The Ironing Table

While my son was in college, we set up his room so he could have more space and privacy. My dad and I built an L-shaped desk, and put my son's bed in a loft. I painted it with cats and other fun designs. In the photo above he is playing with Gizzy, "the cat who came before."

When my son moved out, I wasted no time in taking the bed apart and setting the room up as a painting studio. Life had other plans for me, and I got back into making quilts. At some point I got frustrated with the standard ironing board. I had an idea to make an ironing table. I mentioned it to my sister at Christmas one year. (My sister has a love affair with power tools.) A quick trip to the basement where I had stored all the pieces and parts of the old bed confirmed I had enough wood. A few days later we got to work.

First we figured out how big the top should be. I guessed 48" long. The plywood we had was 24" wide, so that was that. Then we added an apron to the top, and then assembled a base. It's nothing fancy.  We did mark the front of the base and the top "FRONT" so when I remove the top I can put it back together properly.

We put a shelf at the bottom, mostly to stabilize the thing, and brought it up to the sewing studio.

I covered the table with two layers of cotton batting, and a layer of "Insul-brite" which is a kind of batting with a heat layer, designed to be used in potholders

 

A trip to the local fabric store yielded a couple of yards of that silver ironing board fabric. I stapled it in place using an electric staple gun.

 By that time I was aware of ergonomics. We determined how high the table would be my figuring out how many inches from the floor the faceplate of my iron was when I held it with my elbow bent at at 90 degree angle with my shoulder relaxed. I'm five feet tall. The height is 32-1/2". It's perfect for me, but if you're taller, make it taller.

In retrospect, I should have made the table wider, about 54". Why? Because although the table at 48" wide is plenty wide enough for a piece of 42-44" fabric, it is not quite wide enough to set an iron on it while shifting the fabric. I've solved that problem by setting an end table to one side, covered with a plastic placemat, where the iron rests along with a spray bottle and a measuring cup for water. (I use steam.) Still though, this is a thousand times better than any alternative. You can buy a "handy panel" of plywood at the average big box hardware store that's precut to 24" x 48" for short money.

Since I built this in 2007 I've recovered it four times. (That works out to every three years.) The first time I replaced the silver ironing board fabric I also added another layer of cotton batting and insulbrite. Oh, and make sure the top is stretched TIGHT! Wrinkles in the top make your work harder.

I use the ironing board cover fabric because it is designed for heat and there is no "drag." In other words, it's easy to use, because it is "slippery", it is not tiring to use when ironing quilt backing. Ordinary cotton looks great, but with all the heat, it burns eventually, and then dries and cracks, and then tears. It would work, but would have to be replaced more frequently.

There are a couple of other considerations. Your ironing table should NOT be placed right up against a wall, and there should be space all around for the extra fabric to fall over the edges. Let's face it, if you are ironing a six yard piece of fabric, you only want to do it ONCE! You will also need an electrical outlet close by for your iron (mine has a very long cord. I find the cordless ones don't get hot enough.) and for a light that should be placed above your ironing table so you can see what you are doing. And since ironing (or pressing or whatever) is done standing up, one of those comfort mats for standing on is a really nice addition. Your back, and your feet, will thank you.

This is a simple thing, but well worth the small investment in time and effort.