Ironing Board Tutorial + Organic '11 FREEBIE!

Let's talk about one of my most dreaded tasks. Ironing. Yuck. Don't like it, never have. It's in the genes. My mom had an aversion too. We even had an ironing lady when I was a kid. Yup, just ask Bagette Dad. This is what happens, I let my ironing pile up to an unimaginable amount and then I break down and watch TV one night an iron it all. 

Well, during one of these "all nighter" ironing sessions a few years ago, I noticed that my ironing board cover really smelled…like chemicals. That can't be good. I concluded that it was NOT good to heat and reheat this cruddy piece of fabric that came with the board and the foam that was underneath it. Ugh. I looked into new covers and came up with this one. I splurged, but it was better than breathing toxic chemicals every time I finally did the ironing.

Flash forward to this week. I bought myself a new ironing board. The old one of 18 years rocked back and forth when used and was literally on its last leg. Of course, I took my nice cover off the old one to put on the new one. However, it is quite a boring cover, only natural color and all. The light bulb went off in my tiny brain that I could use Harmony's fabric and make myself a nice new pretty cover! Oh yes!

I got soooo excited that I made many covers this week and even made a tutorial for all of you to make yourself one too! Here you go:

Supplies:

--1.75 yards of quilting cotton or similar fabric, If you are using Harmony's organic cotton sateen then you only need .66 (2/3) yard because her fabric is so wide!!!

--4.25 yards of bias tape

--4.75 yard of cotton string (found most anywhere, hardware store, WalMart, etc.) just try to find something similar to the string you see on your old cover, or take the one out of your old cover and reuse it!

Tutorial:

Step 1) 

Take the old cover off and stretch it out so the string is no longer tight. It will look something like this. Put that cover on top of your fabric and trace around it. Note: It does not have to be perfect, all the edges will be underneath your board so you won't see them. 

Step 2)

Choose a bias tape for the binding. I made my own with my NEW FAVORITE TOOL, a bias tape maker. Yay! (tutorial HERE, FYI, I have yet to cut my fabric on the bias for this, I just cut mine straight and it works great)

Step 3)

Serge or zigzag stitch around your cover. You can probably skip this step, but I wanted to reinforce the fabric since it is pulled so tightly.

Step 4)

Start binding your cover. I wanted to point out this photo of the cover I took OFF my new ironing board. Look at the ends. Not even a good finish. Paaaashah!!! We are going to make our ends look NICE…

Like this…

 and this…

All you have to do is fold over the top of your bias tape before you sew. That's it!

Now, put your three supplies together like this. Cover on the left, binding on the right and tuck the string into the fold of the binding. REMEMBER TO LEAVE ABOUT 8 inches OF STRING STICKING OUT OF THE TOP! You will need this to pull the cover tight.

Step 5)
Pin these all together so you can start sewing, make sure the string is really tucked into the fold, you DO NOT WANT TO SEW ON THE STRING!

Step 6)
Lower your presser foot carefully on the left of the binding. You want to catch both sides of the tape while you are sewing while NOT sewing on the string!

Step 7)
Start sewing, keep tucking the string into the fold, you can pin all of this if you like.

Step 8)
When you have sewn all the way around the cover, cut your bias tape about 1.5 inches from the end of the cover.

Step 9)
Cut the string 8 inches from the end of the cover.

Step 10)
Fold the end of the bias tape, tuck the string in again, and pin…

 like this…

 …finish the end, don't sew TOO far over the other bias tap, stop short of the string!

Step 11)
Put your new cover on and admire your pretty ironing board cover!

Since these are so easy, I got in a mood and made 6 of them! One for me, one for Harmony and 4 for YOU!

While I was admiring Harmony's fabric, I thought it would be fun to make some organic cotton bags for you too!

This is what is up for grabs in this Organic '11 freebie:
FOUR Harmony Art Organic cotton ironing board covers
NINE Harmony Art Organic cotton Green Bag Lady shopping bags

TO ENTER THIS FUN FREEBIE, DO THE FOLLOWING:

•LEAVE A COMMENT, IN THE COMMENT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THIS FORMAT: name(at)something(dot)com it is important to spell out dot and at so you don't get spam, if you DO NOT leave an email address, we will not hunt you down to send you a freebie, thanks.

•In your comment, tell us what household task is NOT your favorite!

•DEADLINE FOR THE FREEBIE IS 10 PM (CST) Wednesday JULY 20, 2011.

•THIRTEEN LUCKY WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN FROM THE COMMENTS TO WIN! 

•However, anyone that enters that does not already have a bag from us will get one! :)

Good Luck + Happy IRONING! Teresa

International entries OK.