Sewing Projects 

Sewing Friends:

Do your ironing board covers look pretty bad? 

I really make a mess of mine in a short time. 

I checked ironing board covers out in the stores, but they are either flimsy fabric or those “coated” covers.  And the thin foam pads that they put with them are even worse.  Yuk!

They don’t work well for construction pressing that we do in our sewing nor do they even work well for our weekly household ironing that some of us still do.

The best ironing board covers and pads are the ones you make yourself. 

It really is very quick and easy to do and will give you much better ironing and pressing results.

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Sew A New Ironing Board Cover

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Cotton fabrics make better covers than those “coated” covers that reflect heat. The “coated” covers are often too hot for construction pressing.

Try using a pretty print from your “stash”, good old fashioned muslin or use an old sheet.

Launder and preshrink your cotton fabric first to remove all sizing, chemicals, etc.

Use your old cover as a pattern for a new one.  You may want to make it slightly larger to accommodate a more thickly padded board.

Make two covers at a time so you always have one ready when you need it. 

Sew elastic to the edge of the cover or create a drawstring casing with bias tape or fabric to hold it to the board.

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Use Wool Padding

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A thickly padded board is best for all your pressing and ironing.   One inch padding works well. 

Cut layers of old wool blankets or wool fabric to fit your board for the best pressing surface.  Here is a good place to use that old, itchy, Army wool blanket.

Slightly stagger the edges as you cut your layers.  Build them up until they are about 1 inch thick.  Have the largest layer on top when you put them on the board.

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Make covers and pads for your sleeve boards, skirt and tailoring boards, pressing tables and other pressing equipment as well.

You will experience much better pressing and ironing with a cotton cover and wool padding.

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It just makes sense!

PS:  If you get fusible on your ironing board cover, don’t risk the fusible coming off on your next project. It is better to make a new ironing board cover.  See the post on Sewing Success Sewing Blog on How To Remove Fusible “Gunk” From Your Iron And Fashion Fabrics
 

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Sewing Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.