DIY Ironing & Cutting Board
 

After reading what board members had to say about how well their plywood based ironing boards worked, I knew I wanted to make one. I was so tired of my too low, too wobbly, too thin old ironing board.
So....Look what my DH helped me build this weekend! It turned out so great! Thank you to the people of the QB who shared how they did it!
We used a quarter sheet of 3/4 inch thick plywood (24" x 48" - wide enough for my biggest cutting mat - so I can now cut at a nice height too.)
A 36" tall bookcase.
On it, in this order, from the plywood out, we staple gunned:
1 layer of Insulbright - shiny side up
2 layers of cotton batting
1 layer of heavy canvas
1 layer of that silver ironing board fabric from JoAnn's
Then we just screwed the plywood top to the top of the bookcase from underneath.

We are both thrilled with the board. So much more comfortable to use and the wrinkles iron out faster. I couldn't wait to iron something big. Funny that the first thing I used it to make was tiny - a pretty OBW pincushion stuffed with sawdust.

Wow! Impressive! Wish we had the room.

Great ironing station!! Love the pincushion!!!

I've been trying to tell my husband I want one of these. he is having trouble visualizing it. Thanks for the info and picture, Now I can show him how it is done. Great Job. :o

Perfect, great job. I really need to get something similar in my room.

It looks great Lara.

Oh how wonderful! I know you are gonna just LOVE this setup.

This is Fabulous! Being double duty you really save space..No ironing board in the middle of the room like at my house.(always in the way in a small room). Lucky you!

Love it very nice The pin cushion I need that it is cute do you have pattern?

Good idea! Thanks for posting.

very nicely done!!!!

That is great, wish I had enough space for one of those.

That is so neat., I just love it.

It looks great! Wish I had room for one of those, because I sure would be after my DH to make one.

You have a great ironing station and pincushion.

Love your iron station! Great teamwork!! Adorable pin cushion.

Wow, this is great, you will enjoy it!

Hi beauford! Thanks about the pincushion. I didn't have a pattern. You could do it without one.
Let me see if I could sum up what to do:
Use a 60 degree triangle to fussy cut six exactly matched triangles out of the fabric you would like for the top of the pincushion.
Sew together two pairs of the triangles and sew a third triangle onto each pair. You should have two halves of the top now, each with three 60 degree triangles.
Place the two halves, right sides together and sew down the center seam. Iron all the seams in one direction (ex: clockwise)
Now trace and cut out a matching hexagon out of a solid piece of fabric for the bottom.
Put the top and bottom right sides together and sew around the edges, leaving a gap to put in your stuffing. I stuffed it very tight with sawdust, but you could use wool or polyfill,...etc. Hand stitch your opening closed.
Hope that this helps you.

Great work center! I have a board on top of a 4 ft. table, but I put a pillowcase-type top on it, so I can change it when it's dirty. I think I like yours better. I just may have to redo mine!

Thank you everyone for the nice comments about the ironing & cutting center. :o I've been using it all day and it makes a world of difference.

Sitting Pretty I like your idea of a changeable case! I like to drape a towel (for spraying starch) or an old pillowcase over the top when I am going to be doing something messy.

Several of you have said that you wish you had one but don't have enough space. I gotta say that this takes up very little more space than a regular ironing board. Then again, you do have to leave it out all the time, which I always did with our regular ironing board anyway. So I don't mind the space being taken by this ironing center.

On the other hand, it does serve double duty with a bookshelf and baskets for storage. Cover it with a pretty cloth and you can use it as a counter height table too. A lot more versatile than a regular ironing board, eh?

Neat projects!

How cool is that! Ironing station, cutting station and storage, that is awesome! Love it, and the pin cushion also.

Nice job - on both the cutting/ironing station and the cute pin cushion.

Just built a cutting/work/storage table in January; it is SO wonderful to be able to stand and not get a backache. Enjoy your new work space!

Great looking table. I am definitely putting it on my list of things to build for my sewing room.

Great job! Made one myself to fit on top of a desk. Cut the plywood the same size as the desk and added 6" legs to bring it up to the right height. I can remove it when I need to use the desk.

love the ironing board idea wish I had room for ont like ti.

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! Great job and I love the pin cushion!

Lara, it's wonderful! And I love that pin cushion. Can I come over to play?

I love the area underneath the board, as well as the board itself. What a neat way to store books and mags.

I'm jealous. But I don't know where I'd put it if I had it. Cute pincushion, too.

You don't need the husband to build it. The lumberyard will cut the plywood to size for you. Staple or use small tacks to fasten the different layers to it. Screw or glue the top to a bookshelf and you are set. If, you are crafty enough to quilt, since you are doing it, we know that you are, you can do it. Maybe, you'd like a husband anyway, but that's a whole other story.

Looks great and as soon as I can make room for one I will have one.

Perfect - Perfect - Perfect

I hear loud clapping for Lara & DH :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

My husband made one for me that fits over my ironing board but is a rectangle. He put small pieces of wood on the underside to hold it in place on the existing ironing board and then I put the batting and fabric etc., over it and then we stapled the material to the bottom of the board. I use it next to my sewing machine and when I need to use the normal ironing board for clothing I just lift off the rectangle and there is my board. I love it.

It came out really nice! My husband helped me make one a couple of years ago. We put it on top of an ugly old dresser from the 70's that my mother had. It has lots of drawers. It is the handiest thing!

Love this idea. Thanks for sharing.

Both the ironing table and the pin cushion.

Very nice, now you can be on your way to more quilting