Let’s learn how to make a custom DIY ironing board for your sewing room. Have you ever wished you had a larger ironing surface in your quilt room? Have you ever struggled when it comes to ironing the assembled rows of a quilt? Yeah, me too. I have a wool pressing mat that I really do like when it comes to pressing quilt blocks. But as you put blocks together into rows, it was too small and slides around on my countertop as I press.
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Ironing boards are too narrow, clunky, and take up space to store when not in use. So instead I replaced them with a DIY Ironing Board.
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Supplies for a DIY Ironing Board
- Piece of 3/4″ MDF cut to size (I purchased a 2′ x 4′ piece at Lowes and cut it down to 2′ x 3′ to fit my table top. Most home improvement stores will even cut it down for you if you don’t have a saw.)
- Insul-Bright heat resistant batting
- Canvas weight fabric of your choice, cut down to 6 inches larger than board size in both directions. (I used a one yard cut from Hobby Lobby, paying attention to directional fabric orientation, and cut it down to 30″ x 42″)
- Scotch Heavy Duty Gripping Pads – 4 pack
- Staple Gun
Instructions
My first step was to cut the Insul-Bright into two pieces that would cover the top surface of the MDF board and wrap around to the sides.
I put the two pieces side by side and stapled the seam to keep it from shifting, and then put staples along the edge of the board to wrap the batting down the side. I didn’t worry about putting many staples in at this point since I still had the top fabric to attach. I did just enough to hold it down, folding the corners over like wrapping a present to get a smooth corner and stapling that in place as well.
Next, I laid the fabric down wrong side up, and put the batting side of the board face down on top of it. Since my fabric was linear and directional, I took a little bit of time to make sure it was fairly straight.
Like wrapping a present, I worked my way around the board folding and wrapping the fabric. I stapled as needed to hold the fabric in place, both on the back side and on the edges. Occasionally a staple didn’t sink all the way in, so it needed some encouragement of a hammer to be pounded flush with the board.
I found these heavy duty gripping pads at Lowe’s as well and used them on the four corners to keep it from sliding around on my counter top. I stuck them right on top of the fabric and it worked just fine.
This board is a perfect DIY Ironing Board to use when pressing blocks or rows. It doesn’t slide around on my countertop and the Insul-Bright reflects the heat back similar to the wool pressing mat. I kept my wool mat to sit right on top of the Ironing Board if I need a little extra pressing help with my blocks.
