DIY ironing table

Do you ever get annoyed at ironing your material on a flimsy ity-bity ironing board? Well, I do! ALL THE TIME! This is where being with a carpenter really pays off, especially one that sews with you. I asked him to make me a tabletop that can convert to an ironing surface. One trip to Club Tissue and Rona, and voila! An ironing table is born.






Simon made this awesome sewing.cutting table for me. There is ample storage for my patterns, fabric and notions. It is the perfect height for drafting patterns and cutting out fabric. Plus the whole thing is on wheels and can be easily moved when I need the space.





Now what I want is an ironing surface that can accommodate my uncut fabric. It is so annoying to iron several meters of uncut fabric on a regular ironing board. The board is way too small, the board rocks back and forth hen I move the fabric and it is time consuming to constantly move fabric, and there are always creases when I iron. I took a look at the $$$ ironing boards and I was not convinced that it would be worth it. Sorry, I am cheap, what can I say? Several google searches later I have a plan! Buy 2 layers of felt, 3/4 inch plywood, 1 layer of muslin (it is called yellow cotton in French - coton jaune) and Simon has a project!

We needed to buy plywood to finish the top of a file cabinet, so a piece that will fit this table will have enough leftover to do both projects. Win-Win. 




The first thing Simon did was round the edges of the plywood. The last thing you want is a pointy edge that will tear your fabric.









This gave the piece a nice finished detail to it.











As you can see it is a nice LONG peice of wood

Now comes the fun part! Staple gun! We stapled 2 layers of felt to the board.

 

Make sure you pull tightly as you staple the material. This is where a 2nd person helping comes in handy. I helped, so I can take credit for building this with Simon. This was his first building project since his amputation, and he did very well. He did not need me, I was just a bonus.

Take care when folding the corners

You do not want to bulky of a corner. We are having 3 layers of fabric, so lay it as flat as possible.

Now that there were 2 layers of felt it was time for the muslin to go on top. We washed our material and it shrank a bit. It fit JUST RIGHT. There was not much to wrap at one end, but we did it.

Here is my beautiful table!




















The board is wider than the cabinets. Simon secured the board to the table and he used brackets along the side.

The fact that he screwed it on means that when we need to replace the muslin we can easily remove the top and replace the fabric. And as a bonus it make the board flat. The board curved a bit so this evened it all out.













 We have a large piece of cardboard that covers the entire surface. We may use this instead of our old pin board.

  

As you can see the pin board curves and does not lie flat. I am sure that Simon and I will figure something out. Now on to Halloween sewing!

What do you think of Simon's (and mine) handywork? Let a comment and let Simon know he rocks! I tell him all the time, but he deserves his credit, n'est pas?