I decided to take a crack at making my own pressing board because I just wasn’t satisfied with my store bought cheap-o ironing board. It surprisingly was super easy and works great for pressing quilt blocks!
First the supplies I used:
- Therma Flex Heat Resistant Fabric
- Depending on the size of your board you probably could get away with a 1/2 yard. I ordered a Yard because I plan on using it for another board and a few hot pads.
- Warm & Natural Cotton batting
- You will want enough to cover your board twice. I only used about a 1/2 yard
- A piece of wood or particle board that is cut to the size of the board you desire. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby that was pre-cut to 10 in x 12.875 inches. It is 1/2 inch thick.
- Piece of regular or decorator fabric that is at least 2″ larger on all sides of your wood board. I chose to make a mini quilt for my back fabric 🙂
- Thread
- Sewing machine
- Pins
- Hand sewing needle
- Scissors
- Iron
Decide which side of the board will be your hand sewn side (you will machine sew the other three sides and use the open end to insert the board and then hand sew that open side). You will need to cut your Therma Flex fabric so that it is the size of the board, plus the thickness of the edges (my board was 1/2″ thick), plus 2 inches on the hand sewn side, plus 1/2″ on the non-hand sewn sides (the other three sides).
Cut the regular fabric so that it extends 2 inches beyond the hand sewn side of the board and 1/2 inch beyond the three other sides.
With the hand sewn side on the bottom, align the top edge of the regular fabric to the top edge of the Therma Flex right-sides together. Pull in the left and right sides of the Therma Flex so they align the left and right sides of the regular fabric. Pin the sides in place. Sew using a 1/4″ seam along the left and right sides.
Fold back the top corners of the Therma Flex about 1/4″ over each side so they slack is removed evenly. Pin the corners and then sew the top along the edge using a 1/4″ seam.
Turn right sides of the fabric out and adjust the corners with a blunt object. You should now have a completed pocket.
Remove any stickers that are on the wood. Wrap the batting around the piece of wood. You will need two layers of batting on each side.
Pull the batting so it is tight around the piece of wood.
he batting should go over the edges. Trim off excess. Insert the wrapped wood into the fabric/therma flex pocket. Flatten out the batting so it lays smooth on the inside of the pocket.
Tuck the Therma Flex at each corner so that it goes underneath the board.
Tuck the rest of the Therma Flex underneath the board and pull taught.
Tuck the other fabric in as well being careful to align the edges. Pin in place.
Hand sew along the unfinished edge to close the edge. That’s it!!! I hope that you enjoy your new pressing board!!!
~Originally posted on our owner’s sewing blog.
