Tuesday, January 6, 2009

tabletop ironing pad tutorial

I don't have a big craft room (yet!) where I can leave out all my crafting necessities, like my ironing board. (Even simple sewing projects usually require you to press something in one direction or another.) Love, love, love this simple ironing pad that you can use on any tabletop, so you don't have to drag out your huge ironing board to press one little seam open. Check it out.

Tabletop Ironing Pad Tutorial

What you'll need:
*Insul-Brite (a heat-safe material found at most fabric stores)

*Cotton fabric of your choice

*Thin cotton batting (we like Warm & Natural brand)

*Coordinating ribbon

*Ironing board material (this can be found at most fabric stores--it's silver and a little shiny)

*Basting spray or spray adhesive

1. Cut Insul-Brite, fabric, batting, and ironing board material in the size you want.

2. Find the center of your fabric. I folded it in quarters and then ironed the corner so I would have a crease telling me where the center of my fabric was.

3. Find the center of your ribbon by folding it in half. Sew about one inch of the middle of the ribbon to the middle of your cotton fabric. We used a little zig-zap stitch. Make sure the ribbon tails are laying parallel to long sides of the fabric, so when you roll the pad up, the ribbon can wrap around it to tie it closed.

4. Use spray adhesive to baste all four layers together, cotton fabric on top, right-side up, then the Insul-Brite, then cotton batting, then the ironing board material. We don't recommend using pins, since the pin holes in the ironing board material will be there forever.

5. Quilt the three pieces together. You can do as little or as much as you want. We just did a few straight, parallel lines. Watch out for your ribbon--don’t sew it down!

6. Bind the three pieces with bias tape. Here is a great tutorial by Angry Chicken on how to sew bias tape if you haven't done this before.

7. While watching the bias tape tutorial, check out the 5 minute skirt tutorial. . .

8. Roll up and tie in a bow. Easy and space-conscious!


FYI: You're meant to do your ironing on the shiny side--that's the side that will reflect the heat back to your iron, not through to your table! The pretty fabric is all for looks!

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40 Comments

40 Responses to “tabletop ironing pad tutorial”

Tracy said...

I love this idea! And the fabric. Thanks.

Junie Moon said...

Great tutorial and very useful. I have the insulated material in my stash to make one of these, but had not gotten to the point of actually doing it. Your easy tutorial will help me get this project off my to-do list. Thank you so much!

Crystal said...

Brilliant idea! I always hate pulling out the ironing board for small sewing or craft projects. Can't wait to try this. I love your blog. Love, love, love it.

Casey said...

I was just thinking last night that I needed something like this! thanks for the tut!

Di~ said...

Thanks for this idea! I want to make one and need one of these! Tell me, what size did you make yours???

Little Birdie Secrets said...

Our little mat is 30 inches by 22 inches. You can make yours any size you want though so it fits your needs. You may need a larger or smaller one depending on where you plan on using it.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh this is a great idea, thanks tons! I'll be linking.

Unknown said...

I love this! I generally am not an ironer, but I could seriously get into this. The fabric is beautiful!

Beth said...

great tute! I dont have a crafting room, let alone a ironing board. I find myself ironing my fabric on a towel on my dining room table! This will be fun to make!

I am hosting a childrens Valentines Swap if your interested :O)

Phyllis said...

Oh, this is great - I'm going to have to make one of these little things.

Thanks so much for sharing!!!

Anonymous said...

fantastic idea. thanx for the awesome tut!!

Rachelle said...

I'm so glad I came across your blog! I LOVE your tutorials! Thanks!

CreativeMish said...

What a great Idea! I need one of these!

Steph at Problem Solvin' Mom said...

Love this idea, and it turned out wonderfully, thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

so cute! can i adapt it as a baby changing pad maybe?

Sallie said...

Genious. I am doing this one in the near future.

Haydee said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog and this tutorial is awesome> I so needed a solution for the ironing thing. Thanks for sharing.

Dawn Brown said...

I've used insulbrite before in potholders and it mattered which side i used when i did my layering. Do you put the shiny side next to the cotton material or the ironing board fabric? And i'm assuming you iron on the cotton side and the other retains the hear - yes? sorry for all the questions, i can't wait to make and want to do it right!!
Thanks for your fabulous blog - love it!!!!

Little Birdie Secrets said...

