McMannis "Cheap sewing table" foam top CAN YOU HELP ME
 

Maurgarita McMannis has a YOU TUBE video that is a few years old, showing how to make a "Cheap sewing table". She used construction foam cut to fit around her machine to bring the work surface up to be even with the bed of her sewing machine. I purchased some of this type of foam insulation at Home Depot and used a serrated blade knife to cut it as suggested. THE PROBLEM I'm having is that it SHEDS little beads of foam all over the place from the cut surfaces. The only such foam they had was an odd pink/purple color and was called RIGID foam insulation which was both a color and type she had recommended. If any of you have used this type of foam for this project or any other and have ideas on sealing the raw - Shedding edges I would truly appreciate your "in put" Thank you ever so mcuh

My dh made one of these for me. He covered the entire top with vinyl, wrapped it around to the back, and duct-taped the vinyl to the back. No shedding because all the edges are covered. You could do an additional vinyl drape over this to get the drop edges she suggests.

Make a pretty quilted or pieced cover for it

p.s. The vinyl was very inexpensive at Walmart.

I did the same as Prism99, covering it with clear plastic. I am very happy with it.
Marilyn

MY DH also made this topper for me and I LOVE it. You need to cover it with vinyl so that the fabric slides easily over the table. I only put vinal (bought at Joanns with 40% off coupon) on the top and let it drape over the sides. I do not have a problem with the foam shreading. Only problem is that there is an indentation in the foam when I rest my arms. Also my Dh cut the legs of the table off so the total height of table and foam is a comfortable height for me.

This needs to be covered in vinyl not fabric so the fabric you are sewing can slide easily.

Need your help to stop falling balls from foam -video table top
 

I watched Maurgareta Mc Mannis' You Tube video how to make a "cheap sewing table". Decided this was probably easiest way to raise the entire table surface to the height of my sewing machine bed. Purchased the purple/pink (she suggested the purple or blue) rigid foam insulation board. On cutting it in 1/2 to get two 4X4' pieces I immediately had pieces of little foam balls falling from the cut areas. They have continued to shed and make a real mess. I attempted to cover with DUCT TAPE but it doesn't stay stuck real well. I haven't cut out the shape of the sewing machine as yet, since I know this will shed all around the machine. I know I can put the two raw edges to the back of the table and enclose that side with the clear plastic she uses to make fabric slide. However, that isn't going to keep the area around the machine closed in without making a lot of bulk trying to tuck and turn everything. HAS ANYONE DELT WITH THIS FOAM BOARD AND FOUND A WAY TO SPRAY OR PAINT SOMETHING ON THE RAW EDGES THAT WILL STOP THE SHEDDING OF TINY FOAM BALLS? THANK YOU

Would packing tape work better than the duct tape? Some of it sticks better than others.

You could use the duct tape to more closely confirm to the edge then use the heavy duty packing tape to hold the edges of the duct tape more firmly in place.

An added benefit of the heavy duty packing tape is that it doesn't lift or curl over time as quickly as duct tape does and it also has a slicker finish.

Maybe some fabric sprayed with a permanent adhesive.