Patchouli Moon Studio: how to make an ironing board cover

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Tip of the Morning Tuesday~Ironing Board

I have a tip to share with you after recovering my ironing board recently. I have a large rectangle board (29" x 35") that sits on top of a table and my last cover was looking rather scorched, so it needed a pretty new cover. I had used a home dec fabric last time with batting and InsulBright under the fabric and it lasted a few years, but with all the pressing/ironing that I do with making quilts and handbags, all the layers underneath felt rather flat. I really didn't want to add a lot more layers of batting and InsulBright again, ugh!

So I got this idea to use a foam stabilizer under the silver ironing surface that I wanted to use. I had a 36" x 58" package of double-sided fusible foam stabilizer called In-R-Form by Bosal, so I used that underneath. I left all the old stuff on the board and just stapled the foam stabilizer onto the back of the board, then covered it with the silver ironing board fabric and stapled it into place on the back of the board too. Once I started to iron, the fusible part adhered to the silver fabric. I love how the foam is firm bit adds a bit of cushioning to the ironing surface. You really don't need the foam stabilizer to have any fusible on it at all though. I used a fusible foam because I already had it on hand. You can use any brand you like: Soft and Stable byAnnie, In-R-Form by Bosal, Foam Flex by Pellon (although Pellon brand is only 20" wide, so depending on your board size, you may have to whip-stitch pieces together to make it the correct size to fit your board).

I love my new ironing surface now! I hope it stays pretty looking for a long, long time. Time will tell how the foam holds up underneath, but so far after over a month of ironing on it, it looks and feels great!