You’ll find this mini ironing board is such a useful tool to have in the home. It’s a must have for the sewer or quilter, where the constant need to press fabric while working on a project is essential but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve whipped it out of the cupboard to give an urgently required child’s t-shirt or shorts a quick rub over before they run out of the door.
You can make one cheaply from scratch if you need to, but with any luck you’ll be able to recycle and re-purpose some old materials you have around the home.
What You Need
A sturdy piece of wood, at least ½” to 1” thick, cut to the dimensions you feel would be most useful (I used an old bread board approximately 12 x 15”)
Medium weight cotton fabric for the ironing board outer
Thick felt ironing underlay or a couple layers of cotton wadding
Heat reflective lining material or a piece of old ironing board cover
Heavy duty staple gun/upholstery tacker and staples
What To Do
When cutting your fabric make sure that you have at least a couple of inches spare around each side of the board. The exact amount you will need will vary depending on how thick your piece of wood is. You’ll need enough to cover the wadding and heat resistant fabric and be able to fold the raw edge under too.
Once you’ve cut your outer fabric to the right size, cut the wadding and heat resistant fabric slightly smaller, just enough to be able to pull around to the underside but still be covered by the outer layer.
Start by laying the heat resistant fabric with the metallic silvery side facing down. Then lay the felt underlay (or wadding) on top. Place the wooden board on top of that and making sure everything is centred, pull the two under layers around and put the first staple in the middle of one of the edges.
Do the same thing on the opposite edge, making sure that you pull the under layers nice and taut as you staple.
Continue along the edges, putting staples on alternate side, pulling the layers nice and taut each time. Don’t go too close the the corners yet.
Separate the layers at the corner, tuck the heat resistant fabric out of the way and trim down the thick felt/wadding so that the corners are not too bulky.
Pull the heat resistant fabric back into place and pull one edge around the corner and fold to the side. Staple into place.
Fold the second edge around and tuck it around the corner as neatly as you can and staple into place. Repeat for each corner until all the edges and corners are stapled into place.
Now to do the same thing with the outer fabric which will become our mini board cover. Place the fabric face down and centre the board on the fabric. Pull up one side of the fabric up and into place, covering the under layers and at the same time, tucking the raw edge underneath before stapling into place. Continue around the board, working on opposite edges and pulling the fabric taut. Remember not to go too close to the corners yet.
To finish the corners, trim the fabric slightly on a angle and tucking the raw edge under, pull the fabric over as shown.
Tuck in the remaining corner fabric and fold up into place as neatly as you can and staple. Repeat on the remaining corners until the whole of the outer layer is held securely in place.
Flip the board over and you now have one very useful and incredibly portable ironing board.
