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Mini Ironing Board Tutorial

Hey there folks!


I'm still moving along on my closet redo but am getting to the point where I can start incorporating more craft time into my week.  This week I made a mini portable ironing board.  When sewing you have to iron constantly if you want your project to turn out well. Sometimes, though, it's just a huge pain the butt to set up that big ol' ironing board for two little 3" squares.  Raise your hand if you've forgone setting up the ironing board and then regretted it later. *raises hand*  Yeah, um... That's when it ends up looking homemade rather than handmade. 


I saw this tutorial from Popsugar on Pinterest several weeks back and tucked the idea away for later.  It's a mini ironing board.  I made mine 15"x15" and it's perfect for the smaller projects.  I'm going to show some pictures of my process, but you should really check out their tutorial. 






Materials

 1/2" Plywood, cut to size
4 Wooden Knobs w/Screws
Staple Gun
Scissors or Rotary Cutter
Pencil
Ruler or combination square
Batting
Fabric


Instructions


1. Cut your plywood down to size. My board is 15" x 15."  I didn't have 1/2" plywood so I glued two pieces of 1/4" plywood together using wood glue.  Once dried, I ran it through the table saw to make the edges flush.  If you don't have this capability, Lowes or Home Depot will cut plywood down to size for you.  Home Depot allows for 2 (maybe 3) cuts for free, but they'll charge you for each subsequent cut.  I think it was something like $0.50.  Don't hold me to that, though. 


2. Use your ruler or combination square to measure 1.5" from each corner, marking with a pencil until you have one cross in each corner.  This is for the feet. If you have a drill press or a hand held drill, pre-drill the holes in the center of each cross to avoid splitting the wood.  If using 1/2" or 3/4" plywood, I recommend recessing the holes so your screw heads are flush with the board. This way there are no random bumps in your ironing board.




3.  Attach the knobs by screwing them through the board and into the hole of the knob.






4. Cut your batting and fabric. I eyeballed mine, but you should probably measure it out. Things turn out better when you measure.  I also used two layers of batting for some extra cushion.  Popsugar recommends cutting the batting 1" larger than the board and the fabric 2" wider than the board.  Place the fabric** on bottom, wrong side up.  Layer and center the batting.  Then center the ironing board on top, feet pointing up. 


**It may make your life easier if you iron the edge of the fabric under about 1/2" before you layer everything.






5. Fold the fabric over one edge and staple, being careful to keep things straight.  Pull the fabric taut on the opposite side and staple. Do this on all sides, making sure you smooth and pull the fabric taut.  Fold the fabric under at the corners and staple in place.






Voila!  Mini ironing board!  That was easy peasy and took all of 20 minutes, right?  Let me know if you make one!  I'd love to see pictures and also feedback on the tutorial!








In case you were wondering, the fabric I used is from a fat quarter pack I found at Tuesday Morning.  Here are the others in the collection.  Unfortunately I didn't think things through so two sides are folded under and two sides are the raw edge because the fabric wasn't wide enough for my board.  I'm thinking about hot gluing some thin ribbon around the edge of the fabric on the bottom to give it a more polished look. 



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