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Friday, February 29, 2008

Making A New Ironing Board Cover



The women of the past knew how to cover an ironing board! They didn't buy a new Teflon coated packaged deal at the local merchantile ~ no, they didn't! When the old one had "had it", they simply folded some old sheets and wrapped them around the top of the old one and pinned the new cover in place. After a lifetime of use, an ironing board was pretty heavy to carry around with all that padding, but it was wonderful full padding with nice rounding at the corners.

My Grandmother and Mother were women who did this. I could never figure out how to do it with safety pins like they used, though!



Yesterday the time came for this old ironing board to be recovered. I had inherited it from a lady in her 90's who left it in the last house we bought. May be some day I will tell you about Bea.
This has wonderful cast-iron type legs, although it takes up a lot of room due to the wide legs on the wide end of it. Take a length of fabric over the top of the board. Allow maybe 5" to hang down. Starting at the wide end, cut the sides straight, not trying to follow the contour of the board. Round off those straight angles of the corners.


Then using some twill tape, sew it to the edge of the fabric, then turned it down to form a casing. Leave the openingin the narrow end. After stitching it down, run a cord all the way around the whole cover.



Pull up the cording a bit in the round areas to form gathers. Fit it onto your board and distribute the gathers evening on the rounded parts. Tie off and tuck the ends under.



I'm not sure how to rotate this picture for you to see, but you can see there are two springy thingys that span the width underneath to keep things in place. They came with the deal!

I will say, I lined this cover with a piece of soft, but heavy fabric under it and treated both pieces as one. I thought the thin fabric would wear better.

Now pressing is a pleasure!

10 comments:

Paula said...

Oh Sharon,

Thank you so much for sharing the beautiful photos and instructions to make an ironing board cover. I love the pretty fabric you used!!! It looks so good in your pink sewing room! The ironing board is so nice and I would love to hear about Bea! I love how you have it placed in front of the window. That is so pleasant! You are so talented!!!

I am going to have to make a cover for my ironing board, it needs a new one, and I like the idea of choosing my own fabric!

Sharon said...

Paula,
I'm so glad you liked it! I'm really tickled about getting it finished without too much "pain"! I can assure you there is no talent involved here ~ just sheer necessity!
Would love to see what YOU come up with!
sharon

Paula said...

Sharon,

I am glad it went together easy, as I was hoping mine would look as pretty as yours! Indeed, you are talented and you sew beautifully! I admire my pretty apron that you made daily!!! The next time I go to JoAnn I am going to purchase some fabric for my cover and give it a try! Where did you find your pretty fabric?

Shan said...

Dearest Sharon,

How did you know that I have an antique ironing board that I would like to use and I needed to know how to make a cover?

Your sewing room looks so inviting.....I would love to take a tour!

Please stop by an visit me at my blog: http://homesteadblogger.com/HoneyHillFarm/

Yours kindredly,
Shan

Sharon said...

Hi Shan!
I just saw your blog and really loved it! Your wonderful old house has that old cozy feel that is so hard to achieve, but you succeede! I can't wait to read more of your blog entries! Thank you for sharing it with me!
sharon

Sharon said...

Dear Paula,
I'm sooo glad you still like your apron! They are so cheerful!
As far as the fabric goes for the ironing board cover goes, I purchased it a couple of years ago from Wal Mart. Recently, however, I found it again at Hancock Fabrics, which is about the only fabric store left in our area. The Hancock fabric has an beige back ground which is much browner in tone than what I like. You may be able to find it with the whiter ground like mine.
I know you will choose something beautiful!
Sharon

Paula said...

Dear Sharon,

Thank you! I do enjoy my apron so much!!!

I will have to see if I can find that fabric at Walmart, as I would like the whiter back ground like yours! I wish you had a JoAnn fabric store near you.

I visited Shan's blog too, and I agree with you, her home is beautiful and her blog lovely!!!

Maggie Ann said...

Well, isn't that beautiful! I had said on my blog that I wanted to make an ironing board cover and this is an excellent tutorial! My husband & I did buy one for now...but I'll have to remember your blog url. Someone left me a comment with your url and here I am. Thank you! ..ps. your ironing board with the cast iron legs must be very vintage...I've never seen one like that before. Nice..=)

Sharon said...

I'm so glad you found me, Maggie Ann! I hope you do get to make a new ironing board cover, soon, perhaps for a bridal shower gift as a unique present ?Wouldn't that be fun?
I suspect my board is from the 30's or 40's at least.
Thanks for the comment!

Anonymous said...

I like your blog I am new at this sorry if I mess up I have a build in iron board, from 1928 thank because you just give me an idea how to replace the cover beautiful iron board