DIY Ironing Board Covers
A New Cover and a New DIY Ironing Board for Crafts
Spring is here as is spring cleaning. The ironing board cover I have is large, wide and long. Between crafting, sewing and good old fashioned laundry it is in use every day. Although it’s fairly new, the surface had gotten very dirty from applying iron on interfacing. So today I am creating a small DIY ironing board to use in my craft room for sewing and making a new cover for the large ironing board.
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Small Ironing Board
There is no use in recovering the large ironing board if I just ruin it by crafting again; to get around this I made a small DIY ironing board just for crafting. This should keep the larger ironing board clean. The little ironing board is easy to put together and now that I have one I wish I had made one a long time ago.
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You will need:
pretty fabric
quilt batting
3/4″ or 1″ plywood
4 flat topped cabinet pulls
staple gun
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Start with a 3/4″ or 1″ piece of plywood. Cut it into any size you prefer, mine is 25″ by 25″. Hubs wasn’t home and I was on a mission so I scrounged in the garage and found the perfect size bit of leftover plywood. It was definitely used and had some blemishes but it was the right size so good enough and the price was right!
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Once you have the plywood cut, drill a small hole in each corner for the legs. Place the hole 1 1/2 inches from both edges in all four corners for the legs.
As the wood was so dirty I sanded it very very well, first with 60, then 120, and finally 220 grit sandpaper. I had some paint left over so I gave it two coats of white paint. This step is not necessary, it just made me feel better to know the used plywood had a fresh clean surface. Once the paint is dry screw in four pretty door pulls for legs.a
Make sure the material you use will withstand high heat. I stayed away from synthetics and used a pretty cotton material.
Cut your material two inches wider than the board on each side. For a 25″ by 25″ board I cut the material 29″ by 29″. Fold over the material 1/2″ and then another half inch forming a hem on all sides. Iron to form a crease.
Next cut a piece of quilt batting 25″ by 50″, fold it in half and crease the seam with an iron.
Assembly
Place the material good size down, center the quilted padding over the material and then add the board. Make sure to center and align everything before you begin stapling. (Sorry about the photo quality I was working at night.)
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Pull the material over the board and using a large staple gum place a couple of staples in the center of each side. Continue working from the center towards the corner. Pull the material as tight as possible as you staple.a
Finally, make some neat folds for around the legs.
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Flip the ironing board onto its legs and check that the top surface is tight enough. Add more staples if necessary.
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Large Ironing Board Cover
This ironing board cover turned out really pretty because of the super cute material. It is so much nicer than the ugly grey cover it had originally and the ironing surface is clean again.
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This particular project did not go as well as I would have liked. The heating pad portion of the original pad was in good shape, but it was permanently attached to the cover portion. Also, I knew it had a drawstring on the bottom but did not realize it was also elastic.
Determined to use the original functional ironing pad. I used the original pad as a general pattern and cut the fabric three inches wider than the old one. I folded the edges over twice and with a needle and thread hand basted the long sides of the ironing pad to the material. I tried doing this with pins and it just wasn’t working for me.
Once that was done I put it back on the ironing board. I continued rolling the material to get a neat hem edge, hand basting, and gathering as needed on the corners until the material was all attached. Once I had everything basted on. I took the cover off the ironing board and sewed it with a zig zag stitch along the neatly folded edge.
It’s pretty, it works and I was able to reuse the perfectly functional ironing pad. I needed this done quickly so I could get ironing my drapes and by using the entire original ironing board pad the updated cover cost me $10.
With the money, I saved I purchased a small iron for the interfacing. Now I am off to clean my iron well and I should be able to get those darn drapes up today.
Using a round piece of plywood or an old table with a round top you can make your own wire laundry basket for MUCH less than buying one.
On the small wall at the bottom of my stairs, I made a wall hanger for the ironing board. It makes it easier to sweet out from under it which is really handy as it is located at the bottom of the basement stairs.
That so clever, I need a smaller ironing board for smaller quick projects. Thanks for sharing this, I pinned it because people need to see this. Great job LeAnna!
Hi Christine: Thank you very much. I made this to solve a problem, but for people who don’t iron much and need one for crafting, this small on is pretty and takes up much less room.
I appreciate both the thumbs up and the pin. Have a great week Leanna
I love your fabric for your main ironing board, so pretty.
And the idea to make a small one just for crafts, that’s brilliant!
I love the idea of making a smaller ironing board for crafting! Of course when I’m sewing I lug out the big ironing board, but it would be nice to have a smaller one for quick projects too. I love the plywood idea- I can cut it any size I want. Pinning and sharing!
Thanks for sharing at My Busy Beehives #beeparty this week!
Leanna, Such pretty fabric you chose! BTW, great idea to use the plywood!! Thanks so much for sharing with us this week at Snickerdoodle! Pinned 🙂 Have a great week ahead!
