McCall’s 6051 - Ironing Board Cover

Well, my first sewing project of 2011 is a replacement cover for my wobbly ironing board.  I’m the only one that uses the ironing board and then only while sewing.  It really should be replaced with a more stable model but I keep stalling as it does the job.  For years now, we have been using a garment steamer for our clothes because it just is quicker and we no longer melt or scorch them. Most of the time, the ironing board is out of sight (and out of mind) behind the laundry room door. 

The old cover, made about four or five years ago, finally developed a few holes and some brown water stains. The stains didn’t bother me much, as you had to hunt for them on the dark fabric of the old cover, but it was the holes that sent me over the edge. The original Teflon cover looked pretty good so I didn’t toss it. However, I did add another layer of cotton batting to the foam and quilt batting already there.

The fabric of the new cover is a Laura Ashley cotton purchased from Fabric Mart back in 2009. For a pattern, I used view A of McCall’s 6051. This is the first time I’ve used a pattern for an ironing board cover.  In the past, I traced the outline of the ironing board and added a few inches all the way around.  This was a $.99 pattern and I figured it could save me some time.

The instructions call for a casing made with double fold bias tape.  I skipped that and instead serged the edge and then attached the elastic directly to the wrong side of the fabric, stretching it as I zigzagged.

It’s good to have a fresh ironing board cover and for me, akin to eating black-eyed peas at the beginning of the New Year!