Ironing Board Table DIY Tutorial

A few weeks ago, my mom and I made our first trip to Ikea. In a word: terrifying. To be fair, it was the Labor Day weekend so we were kind of asking for it, but talk about a madhouse! You could barely walk through the crowds, let alone furniture shop. We basically ended up buying a ton of Swedish cheese and crackers, and escaping for a relaxed lunch at home. However, one brilliant creation did catch our eye: a table-turned-ironing board. Inspired! Because as every quilter (and many non-quilters) will agree, you can never have too much ironing space. I immediately knew this would have to be part of my new sewing studio, but the execution has taken a while to get around to.

Not only is it incredibly convenient– dare I use the word liberating– to have this much space for ironing, it’s also pretty. A fabric-covered table has both aesthetic and practical benefits. I went for a simple striped fabric but you could obviously use any pattern you choose. I followed this tutorial from Martha Stewart (of course), but made a few adjustments. Here are the deets (and look out for the little Where’s Waldo dog in every pic).

Gather your materials. First of all, you’ll need a table. I used the Ikea Vika Byske wooden table top and legs. The table top measures 61″ x 29 1/2″ and the leg lengths are adjustable so you can make it ironing board height. The amount of fabrics you’ll need depend on the size of your table, but I required 2 yards each of wool felt, bump fabric, medium-weight muslin, and my patterned cotton. You’ll also need a staple gun, hot glue gun, and scissors.

First, cover your table with a layer of the wool felt. Rather than measuring, I found it easiest to lay the felt over the table top, and trim around the perimeter leaving just enough extra on each edge to wrap around and under about 1 1/2″-2″ underneath. Wrap the fabric edges over the edges of the table and staple in place underneath the tabletop. You don’t have to pull the felt super tightly, but make sure it’s even and snug.

Repeat with the bump fabric. Fold over and staple in the same way. Be sure to fold the corners carefully with minimal bulk.

Repeat with the muslin.

Finally, cover with your patterned cotton. Use a similar method, but turn the edges of the fabric under so you have a clean edge, and wrap around a little further so you cover the muslin and felt for a tidy look.

Go around and secure some the looser edges and corners with the hot glue, if necessary. And voila!

Major upgrade from the dinky little ironing board I’ve been using for the past five years are so. It’s so nice to have a real home worth the time and effort for making luxuries like giant ironing tables!

It also doubles as a surface for my other sewing knick knacks.

And so the home-making continues…another little corner of the nest is complete.