~Laurie
My old ironing board needs an update so I’m glad I visited! You can never find pretty covers. The small board is perfect too. I hate dragging out the big one for little projects and usually just end up throwing a doubled up towel over my washing machine and doing it that way. With a small board, I could even display it in my laundry area for ambience. Now I must run and go through my fabric collection!
Right on Trudy I am glad your running with the idea. It is a nuisance to lug out the big ironing board, especially because its stored in the basement.
My small board is wide enough to be useful and light enough to be portable. I find with sewing projects I seem to spend more time ironing than actually sewing so having two boards makes sense.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna.
Lovely makes Leanne. Jo x
Thank you Jo. This project was easy to do especially since I didn’t have to cut the plywood. I would rather have skipped the hand sewing on the DIY large cover, but sometimes its just easier in the long run.
Both projects look great, but the mini ironing board is and inspired idea for saving your good ironing board from all the crafty messes!
With all the beautiful crafts you do I bet you could use a handy small ironing board. Your projects are beautiful.
Hi Leanna, Great ideas! I especially like the idea of the smaller ironing board for near the sewing machine! Thanks for sharing the how-to’s! Blessings, Janet
Thank you Janet. This little board is proving down right handy. It is also sprucing up the dark basement laundry room that I am determined to update.
Thank you for sharing and providing feedback.
I love your idea for making a small crafting ironing board – I sure could use one of those. Love the fabric and those pretty knob feet. I so hear you about it being difficult to find a nice ironing board cover for large ironing boards. I ended up making one as well but I love your pretty vintage dress form fabric so much better.
Hi Marie: I always think that I can “just pop out” and grab exactly what I am looking for. In my dream world of bunnies and butterflies maybe.
Maybe we should get less fussy and particular, somehow I don’t see that happening anytime soon. lol
Enjoy your week. Leanna
These are great Leanna! They are so pretty and so functional. I use a lot of fabric adhesive and that stuff gums up everything it touches so I understand about your cover! What a good idea to make a small ironing board for craft projects as well!
Thank you Melony. When I made this it was to solve a particular problem, but I think I am going to use that little more portable ironing board all the time.
Thank you for commenting, the feedback is appreciated and helpful.
As I was ironing some fabric today I was thinking about how much I needed a new cover. Then this evening I saw your post! Thanks for sharing!
Right on Roseann, I love when that happens. Its the little things that we make do with. A nice ironing board cover is really nice to have although not overly exciting to buy.
Enjoy your week and thanks for stopping by.
I have a small “sleeve board” that I’ve used for years for smallish ironing jobs, but it’s too small for lots of things. The size “small” board that you made would be more useful. I don’t know if I would have the patience to do the big one although I do need a new cover on it. I bought one at an auction a while back and it was new and cheap, BUT it wasn’t long enough for my board. I was so irritated because it was new in the package and had drawstrings to tighten it to the ironing board. But, alas, I couldn’t stretch that thing long enough to fit to save my life. So I got rid of it and haven’t addressed the problem again as of now. One thing I don’t feel bad about in getting rid of it is that it wasn’t pretty! Just plain muslin! ha, ha There’s always an up-side if you look for it!
The one I wrecked was the only one I found that fit. It was high quality but this super ugly shiny grey industrial looking stuff. It screamed oh aren’t I functional lol. I tossed out one that didn’t fit as well, so annoying.
The little board sits very nicely on top of the dryer out of the way. I think I am going to find it very handy for crafting.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
Leanna – What creative ideas ! Your tutorials are excellent – clear and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing these great solutions.
It nice to hear that the tutorials are thorough enough. I try and balance the level of detail so that it covers what a first time crafter needs to know without making it too complicated and detailed.
I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for commenting.
Oh my gosh, I love this idea. My cover is getting nasty and I’d love to make one for it too. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Carolann. It would have been silly to chance ruining my drapes with glue off of the ironing board cover. It was a pain stopping to make a new cover, but I really like how they turned out.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
I love how you sewed the ironing board cover for the large board. It is so hard to find pretty covers and if I am going to stand there and iron I want it to be pretty and also thick Now a days the ones you buy are so flimsy, The small board is a good idea also.
Hi Debra: Sometimes I show my age. I remembered the ironing board covers coming with a separate heating pad. Not anymore they don’t. It is seriously hard to find one that fits this non standard sized board and your right it may as well be pretty.
Thank you for commenting, as always it is very much appreciated.
The mini board is such a wonderful idea! And you could put it as a back drop on a shelf in your dorm room.
I had not thought of it for a dorm room, or for someone with a smaller living area.
It would work well and for boys as well. They could cover it with camo or football material lol.
Enjoy your week and thank you for commenting Pam.