Ironing Board Cover

This past year I have done more ironing than ever before. After wearing scrubs to school for 4 years my husband now has to wear a shirt and a tie to school/work everyday and on Sundays for church. I really don't mind ironing too much, but it certainly can be time consuming.

I decided that if I have to stand over the ironing board for an hour or more each week that it ought to be pretty. So I bought some fabric and transformed my stained and very outdated ironing board cover to something pretty. I made sure to get a dark and patterned fabric so future stains would be more disguised.

The nice thing about making your own is that you can customize it to your laundry room, house, and have something more fun and original than the covers from the store.

Grab your JoAnn's coupon and head to the store for some fabric and elastic to make a new ironing board cover for yourself. My whole project only cost $5!

What You'll Need:
Fabric - Everyone's ironing board is a little different in size. Take off your current cover and measure it or take it with you to the fabric store to know how much to get. I just used a simple calico cotton.

Elastic -  Cording or 1/4inch elastic - 1 package should be enough. Mine was 2.5 yards and I didn't use it all.

Pins
Safety Pin
Scissors
Thread
Sewing Machine

Step 1: Layout your fabric (pre-shrunk) and lay your old cover on top. Put a few pins in it to keep it in place. (I really wanted this fabric because it was so cheap and the end of the bolt. There wasn't quite enough for me to cut it out straight. There is no need to cut your fabric on a diagonal like I did!)

Step 2: Measure and mark 1-1.5 inches (depending on your elastic width) all the way around your old cover. This extra fabric will become the casing for your elastic.

Step 3:  Cut the fabric on the marks you made.

Step 4: Fold the edge of the fabric in 1/2 inch (or half of the measurement you used in step 2). Pin in place.

Be sure to mark one area about 3 inches where you will not sew it closed. I marked my area with 2 crossed pins.

Step 5: Sew the hem down about 1/8 inch from the edge. I used a straight stitch, but would have used a zigzag very close to the raw edge if my sewing machine would have been working correctly. Don't sew it completely shut - you need that 3 inch space to put the elastic through!

Step 6: Pin down one end of your elastic ends at the opening.

Step 7: Put a safety pin through the free end of the elastic. Push the pin and elastic through the opening and all around the edge of your cover.

Step 8: Once the two elastic ends meet, pin them together and try the cover on your ironing board. This will be the time that you decide how tight to make your elastic. You will want to make it very snug as you don't want any bunching while you are ironing your clothes.
Once you have decided how tight to make the elastic tie it in a knot or sew the ends securely together.

Step 9: Tuck the elastic back in the edge and sew the hole closed.

Step 10: Put your finished cover on your ironing board and you are done!! I left my old pad and cover underneath for a little extra cushion. Don't use your old cover if it has an rips or tears in it.

Now you have a beautiful board to do your ironing on. It definitely makes me happy to be staring at this instead of the old one I had on before! 

I am no expert seamstress (as I'm sure you can tell), but this project is rather forgiving since your seams are all hidden underneath. Please ask questions if you have any! Have fun!