How To Make An Ironing Board Cover

Michelle Meyer

7 years ago

Ironing may not be my favorite household chore but it’s somewhere on my top five list. I think of ironing as a repetitive activity requiring little concentration, therefore I can watch a movie while ironing and be completely engrossed. Win-win!

My old ironing board cover was looking worn and a little stained, but the bigger problem was the pad underneath. After a few years of use, the foam pad was deteriorating. I decided to make a new cover with fabric that I had on hand and reused parts from the old cover.

Ironing board covers usually have a draw string or an elastic cord of some type to create a snug fit over the ironing board. I reused the mesh bias tape and the elastic cord from the old cover. Removing the bias tape only took about 10 minutes using small sharp scissors. Much faster than driving to the fabric store for supplies.

I love ticking and always look for excuses to use it in my projects. The red ticking fabric remnant was perfect for the cover.

An important note: I washed the fabric a couple of times before getting started just to make sure the dye from the ticking wouldn’t rub off on any fabric.

Using the ironing board as a guide, I laid it on top of the fabric. Then I cut around the edge allowing about 3 inches of extra fabric.

The mesh bias tape was pinned around the edge and then stitched into place.

Next I placed the elastic band in the fold of the bias tape and stitched around the edge again, to encase the elastic. Stitching was a little tedious the second time around because the fabric was gathered, but I went slow and soon it was complete.