No pattern needed- Ironing board cover

[sewingmel]

Please see the free patterns section for the complete pattern.

Materials:
-fabric for the cover- I used home dec that I washed and dried on hot. You can also use any quality cotton quilting fabric. Make sure to iron it before you destroy your old ironing cover!
-batting- I used 1 layer of Insul-bright and 1 layer of Thermolam (mostly because that was the batting I had on hand)
***You may want to add extra layers of batting here. Pre-shrunk cotton batting would work great!***
-1" diaper foe (fold over elastic)
-sewing marker or chalk

You will use your ironing board as a template so no pattern is needed. You just need a large, clean workspace.

Step 1: Remove your old cover. Mine also had a paper thin piece of foam that was not helping. I removed that, too.



Step 2: Turn your ironing board upside down on your batting. Use your ironing board to make a pattern. Do this for all batting, and cut out with no seam allowances.







Step 3: Serge all of your batting together. If you do not have a serger, you can do a straight stitch and zig-zag the edges. Put finished batting piece aside.






Step 4: Use your ironing board as a template on your main fabric. Make sure you have extra room on all sides. Do NOT cut out.
**If you were smart, you ironed it before you got to this step. I forgot!



Step 5: Using your batting covered ironing board (the batting will fit right over the board), measure the sides. Add .75"-1" to the side total. You will add this amount to all sides. Cut off excess.

**Following picture does not match text, but it gives you the right idea**
I added 2" all around, and that made my cover saggy in places. I went back and altered the front adding just .75 inch, and it fit perfectly.



Step 6: Add foe all around. I pulled the foe pretty tight, and I sewed it using a multi-zig zag stitch. You could also use a wide zig zag.

Start by leaving a 3-4 inch tail, and sew foe all around pulling it pretty tight (hold fabric at front and back of the machine).



When you are 2-3 inches from the tail, take fabric off the sewing machine. Match up right sides, sew a straight stitch, and cut off excess. Now you will have a length of binding that will be a perfect fit. Sorry for the blurry pics here. Finish sewing the rest of the foe on your cover.







You are finished!



If you made your cover tight enough, it will fit snug over the batting layers and ironing board. I chose not to attach the batting and cover to make it easier to wash. I have been using an inferior board cover with basically the same set up for years just fine. If you would like to attach them, that is also allowed.