How To: Easy Portable Ironing Table Tutorial

Now that the baby lives in my sewing room, my sewing “room” is a little part of my bedroom.  And while I like having a big, open window in front of me while I sew (which has made me keep our room pretty clean!), I was having to walk a long way to use the iron.  And working on my spider web quilt, that was a lot of time jumping up and down just to press a few seams. The solution?  A Portable ironing board!

Want to make one too?

You need:

TV Tray (mine is cheap from Walmart, it would be ADORABLE if you painted it a fun color)

Home Décor Weight Fabric (larger than your tray table by about 3” all around)

3 Pieces Cotton Quilt Batting (larger than your tray table by about 1 1/2” all around)

1 Piece Insulated Batting (Like Insul-Bright, larger than your tray table by about 1 1/2” all around)

Hand-held Stapler and Staples

You are ready to begin!

1.  On a flat, sturdy surface, lay out your fabric right side down, then center your 3 layers cotton batting and 1 layer insulated batting on the fabric.  With your tray table assembled, flip it upside-down and center the table on your batting/fabric layers.

2.  Trim the corners by cutting a square out of each one to eliminate the bulk when it is all folded over.

3.  Fold the edge of your fabric over to hide your raw edges, but make sure there is still enough to reach the table top.

4.  Pull the fabric up and over so it is tight against the underside of the table.  Use your Stapler to keep it in place.  Repeat on all the sides, making sure to pull the fabric taught as you go.

5.  For the corners, fold the corners in to hide your raw edges.  Pull the edge up and over the table’s edge and staple it to keep it in place.

6.  Now, pinch the fabric that you have remaining, and tightly pull it towards the corner, keeping it taught and working out any extra folds or excess fabric.  Once you get it how you want it, staple it down.

7.  Repeat on all the corners, and add any staples where you think the fabric needs to be a little tighter or more secure.

8.  Flip your table over, and you are done!

No longer a regular ol’ TV tray!  It still has its qualities though-

…like the ability to fold up and put away when not in use. 

Mine fits perfectly between my husband’s dresser and my sewing machine table (given to me by Tracy- thanks so much Tracy!!! It is perfect!), and when I am working, I’ll just have it close enough that I only have to turn in my chair to use it. If I needed to, I could take it with me wherever I go to have a craft night or to help people with projects.  Much better than hauling around my old, huge, stained ironing board, which I’d never do anyway!

For the curious minds out there, I am not planning on using steam with this table for sustained, extended periods of time.  If the table did happen to warp a little with time, I don’t think it would even matter, since it is covered and just made for ironing small projects. :)

Let me know if you try it out!  My girls are way impressed (at least the older two are, the baby is thus far indifferent) and think it is sooo cute! And life is just about impressing small women around here ;)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all have a great weekend!