Well to February's Sew-Along!
This month we are going to give our ironing boards a facelift. After all, if you have to iron, you might as well do it with some style, right?
The supply list for the ironing board cover is here. And joining the Flickr group is a good idea. That is where lots of questions get answered and pictures get posted.
I decided to post this tutorial all at once, instead of in increments thoughout the week since there were no natural stopping points. Some of you will finish this in one sitting, and that is just fine. If it takes a few days to put together, no problem at all.
On Wednesday I will post a how-to for re-doing your ironing board pad. It won't be a full tutorial, but rather pics and explanation of how I did mine. It's really very simple! Of course, you can simply re-use the pad that is already on your board. Generally it is not attached to the cover.
Let's begin!
PLEASE NOTE: My board measures 13" across and 53" long. If yours is bigger, simply add a bit of fabric to accomodate that fact. It is nice to have 4" of extra fabric around the entire board. If you don't have that much, you can reduce the casing seams to 1/4" and 5/8" if you need to save fabric around the sides (the length) of the board. This tutorial should work for almost all boards (unless yours is unusually large).
First you will be cutting and laying out your fabrics to prepare them for sewing.
The 24" piece will be laid out lengthwise as shown (green floral). Your 3" piece will be laid widthwise and cut to 24". The 20" piece will be laid out widthwise and cut to 24":
Now sew together those pieces using a 1/4" seam (I line up the edge of my sewing foot with my fabric to keep my seams the same each time):
You will now end up with a piece that measure approximately 65" X 24". Don't worry if the piece ends up longer than that by a few inches.
Close-up:
Press your seams open, like this. Press the entire piece of fabric.:
Now lay your ironing board on top of the wrong side of your fabric piece:
Measure 4" around the entire board, marking this line with either a fabric pen or a regular pencil:
Now you will cut on that line all the way around the board. At the end of the board mark a 2" spot to leave your opening for the cording (see purple marks):
Using your iron, press your fabric down 1/2" all the way around the board. You will have to "gather" the fabric just a bit around the curves (notice the wrinkles on the curves):
This is the 2" mark you added for the casing:
Sew a zig-zag stitch to keep that fabric in place (you can use a regular stitch if your machine does not have a zig-zag option:
Now, iron the fabric down 3/4" all the way around (this is the 1/2" fold folded over once more). Notice the "gathers" around the curves. You will not see these once the cover is finished. The whole casing will be gathered up and it will be underneath the board. Pin this seam into place, using lots of pins around the curves:
Sewing close to the edge of the fabric, sew this seam in place:
Do not sew over your marked opening. It needs to be left open for the cording:
This is what your curved edges might look like:
Finished board cover laid out:
Tie knots on each end of your cording piece:
Using a safety pin, thread the whole piece through the casing. This takes a little while, so be patient.:
Both ends of the cording should stick out of the casing opening:
Now lay your ironing board cover, right side facing the floor, and place your ironing board on top of it:
Now (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) when you pull the cording to tighten, do not pull up. You need to cross the ends and gently pull to the side.:
Tighten up the cording (gently) and tie in a knot and then a bow (the knot will hold things in place more securely):
Voila! Now you need to iron something!
Or just admire your handiwork!
Please be sure to post your progress photos in the Flickr Group. You can leave comments and questions here in this post or in the Flickr group Discussion area.
Happy sewing!
