mmonroe

Hi,
I recently made 2 pressing boards, to be used on a table, for ironing large areas. I found some really useful information on Sharon Schambers video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LGbXou_u4c
She maintains that if your pressing board is too "cushy", it can make your seams "stretch" or "wing out". From experience, I have found this to be true. She uses OSB board, covered with one layer of warm and natural batting, and covered with 100% cotton canvas. I pre washed mine, and when it gets dirty, I simply take it off and wash it. (I made a pillow case type sleeve instead of using a staple gun to staple it to the board.) I have been extremely happy with the results. I hope this information is helpful to you.

chuckbere15

I got that for Christmas. And now I need to make my cover. I bought the silver ironing board stuff from Joann's. I don't want the steam to penetrate to the wood. Not sure if I will like it, but this is just for pressing large pieces. The board that I have is extra wide and will accommodate a twelve inch block with no problem.

I thought about buying the batting for hot pads, but the other stuff was reasonable.

NancysFabrics

Greetings, all. I make pressing stations and I used old army blankets cut to size. I then cover them with one layer of warm and natural. Also I cover the batting layers with a piece of Teflon coated fabric. The teflon has a slight roughness to it, so helps to hold fabrics stable plus with the heat reflection up from the Teflon fabric I can use my irons on a lower setting and get a good result. No matter what you put inside I would recommend you use the Teflon fabric as a top cover. Makes ironing so much easier. The Teflon fabric is available at Joann's Fabrics. Peace, Robert.

Johanna Fritz

I was able to get steel drawer units that are 6 feet wide, waist high and 3 feet deep with pull out drawers. They have a hard plastic laminate on top. These were office furniture that I got for free from Craigs list just for hubby hauling away. One is my ironing surface (so top is 6feet wide by 3 feet deep). Another 2 are pushed together for a big workspace to pin etc.

For ironing surface - used the same plywood...Cotton batting on top of the plywood (by the roll so wide enough) - placed 2 layers, cut to size on top of each other. Then another layer of poly bat...extra all around edge about 3". Than the silver heat resistant fabric with extra 4" all around. Used Duck tape on the back to pull taught and secure. Then placed on top of laminate and iron like crazy. If I am ironing my hand dyes, I have a clean white old cotton sheet that I temporarily cover the silver fabric with in case I have any staining. Has only happened once. You cannot believe how much time you save with such a big surface. Good luck.

institches33

The company that makes the oversized ironing boards uses cotton batting. I think I would shrink it and use double the amount. Also they use heavy duty foil between the board and the batting. Hope this helps.

ontheriver

I had part of a scrappy quilt I was practing FMQing on and did not like how it turned out. I took it and folded it in half and sewed the sides, right sides together making kind of a bag. Then I hemmed the top edge. Had my sweetie cut a piece of plywood to fit it, I slide the plywood into the bag, tacked the opening closed, viola, one ironing board. It is only 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 but works great. I can iron on both sides and when it gets dirty I just take it off and throw it in the wash. I love that it is portable, I set it on a small table or at the end of my cutting table if I need room to spread out fabric. You could make any size you want.

maryfrang

I use cotton batting for my big board. But the cover is pillow ticking. It is heaver than quilters cotten and also has lines for when I am pressing stright pieces. It has worked great and is holding up really good. Good Luck.

trolleystation

For my quilting I would rather have a firmer surface, so I used 3/4 inch plywood and covered it with ironing board fabric from Joann's and it works great.

quiltingcandy

When we made it, my friend and I used the 1/2 plywood 24 x 48 inches (it was what we could lift comfortably), 2 layers of Warm & Natural cotton batting, then used a heavy cotton to cover it. Then we stapled it down and nailed a "finishing board" over the edge and nailed it down to secure the fabric a little better.

We placed the ironing board on top of it, drew around it, attached 1 x 4's so when placed over the ironing board it wouldn't move.

Maggieloe

Great idea!