28 March 2012

New Ironing Board Cover, x2

My ironing board cover was getting really nasty.  I've had it for a long time (3 moves worth or so!), and it finally started getting actual holes in it.  It was time to break down and make a new cover.   I actually made this over a month ago before my life started revolving around wiring our house...but that's a story for another day.


While I was at it, I also made a cover for Dolly's ironing board...thank you, Mom, for saving it from my childhood!
Here's the before of my ironing board cover:


Here is Dolly's ironing board, too.  The poor 30+ year old foam pad had pretty much become melded to the  board.


I used the tutorial from Sew 4 Home with a few changes.  I added a second row of piecing just because I liked it.  I also made a second layer on which I appliqued some terry cloth I had from an old project to make a new pad.  The Sew 4 Home tutorial did not include any padding.


Here's a simple photo progression of how I pieced Dolly's board cover:


Adding a little topstitching to hold it all in place:


To make the padding, I just cut it out of the terry with the board on top.  Then, I zigzag stitched the terry to the lining.

The hardest part, making the casing.  I had to use a lot of tucks to get around the curves.


Biggest tip, use safety pins on the ends of your ribbon so you don't pull it all the way through (once or twice!)


Since making this, I have to say I'm not over the moon with how it came out, but it works.  Perhaps it was the second layer, but I can't get the cover on as tight as I'd like.

I did find, however a fun thing under all that foam on Dolly's board:


Aren't these 70s illustrations so fun?  Who wouldn't want to be a "Sunny Suzy?"


Ok, maybe not Dolly all the time.  This is the look I've been getting lately, especially with hands on her hips and a toe tapping in exasperation.


And just to prove that we all goof, here is what happened when I accidentally knocked the hot iron off of the ironing board.


Yes, that would be a permanently burned in iron mark.  Can someone explain why you would want carpet in a kitchen???

This is what my iron looked like afterwards.


After a lot of scrubbing and scraping with a straight edge, I was able to remove all the carpet from my iron.  Any tips for fixing the carpet?  I tried using ice cubes and a fork to lift it up a bit.  I can't wait to see how they ding us for that on our renter's deposit.  Yikes.


Happy ending...we have fun matching ironing board covers.  Which reminds me, I have a pile of ironing to tackle this morning!




9 comments:

  1. I rent too, if I was a landlord, I would not have carpeting anywhere in the house. I have carpeting in my bathroom, and if my cat accidently misses the litter box and hits the carpet, it is a pain to clean up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! I did that when I was moving my ironing board away, I just scrapped my fingers quickly, back and forth, and the nap came back, but if you have a shorter bap, may not work for you!
    What about scratching the fork back and forth over the mark, rather than trying to lift up the nap. Might be enough to erase the mark?!
    Good luck, Leslie

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love a new ironing board cover! Makes everything feel fresh. But somehow I never burn my ironing board cover unless I just replaced it. Happened with my new one, too! (Love the hardware on that door!)
    Anna
    http://lassothemoon.typepad.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. That child size ironing board is a real treasure, what an heirloom - your daughter is absolutely adorable! I haven't tried an ironing board cover yet, but plan to soon. I always love Sew 4 home's project ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are great, Chris! I love the Sunny Suzy illustrations. I had a Holly Hobbie ironing board when I was little. I wish I had some advice for you on the burn mark, but fingers crossed that you figure something out :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Her little ironing board is absolutely darling!! I would hate to cover up the pictures!!

    There is something you can buy that helps remove grit and smooth the surface of your iron - I just used it again recently (I am forever ironing paper that has coffee grounds or food coloring on it (you know - those handmade papers we make) to get it nice and flat again and it is terribly hard on the iron.

    I can't remember the name of the stuff. I've found it at Walmart in the area where you buy irons and I've found it buy the liquid starch in the detergent isle.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ah - there it is Amazon has it Faultless Hot Iron Cleaner.

    http://www.amazon.com/Faultless-40105-Hot-Iron-Cleaner/dp/B000BPEPJG

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can't even take how cute your daughter is ironin. Seriously made me smile.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a sweet ironing board your daughter has! So cool that your mom kept it for you...

    Oh I hate accidents like that. I'm not sure how I'd deal with the mark except to throw a rug over it. And I'm with you! Who puts carpet in the kitchen?... Frustrating.

    ReplyDelete

How sweet of you to stop by. Kind words are always welcome.