Reversible ironing board cover - a little tutorial

as i said in my last post, my ironing board cover i looking tatty and sadly it didn't survive a recent encounter with the washing machine!  oh, well it was a good excuse to use some lovely fabric that inherited when a friend passed away recently.

my poor old, torn, bumpy cover...

You will need:
*  fabric - approx 1.5 to 2metres, depending on the size of your ironing board and the width of the fabric
*  tearaway stabiliser or butchers paper to make your pattern from
*  cotton wadding - enough to cover the top of your ironing board 4 times (i bought 1.5m of wide wadding)
*  5mm wide elastic (approx 2m)
* cotton and general sewing supplies

this is a simple tutorial and i am assuming that you will have some basic sewing skills

1.  remove the old ironing board cover - and throw it away to ensure that you finish your new cover!!

2.  put some paper/tearaway stabiliser on the floor and place your ironing board top down.  trace around the edges.

3.  draw a line approx 4" out from your ironing board outline.  this is an allowance for the sides of the ironing board top, an underlap and a seam allowance.  cut out on this line.  in my photo you can see how much bigger the pattern is...

4.  cut 2 from your fabric and 2 from wadding

5.  layer 1 of your fabric pieces with 1 of your wadding pieces.  quilt as desired.  i simply quilted some straight lines.  repeat with the other piece of fabric and wadding. 

6.  place your 2 quilted panels right sides together and sew around the edges (use a generous 1/4" seam)  remember to leave an opening so you can turn your cover right side out!!  i left my opening in the wide end of the cover

7.  turn your cover right side out (pause to admire your creativity!!) and press.  when you get to the opening, remember to press the seam allowance in - this will make sewing it closed easier

8.  now it's time to sew a casing for your elastic.  you will need to sew a line 1/2" from the edge of your cover.  sew all the way around.

9.  it's time to get the elastic into your casing.  pin your elastic to the cover (so that the end doesn't disappear into the casing) attach a safety pin/bodkin to the opposite end of the elastic and start threading it through the casing - this can be a bit fiddly, but persist, we are nearly done!

10.  pause to thank your quilting assistant for his help

11.  put your cover onto your ironing board and adjust the length of your elastic.  when you are happy with the fit, tie the 2 ends together with a knot.

 12.  slip stitch the opening closed, make sure that you tuck the elastic in as you sew

13.  because my ironing board is getting on and is a little rusty (don't want rust on my new cover!), i cut 2 layers of wadding the same size as the top and put the cover on over them.

14.  put your new cover on your ironing board and adjust the gathers until you are happy.

15.  step back and smile... you have a beautiful new ironing board!