My DH had a chunk of plywood that was almost as long as my ironing board. We traced my ironing board on the back of the plywood and he screwed wood pieces around the edges to hold the plywood in place on my ironing board. Then we covered it with aluminum foil, thin batting and heavy fabric. It's a perfect, big, rectangular ironing board. I wouldn't spend $$$ on one unless it was spectacular, and I can't imagine what that would be.

Followed Sharon Schamber's video and made 2 ironing boards. A medium
size and a big one for full yardage. Cost about $25. Used plywood subfloor
and painters canvas dropsheet (100% cotton).

http://www.youtube.com/user/SharonSc...19/4LGbXou_u4c

Practical, relatively inexpensive and BRILLIANT! :)

I've been using a large piece of pressed board [that glued and compressed stuff] about 4' x 4' covered with a few old bath towels & several layers of an old folded flat sheet. It sits on top of a low bookshelf on one side and two simple wooden stools on the other side. It's heavy so I don't move it much and it sits adjacent to my sewing machine. My son gave me an old dining table when he moved that I use for cutting & general workspace. It's a good height and matches that of the home made "big board" ironing board. This setup has worked well and gives me lots of usable space.