HI,

You iron on the metallic looking ironing board cover side. Also, we recommend putting a layer of cotton batting on the Insul-brite. You can see the batting in the picture, but it isn't too clear since they are both the same color. Insul-brite is "heat resistant-not heatproof" so be sure you keep this in mind when ironing on your favorite, expensive dining room table :)

Julie said...

What a great idea! I don't have a big craft room yet, either. Right now its my dinner room table! One day! I am going to try this weekend to make a tabletop ironing pad!

KJ La'Cylver said...

This is fantastic! I've been looking for a table top ironing pad for where I work, since they don't have an ironing board in the sewing area, and haven't found one that was big enough. Now I can make one for them that's the exact size they need! (and a smaller one for myself!!)

www.clubworkshop.com

eileensideways said...

i am a little confused about the "ironing board material". isn't that the same thing as the Insul-Brite

Little Birdie Secrets said...

Ironing board material is actually different from Insul-Brite. Insult-Brite is white and goes inside to absorb the heat. The ironing board material is a shiny silver material that reflects the heat away from the pad. Most fabric stores should be able to help you find it!

KT said...

Fab idea! This has gone on my todo list. Thanks for the tutorial.

Joan Lowder said...

I've been looking everywhere for info on making my own ironing pad station, make shift as ironing boards take up so much space and I want something wider. But I will be back to make this portable ironing pad. I think that upon making the ironing pad, assuming it will resist heat going all the way thru, that I'll keep a piece of shelf liner with it to put under it to keep it from sliding while ironing on retreats. I love the idea of making one to take with me. Card maker also? Joan Lowder www.jloscreativecorner.blogspot.com

Heidi said...

I doubled the size of the pad, then added 4 heavy duty magnets to the corners so that I could use the pad on my washer and dryer. It works great.

Unknown said...

Great idea - however, a couple of questions.
In step 4 you say to baste all "four" layers together.
In step 5 you say to quilt the "three" pieces together.
In step 6 you say to bind the "three" pieces together.
Do you actually quilt and bind all four layers or only three?
Is there any thread found to take the heat the best - on the ironing board material layer?

Little Birdie Secrets said...

Good catch John! Sorry. Sew all four layers together. It should all say four. Sorry!

Unknown said...

You definitely want to know the surface on which you place this pad.
There is a LOT of heat which passes through this pad.

Lenetta said...

I linked to this on my weekly roundup and shared a bit of amusement. My MIL gave me an ironing pad for Christmas that has a small cutting mat on the other side. I started my handmade Christmas stuff back in October, and my poor hubs was shuffling around my ironing board for the bulk of the 2.5 months that followed. (We had one late Christmas with his side of the family...) I would have been all over this to keep the big board out of the way! :>) Thanks for sharing!

saffiertje said...

what an awesome idea! i'm gonna make this for using it in my caravan this summer!!!!!
Thanx for the idea!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to make this for the small travel iron I just bought, thank you!!

Anonymous said...

Well yay, I did it! And this was my first project so I'm happy that I finished it in less than a month. haha!!

I made mine a quilt on the pretty side though... see...

http://coffeebean.livejournal.com/1957672.html

Thanks again so much for the tutorial so I could make this!

Jenney said...

Eeek! I love it! I do have a craft room and it does have space for an ironing board, but I still want this. Because I have a big table in the center and that's a perfect place to iron. Having a board and the table seems like overkill so I just want this. Perfect!

Helen Krahn said...

I would like to make something similar to this place on our 8' table center for placing hot pots and bowls for serving while protecting the table from heat. Any advice? Or would the instructions be the same?

janeycat57 said...

I saw something similar to this somewhere ?? It was bigger and was on the top of a clothes dryer, it was wide enough to hang over the sides 5 inches or so and had magnets in each corner to keep it in place ... It was so cute... This I think is great for smaller spaces/smaller jobs and makes more sense to me... but Both are better than what I have now, which is , no ironing board or no dryer, LOL .. I will definitely be making myself one of these... and the daughter that I try to get to iron all the time...LOL... thanks for the tutorial ...

Emily said...

I was just thinking about how I really need one of these!! Adding to my to do list.

gale said...

I am so glad I found this. I was ironing last night and thought how awesome it would be to be able to iron on my craft table (aka sandwiching and pin basting table). I can make one of these in the size of my craft table and iron a top and backing in no time at all! Thank you!!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Making this tomorrow!! Great idea; and so simple..thank you!!

Unknown said...

Do you have any idea what the silver fabric is called. I've been to my 2 local fabric stores (UK) and they have no idea. Thanks

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