it.

How do these things get so dirty, anyway? I've never ironed anything but clean clothes. Anyway, here's a nice easy, maybe a little dirty, tutorial for you to use when you'd like a little change on the ironing board.

Ironing Board Cover Tutorial

Materials:
* Measure your ironing board to get an idea of how much fabric you'll need.  Mine is 56" long so I just got 2 yds.
*1/8" cord
*toggles for the cord
*coordinating thread
*ruler
*water soluble pen

Remember to always wash your fabric before sewing.

1. Remove current board cover and inspect underlayment to make sure it’s still usable. If it’s not, you’ll have to get something to replace it. Mine was foam, and it's fine. Awesome.

 2.  Lay fabric down on top of your ironing board facedown making sure to leave a few inches around the edge of the fabric. Trace around the ironing board with your marker.

• If you wanted to make a paper pattern that you could use whenever you wanted, you could do that, too. The following steps will be the same, you'll just use paper.

3. Lay your fabric down again (right side down again) and mark around your traced pattern at 3”. This will give it room to hang down around the ironing board and for you to make your casing for the cord. 

4. You can connect the lines if you want (I did). I know it’s a weird shape, but if you spaced your 3” marks close enough together, it’s just like connecting the dots. Cut out the shape.

5. Place the fabric right side down. Mark in at ¾”. Mark in and pin/press at ¼”.

6. Pin/press again at the marks you made at ¾”. Yes, you will have some gathers around the corners, but just press them down (hospital corner style) and sew right on top of them. 

• You can see where I've already pressed and pinned the 1/4" section (on the right side of the photo). Then I went back and folded the fabric again to the 3/4" marks (on the left side of the photo).

7. Mark a 1” space at the very point of the pattern for a spot where you can insert the cording. Do not sew this part closed!

8. Sew as close to the inside pressed hem as possible. I always like to press my hems when I'm done so they look nice so you can do that, if you'd like.

9. Attach a safety pin (or elastic threader) to the end of your allotted cord length and thread it through the casing where you left your opening. Make sure you’re threading the cord through the casing entirely. That probably means you’ll have to go back and straighten out the fabric where’s it's bunched up because of the cord going through it. This will make it easier to tighten it at the end.

10. Put your cover on your ironing board and pull the cord tight making sure the cover surrounds the board on all sides evenly so you don’t have any weird bunches or wrinkles.

11. Thread the toggle on the exposed cord on the end and tighten it to bring the cover very close up around the board. 

12. Step back and admire. Maybe have a drink. Mmmm... drinking and sewing...

 

Everyone needs some teal giraffe print in their lives. Happy Crafting!