Easy Ironing Board Cover

I would like to preface this post with the disclaimer that I am no seamstress.  I can barely sew a straight line.  And barely is an understatement.  I can also barely cut a straight line.  Scissors are hard people.  But I truly believe that this project is so easy that anyone can do it.  In fact, I don’t even think you need a sewing machine.  You could totally do the seams with Fabri-Tac or Liquid Stitch or any other permanent adhesive meant for fabric.  You won’t see it.  So yeah – if you are a sewing rookie and looking to make something – this project is for you.

I bought my mini ironing board at Goodwill.  It was $4 and I got my fabric at the discount fabric store in Stone Mountain (it’s called Fabric World for any locals) and I paid $1 a yard and used less than 1 yard for this.  My board came with a cover but if yours didn’t, you will need to add a foam pad or batting to your fabric.  I suggest buying the batting and using iron-on interfacing to attach it to your cover or you can just cut it to size and leave it separate.

Okay – onto the project at hand.  Let’s channel our inner Martha.

First lay your board on the fabric.  Cut around it leaving at least two to three inches around the whole thing.

I did a little zig zag stitch around the edges to help it not fray in the wash.

Then just fold it over, leaving at least a one inch hem and sew a straight stitch around the entire thing EXCEPT leaving a one inch gap on the end.  Do not sew too close to the edge because that is needed for the tightening part!

My gap was on the pointy end.

You can double check your cover by laying the board on it and seeing if you can fold over all the edges.  You like my fancy sewing job?  Like I said – you can make this fast and with literally no sewing skills.

Then you will take a safety pin and tie to it some twine (heavy thread, yarn or string will definitely work too.  Really anything* will work.).

*this is an exaggeration because I am an exaggerator.  Fruit by the Foot, silly string, and human hair will not work.  If you are attempting to make something from human hair….please know that help is available.  You are not alone.  

Okay – so take your pin and put it in the gap and then thread it all the way around the loop.  Once you get to the end, make sure you don’t pull the fabric and have your string re-disappear into the gap again.  I speak from experience.  It’s very frustrating.

Then simply slide your board into the new cover, tucking the unfinished edges under and pull the cover tightly around it while simultaneously tightening the string.

I simply tied my strings off and then tucked them inside!  It was that easy.

It’s removable!  It’s washable!  It also makes french fries and crepes!

No it doesn’t….but it can match any little area you want because you get to personally pick the fabric.  And it makes your job of ironing just a little bit better 🙂

I don’t know exactly how much it costs because I had a lot of stuff on hand – like the string and the pin and the fabric but let’s just estimate that it cost $5 for the board and new cover.  Not too shabby considering they cost $10 at the store.

So that is one of the easiest sewing jobs ever.  If you want to see more sewing projects from the past – you can check out this page! Happy sewing y’all!

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