A PRESSING MATTER

I have been intending to make a pressing board for my sewing table for quite some time.  Now that we have Dottie & Olive, who both love to lounge in the sewing room, I thought it would be a good idea to get rid of the old ironing board and the danger of the iron falling on one of the Girls if they should bump the board.

Yesterday was the day!  I found a wonderful scrap of birch plywood at Lowe's (24" x 24").  We used our sander to round the corners a bit, added two layers of low-loft cotton batting and a layer of canvas stapled to the back of the board.  There is a great tutorial for making such a board at:  www.sewmuchlikemom.com/search/label/Pressing%20Board.  The instructions are super simple.  We used staples in our nail gun, but any heavy duty stapler can be used. 

I stretched the canvas as much as I could and after it was finished I sprayed water over the top and rubbed it in a little.  This caused the canvas to shrink a bit and it's super tight now.

A hard surface is wonderful for pressing quilt blocks...stretching and distortion are minimized, especially if your press (up and down movements) rather than iron (back and forth). 

It cost $11 and about 20 minutes to make.  I love it!!!



                             Blessings To You!