Happy Ironing!

The sewing room makeover definitely worked!  I've been very busy!  Within hours of the paint drying, I decided to make a new ironing board cover.  My old one had seen better days!  I think there's a shot of it in my Spring Apron post... Sorry!

I found a very happy spring-y fabric to go with my new blue room and got to work!

If you're interested in trying this out, gather the following:

2 yards of cotton fabric (cheerful and bright!)
2.5-3 yards of 1/4 inch elastic
ruler
scissors
safety pin

Wash and dry your fabric...I forgot and hope it won't shrink too much!

You don't have to be super exact when doing this, but you can be if you want.  I laid my fabric in half lengthways along the ironing board and let it hang over the edge 3-4 inches.

Then I cut freehand around the perimeter as best as I could.

After opening it up flat, I folded the edge over about an inch and pressed with the iron.  Then I folded it again and stitched the edge closed to make a tube all the way around for the elastic.  I left a 2-3 inch opening at one end to pull elastic through and to tie off when I was done.

If you don't want to fold and stitch, I'm sure you could use 2 inch bias tape all the way around to accomplish the same thing.

Attach a safety pin to the end of your elastic and work it through the tube you created until it comes out the other end.  It took a little bit of work to get it through!  My hands were tired!  Once it is though, you should be able to hang on to the ends and stretch the new cover over your ironing board.  Reach underneath and tie the elastic ends together.  Smooth it all out and you're done!  Happy ironing!