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Ironing board cover

Why shouldn't even the most mundane domestic objects be glamorous? Ironing boards take up a lot of space and, for that reason alone, they should be top of your 'in need of transformation' hit list

With a little imagination and a metre and a half of decent fabric you can change one of these bleakly utilitarian and functional beasts into a fashion statement that looks better out of the closet than in it. It'll make ironing a whole lot more bearable, too.


You will need

1. 1.5m 100 per cent cotton fabric (don't use anything other than cotton, as you need fabric that can withstand the heat of an iron)
2. Thin foam 8cm longer than your ironing board
3. A piece of Bondaweb the length of your ironing board (Bondaweb is a fusible webbing that sticks to your fabric, and once you peel off the paper backing it will bond another fabric to the other side. You can get it from a haberdasher's)
4. 3m 3cm-wide bias binding that matches your fabric
5. Approximately 3.5m thin cord
6. Baking parchment for making your pattern (any paper will do, but parchment comes on a roll, so you won't need to stick lots of sheets together to get the length of an ironing board)
7. Dressmaker's pins, medium-sized safety pin and a needle - a sewing machine is handy, but not essential
8. Matching thread
9. Fabric scissors
10. Tailor's chalk or fabric marker pen
11. Iron and ironing board

Method

Place the ironing board upside down on a sheet of baking parchment or other similar light paper. Draw around the outline of the ironing board and cut out the shape.

Pin this pattern to the wrong side of your fabric (in line with the grain - that's parallel to the selvedge). Draw a dotted line on the fabric, 5cm larger than the pattern all the way around, and cut along this dotted line, using sharp scissors.

Cut a piece of Bondaweb and thin foam 4cm bigger than your paper pattern.

Place the Bondaweb, rough side down (and paper side up), in the centre of the back of your fabric. Don't put it on the patterned side of your fabric or you will have to start again. With your iron on the cotton setting, slowly iron the back of the paper, so that the sticky stuff has time to melt and fuse to your fabric. (1)

Once you're happy that the Bondaweb has stuck, allow it to cool for a few minutes, then peel the paper backing off. (2)

The wrong side of your fabric will now feel a little 'soapy'. Place the thin foam over this 'soapy' Bondaweb-ed area, flip it over and iron on the right side of the fabric. The heat will go through the fabric and fuse the other side of the Bondaweb to the foam. Don't iron the foam - it'll melt instantly. (3) Fold your bias binding in half and iron down the fold.

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