Iron Away

So there was a major bummer with the awesome chandelier from this previous post… It was painted and looking all snazzy when dark clouds started to roll in. It really looked like a sudden down pour was on its way. So I moved it under the canopy and that’s when it happened…. The swing bumped up against it taking off a whole chunk of paint. I probably would have left it but it was a really noticeable spot. So I touched it up. Waited….. and then the bag it was drying on top of somehow got pushed up against it and tore off a BIG chunk of paint. Grrrrrr. I was not a happy camper. So there is currently no light fixture in that room and I now need to sand and repaint several spots. Bummer.

But on a happier DIY note, I have a fun project to show you. I recently decided that my ironing board cover needed an update from faded/stained stripes. There were no ready made covers that really matched the new colors in the laundry room, so I decided to make one myself.

Now before I jump into this mini tutorial please note:


~I am not a champion seam seamstress. Basic strait lines on a machine are a challenge for me. If you can sew for real – you may just want to look away. :)

Here is the yummy fabric I chose. Dark chocolate background, light and hot pinks, and creams. Isn’t it just lovely? I love it!

My ironing board is just over 2 ½ long, a little table top kind. Under the cover it had a thin but sturdy piece of foam and then just a piece of plywood. Fancy schmancy… oh, and it was from the Boutique. $3.99, yippee!

Here’s evidence of it’s tiny size - yep, that’s my kitchen counter. All full of junk… hmmm…..Guess I know what my next project is!

After ironing my fabric, I took the old cover and stretched it out flat on top of the fabric. Both were face down.

Then I cut out the basic shape of the cover leaving about 3 inches on every side.

The spray paint on my hands did not come off for several days!

Now here comes the not so technical part that I just made up as I want along. After folding the fabric within ¼ inch of the original cover I pinned it all the way around.

{Other side}

The ¼ inch became the pocket to feed the elastic through.

At the corners, I made sure to fold over one side flat and then the other on top of it.

That way when the pocket was sewn it would still be open to push the elastic through.

At this point I was ready to sew all the way around, making sure to leave a 1 inch gap at the bottom {short end}. That became the entrance and exit point for the elastic.

Once sewn, all I needed to do was attach a tiny safety pin to one end of the elastic and feed it through the little pocket all the way around. I did this, of course, while watching a previous episode of Design Star. hee hee!


All that was left was to trim the excess fabric and put it on. Tada!

By the way, there will be a laundry room reveal by the end of the week… I am just bursting at the seams, ready to show you! Stay tuned!


All photos taken by yours truly.