Like most sane people, I don’t enjoy ironing. But as much as I dislike it, I dislike crinkled clothes even more. On top of ironing my clothes, with all the sewing I do I’m constantly pressing seams and hems etc, so my ironing board gets a fair working out. My ironing board cover was wearing pretty thin and then I accidentally ripped a huge hole in it with the tip of my iron. In typical fashion, I thought “I’ll deal with this later” and kept ironing. I’d been keeping an eye out for a nice new cover, but couldn’t find one I liked that was in my price range. Meanwhile every time I did the ironing the tip of my iron kept getting caught in the rip making it bigger and bigger. So I bought some fabric and made a new cover myself. It was super easy. Here’s the tutorial:
You will need -
- Pretty cotton fabric the length of your ironing board plus 40 cm (16″)
- Plain cotton fabric the length of your ironing board plus 40 cm (16″) for the lining
- Wadding (optional) the length of your ironing board plus 40 cm (16″). I already have a soft wadding protector type thing on my ironing board so I’m not adding any wadding, but feel free to add a layer if you want.
- Elastic 12 mm (1/2″) wide by several metres (it depends on how big your ironing board is – enough elastic to go around the circumference of your ironing board will be plenty).
- Safety pin
- Thread to match your fabric, sewing machine and general sewing requirements such as pins and chalk
Lay your plain fabric on the ground and lay your ironing board upside down on top of the fabric. Using tailor’s chalk or pins, trace all the way around the edge of the ironing board. Remove the ironing board and add 13 cm (5 1/4”) all the way around the shape you have already traced. Try to make sure it’s neat and symmetrical. Cut around the bigger shape.
Lay out your pretty fabric with the right side of the fabric facing upwards and pin your plain piece (that you’ve cut out) on top of it, with the right side facing down. Cut around the plain piece so you have two layers the same shape and size.
If you want to add a layer or wadding, pin these two layers on top of your wadding and cut around the shape again.
You can leave the layers pinned together (as long as the right sides of the fabric are facing together) and then sew all the way around the outside edge with 1 cm (3/8”) seam allowance, leaving a gap of about 20 cm (8″) open in one end. If you are sewing with a layer of wadding, make sure the fabric layers are right sides together and the wadding is on top or underneath them (but not in between them). Sew around the edge the same as if you weren’t using wadding.
Clip the seam allowance around the curved areas.
Pull the cover through the gap you left open to turn it through to the right side. Iron it flat and fold in 1 cm (3/8″) along the gap you left open, pressing it flat with your iron. Pin the folded edges together to close the gap, but leave a small gap of about 3cm open still (to insert the elastic later).
Sew as pinned, close to the edge.
Sew all the way around the edge again (not leaving a gap this time), about 2 cm (3/4″) from the edge to form a casing for the elastic. If you are using wider elastic, you’ll need to sew further from the edge. Attach the safety pin to one end of the elastic and poking it into the small gap, thread it through the casing all the way around the ironing board cover.
Once you get back to the start, pin the ends together with the safety pin then stretch the cover over your ironing board. Pull the ends of the elastic to tighten the cover so it fits nice and snug. When you’re happy with the fit, pin the ends together again right where they meet in the gap, cut off the excess and sew the two ends together.
I like to sew the seam with a straight stitch then fold back the seam allowance and zig-zag it flat against the elastic so it’s nice and flat and secure.
Ease the elastic back into the casing and pin the gap closed. Stitch close to the edge and now your ironing board cover is finished!
Stretch it over your ironing board again, even out the gathers and smooth out any crinkles. Ironing is never fun, but having a nice ironing board cover makes it much more bearable.
Other people’s creative spaces here.
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What a great idea, I need a new cover. Bookmarking
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant, thank you very much.