Now, before I begin, if any of you out there are guilty of relegating your ironing board to a dusty corner in the closet, let me convince you to think again.
I know, I know, it can be a hassle to set it up, but, you guys, where else can you get such a sense of instant gratification other than when ironing?
Think about it! Now, it's wrinkled. Suddenly, with a little heat and steam, POOF, it is not wrinkled. Now THAT is a great feeling of accomplishment.
Ok, ok, enough about my love of instant gratification. Regardless, if you are sewing, you are also ironing (Yes, do it. You have to), so why not make that a pleasureable part of the process by covering your ironing board in something outrageously adorable?
Here's everything you need to sew your own ironing board cover:
1 1/2 yds of cotton fabric
1 roll of batting (I bought the size needed for a crib, don't get crazy and buy the size for a queen-sized bed or anything)
Fabric scissors
Thread
Thin ribbon or string
Safety pin
Ironing board
Here's what I did to create my new, cute ironing board cover. First, lay your fabric out on a large table, or the floor if need be.
Lay your ironing board right side down on top of your fabric.
Cut around the approximate size of the ironing board, with a good 4-5 inches extra added around all the edges.
Now, lay out your batting. Lay the ironing board right side down on this and cut around it so it is the same size as your ironing board (don't add those extra inches like we did on the fabric).
Once we have our fabric and our batting cut, it's time to set up our ironing board for real. We need to iron all the way around our fabric, making a small (1/2 inch) fold around all the edges.
Now, yes, this has some curvy edges to it. Your fold is not going to be perfect and pretty all the way around. There is going to be places where it doubles up on each other, and that's ok. Look how not pretty mine is:
After you've ironed the 1/2 inche fold all the way around, it's time to fold it once more, this time let's do 1 inch. Again, around the curvy parts, you are going to get some strange folds, but that's perfectly fine. This is going to be tucked away on the bottom, where no one will ever see it!
This second time around, be sure to pin the fold so it stays in place. We are going to sew all the way around, leaving a hole on the flat end of the board, so get your sewing machine set up and remember where you need to not sew it closed.
Sew around with the needle sewing as close to your folded edge as possible. No, it's not going to be pretty, going around those curves, but make sure you get all the edges as you are sewing.
After we've made it around this gigantic piece of fabric, it's time to add the string to cinch it up! Tie a safety pin with one end of your string or thin ribbon, and begin to work it through the casing you just made. This is a bit of a long process, so settle in and get comfortable.
Once the string and safety pin come out of the other side of the hole, you are getting close to being done!
Go ahead and put that batting on top of your ironing board. Next, place the ironing board cover over top of all of this. Begin to cinch the string or ribbon until it is tight around your ironing board and tie it off with a good knot.
Congrats! You are done with your new ironing board cover. Now get to ironing, so you can really enjoy it!