Sunday 13 January 2008

New Ironing Board Cover

Well OK, so this isn't exactly exciting, but it's a rotten rainy and cold day and I just couldn't bear to do the ironing on such a gloomy cover.

Every so often I like to change my ironing board cover. I find that mine always get so mucky (because I'm messy, and I put my cups of tea on it, and I get fusible interfacing on it) that even putting them in the wash doesn't get all the muck and grot out. And it's so easy to replace them.

I don't buy my covers, because they are usually pretty grim (have you seen the ones with the bloke in the towel? As the board gets hot the towel disappears. Classy)

Anyway, here is the "before" shot. I know, it's a disgrace. It looks like that bit on the headboard when people have been smoking in bed.

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And here's my lovely new one. We've been watching Life on Mars on DVD all week and I think I have gone back to 1973. But it's a lovely cheerful print and just what the doctor ordered.

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So, first of all, make sure you choose 100% cotton fabric. If you have any polyester in there the heat of the iron will melt it. You'll need about 1 1/2 metres. You also need about 3 metres of thin cord (or you could re-use the one off the existing cover). If your foam underneath is ripped or scruffy, you should replace that as well. Last time I did my board I put upholstery wadding underneath.

First, untie the cord from underneath the existing cover (it is probably wrapped around a plastic toggle thing. If it is - goodo - you have half of your materials already). Pull all the string out, and stretch the cover out flat. Lay the old cover on top of your fabric and cut around it, leaving about 2cm seam allowance (or more if you prefer a bigger allowance, or are adding extra padding). (Yeuch, how grotty does that old one look?)

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Now, if you wanted to do it properly, you would put a hem all around. But I'm lazy, so I just zig-zagged the raw edge. Also, I'm probably not going to throw this in the wash, so it doesn't really matter. Zia-zag or overlock stitch is enough to keep it from fraying. Then I folded the edge over 2cms and sewed about 1 cm from the edge to make a channel for the string. Make sure you leave enough space to pass a safety pin through. Start at the flat end and backstitch a few stitches to secure. When you get round to the same point, leave a gap of about 2cms (back stitching again) so you can slip your thread in and out. You don't need to be too precise, because it's all going to be underneath.

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Next, assuming your cord is synthetic (most are) singe the end with a lighter, then attach a small safety pin. The reason we singe it is because they fray so easily and it's mightily annoying to get half way round and find you've become detached. When you have threaded your cord all the way through (hurray!), secure the cover over the board and tighten the cord as much as it will go, smoothing the surface and tucking under as necessary.

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Now either tie off the ends, or use a piece of plastic with slits taken out of the sides (either make your own or use the toggle from the old cover) to secure the cord underneath.

Hurray, that only took about 20 minutes and look how snazzy we are!

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30 comments:

Concha said...

great tutorial! my orange cover doen't mactch my red&acqua kitchen and I've been trying to buy a new one... but after reading this, what I'm going to do is MAKE one! Thanks :)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous. Your blog was sent to me by a friend who saw me shopping for the ironing board cover of my dreams. I still haven't found it. I have an oddly shaped board to boot. Now why didn't I think of sewing one myself!

Ginger Patches said...

Thank you for that tutorial!!! I sooo need to make a new ironing board cover but have been to lazy to sit down and figure it out LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you sooooooooooooo much! I couldn't find a 48in/15in cover anywhere except to order one from the UK. I made a cover tonight with $4.00 worth of fabric! My second finished project on my sewing machine.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much. I saw your post right a way and put it on my to do list. Mine was just plan ugly. I've been crafting with my sister latly and so ashamed of my gross ironing board. Plus, my husband has been after me to buy a new one. $15 for a cover. No way. I made mine today for $3.50. When he got home, he thought I'd bought a new one. Thanks for the great idea. I would not have thought of it on my own. So simple too.

Marmadaisy said...

I aim to please! All my tutorials are things that I want to make, or things that I think are fun or useful. Thanks so much for all your comments!
Anna x

Anonymous said...

oh my goodness! this is just what i have been looking for! i know you posted it MONTHS ago, but still i am so glad i stumbled upon it! would you mind if i linked to it on my own blog?? :) thanks so much for the tutorial!

Anonymous said...

This is a fabulous tutorial! My friend & I got together this past weekend to make new covers for our ironing boards and had a great time. I've posted a blog entry about it (with a picture of my new board).

Thanks so much for the inspiration!

Andrea Q said...

This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing your tutorial.

Anonymous said...

I did mine finally today. Thanks for the tutorial.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I stumbled upon this...you have no idea how bad my ironing board looks. Friends have offered to buy me a new one!

Ricë said...

whoa! who knew? i'd been gnashing my teeth because, like you, i mess up ironinb board covers at a frightful rate AND i hate the ones i see in the stores. guess what i'm going to be doing tomorrow? thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this tutorial! I so have to make a new cover for my board. Unfortunately I also need new padding, so do you have some tips for that? I have seen batting, foam, fleece etc. mentioned. Do I need to quilt these materials to my top fabric? Won't the seams interfere with ironing? Where can I buy them? Any other tips? The easier, the better... Cheers!

Anonymous said...

I'm on my way to the fabric store now! My board is not a standard size and Target doesn't sell the covers for it any more.
A couple of tips-serge the edge of the hem for a great and fast finish.
Lay the cord or elastic in the channel. Fold over and start sewing. Make sure you attach the elastic at the beginning so it doesn't pull through and don't catch it with the stitches. It sure beats pulling through later. Works great for waistbands too.

Anonymous said...

Just reread some of the comments. Winnie, cotton batting would be great. A bit more spendy, but worth it. I scored some stuff from my drycleaners. Commercial grade, very hard to cut and spendy. But-I will probably never have to replace it.

leapinleah said...

Wow ... I just bought fabric to give my daughter's IB a new cover. I bought heat resistant fabric, though, cuz her cotton one was grabbing the fabric so badly. Not as colorful, but very useful.
Thanks for the instructions, now I can get it done!

Sandra :) said...

The cover was SO easy to make - I wish I hadn't put off trying this project for so long - my old cover was pretty disgusting, lol! But now I have a pretty new cover that cost me under a buck - the fabric was gifted to me by a friend, I had the tapestry yarn in my stash, and the little doodad to pull the thread tight, cost me under a buck :) Thanks for a wonderful tutorial - I'm going to make a couple more covers with fireman hunk fabric - as gifts for some quilty friends!

Kelley said...

Oh I love this! My MIL has been asking me for a long time to make her a new ironing board cover. Now I know what to do. Thanks!!!

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