Fix it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or do without.

Do you see this ironing board? It's mostly disgusting. What your eyes are beholding is 6 years of a lot of starching on shirts and fabric, the result of trying to iron things that should never be ironed-math papers, leaves, sandpaper, a grilled cheese sandwich--twice, and a whole lot more. It's just plain gross and I want a new one! Have you priced ironing board covers? The cheap ones are 8 dollars and they go all the way up to around 20 bucks. No. Thank You. I'll make a new one. And I did.

 Supplies needs:
1 2/3 yards fabric. {You'll only use 1/2 the width of fabric by the 1 2/3 yard, but you don't want a seam down the middle of the board..}
elastic {or a draw string}
Sewing machine and thread.

step 1, iron your fabric. {I forgot too and then I couldn't because the old clover was already in the trashola.
step 2, place nicely ironed fabric on the ironing board with about 3 inches over hang all around.
step 3, trace the perimeter of the ironing surface around your fabric. {You can kind of see the pencil line on my picture below.}

 step 4, lay fabric on a flat surface, darken your lines and then cut out the fabric, leaving about 3 inches all the way around. DO NOT CUT ON THE LINE--allow a 3 inch seam allowance.

 Elastic! I used 1/4 inch.

 Step 5, pin the end of the elastic to the fabric and 'hem' all the way around the perimeter of the fabric. Do not sew the elastic.

I used a zig zag stitch and did not even fold over the raw edge. Leave about an inch opening so you can cinch the elastic.

Place the new cover onto the ironing board and cinch the elastic until the cover fits snugly over the ironing board. {I forgot to take a picture--sorry.}

Once the elastic is as tight as it should be, remove the cover and sew the elastic together. Put the cover back on your board and VIOLA! Beautiful new ironing board cover. Cost - $5.50.