When Necessity Rules - (Ironing Board Cover Tutorial!)

Life is so much better with a new ironing board cover!

I’d been needing to do this for the longest time – and the time was never right.  And there wasn’t the right fabric or supplies on hand – or so I thought.

Now, I’m not one to diss a hard working ironing board that shows signs of much pressing and productivity.  Don’t get me wrong.  I firmly believe that an “always clean” ironing board is evidence that someone isn’t sewing hard enough! LOL!  But there comes a time in every board’s life to retire the old and update with new.

It all started here!

A huge and heavy pillow ticking curtain that used to hang at the sliding glass windows in my basement sewing area at the cabin. We replaced it with a rolling shade this past winter – no cords, just easy up easy down.  But this curtain?  Not only does it contain yards of the heavy duck fabric, but it is also lined with a very nice weight of 100% cotton in white.  I can’t just toss this – could you?

When The Hubster asked me to replace his tennis ball bag that had worn thin and was starting to tear, my mind went quickly to the binds folded on a shelf in the utility room, waiting for “some day, some project.”

Bag made – I found I had a left over piece just big enough to turn into an ironing board cover – and it only took an hour.

First things first – and I forgot to get a photo of this part – Lay the fabric wrong side up on the floor.  Center the ironing board upside down against the fabric. Draw a 3 1/2’’ margin all the way around the outside edge of the ironing board.  Be generous with it.  You need enough margin for a double drawstring casing.

With the iron on HIGH setting, press over 1/4’’ or so.  I’m not a steam presser when it comes to quilt block construction, but I did spritz and press here to get a good crease on the edge of the fabric. 

While we try to avoid tucks in patchwork, you will NEED to press in some tucks as you work yourself around the curves and corners, especially at the “nose” of the ironing board.

Once you’ve done the 1/4’’ all-the-way-around routine, do it AGAIN, this time folding over about 3/4’’ all the way around, pressing and pinning as you go.

Top stitching close to the inside edge of the casing.

Because this is a stripe, I think it’s fairly easy to see where I pinned some tucks around the nose of the cover.  Keep it as smooth as you can, remembering that a large safety pin needs enough room to pull the cord or elastic through.

The back end corners – pleat as needed!

I started my top stitching at the back end, leaving myself about 1-1/2’’ open to pass the draw-string through.

Ready for the cord!

And then I realized I didn’t have a draw-string cord!  We had forgotten to get it along with everything else from yesterday’s Lowe’s run.

What to do??

Back to the curtain – all of those serged seams that I had torn off to make the fabric more usable?  BRAIN STORM!

Seams from a 7 ft tall curtain!

Serging makes them extra strong!

I overlapped two ends about 2’’ and straight stitched back and forth and back and forth to join them into one length.  I trimmed excess ends – I couldn’t just put in a knot because it might not slide through the casing easily enough.

If you have string – believe me.  USE IT.  Or narrow elastic, whatever it takes – just make sure it is WAY LONGER than the circumference of your ironing board and strong enough to  withstand the push and pull of the safety pin and the adjusting of the gathered fabric as you work it around the cover.

In one side – and out the other!

My only problem was that the sharp point of the pin kept working itself out of the safety catch and poking me – I’d have to back track and feel through the fabric to get it back into the clasp.  But we did it.  With serged cording to spare!

Not so shabby if I do say so myself!

And it fits better than what was on there previously.  I also left the OLD ironing board cover in place underneath – it had an attached pad, and I didn’t have a separate one, nor extra layers of batting to make my own.  I just left it in place and added this new one over the top, securing it snuggly with the drawstring.

This whole process? It took an hour this morning.

And there is still all of this left from that curtain!

One other thing I like to do when pressing small parts at the ironing board -

Lay down an old terry cloth towel.  Press on top of the towel.  It will help keep your ironing board scorch-free and the towel will absorb any best-press, spray starch or other chemicals, not to mention stray threads and dog ears.  When the towel gets yucky looking – just toss it in the wash and lay a new one down.

This is generally a great place and time to use those bath towels that have seen better days but are too good to be tossed to the garage to be delegated as car wash towels.

This happened yesterday!

The sink is also in place, but the sink plumbing not functional yet – we needed a different elbow than the old plumbing provided – so off we went.

Yeah.  Here Again.  LOL!

Really? We couldn't get this stuff when I picked up the toilet and mirror Friday? Nope.

Last minute decision (or absolute necessity) to replace the vent registers rather than to put the old, rusted, bent, ugly ones back in place. And while we're here… some fatigue mats and the new PVC elbow for the sink drain (This is what really started the list.) A filter bag for the shop vac after all of that dry wall dust clean up. And this is where I fell short with NO IRONING BOARD CORDING!

All’s well that ends well -

Movie night at The Blue Ridge Movie Lounge!

A great way to end a very busy day – Rocket Man!

Tears, laughter, toe-tapping and singing along. This was the soundtrack to my childhood.

Awesome, poignant, and a compassionate dose of reality. Well done!

And this puts me back at the Quiltville Post Office where I am writing this post as the internet is better.  Not by much, but better!  

Today we continue with getting the sink functional, finishing up the painting, baseboard and lighting in the Postmaster’s Office (My computer room) and start on the back storage/entry/back stock room.

And I think the Postal Gal at the Mouth of Wilson Post Office was a bit agog when I walked in with about 80 orders in 4 stuffed to the gills mail tubs before 11am closing yesterday.  I asked for more tubs to replace them – she said she didn’t have any.  What am I going to do?  She said she will “put in a request for more.”

I’ll have Jeff bring some more up from home when he comes to mow the lawn here at Quiltville Inn tomorrow.  And it is my hope that over time the need for MORE will be understood as the out-going mail increase to this sleepy little town starts showing up on regional spread sheets! 

It’s REALLY a good thing that I wasn’t doing my String Frenzy book release from here – they wouldn’t have known what hit them!

Sale continues though Monday, June 3rd – Midnight Eastern! 

To celebrate the Grand Opening of the Quiltville Post Office in Mouth of Wilson VA, We are offering free shipping on all orders of $39.00 and up!

Your purchase may also include digital patterns as free shipping is based on your merchandise total.

Remember to use code Free39 at purchase to redeem. No refund. MUST USE CODE! Click to visit the Quiltville Store.

Quiltville Quote of the Day

Spider web quilt found in North Carolina.

Anything worth doing is best done with passion, determination and the thrill of seeing results come to fruition!

I’m off to pick up a paint brush.

Enjoy this first Sunday of June 2019, everyone!