I am not a big fan of ironing. It is a full time job for a day or two, when you are family of four. But the thing I do not like more, is going out wearing a cloth that was never touched by an iron. So I iron everything but the socks - the linen, pyjamas, towels, tablecloths, handkerchieves, and of course all the clothing my family wears daily. Yes, there are some moments, when I think that I could skip this and that, but ... I do not do that, not yet...
I like my laundry being air-dryed. But either way - air-dried or in the drier, I always iron. So my ironing board is a good friend. Using it a lot, I am in a need from time to time to change the cover.
Running to the store and buying the first seen and the cheapest one on the shelf is the easiest way to change the ironing board sleeve. Personalizing the board is a good idea - not only that to have the fancy cover, but to get inspired every time opening it.
I love the ancient mosaics. People from our past were really much more artistic than us. I guess, this comes with the evolution, which is sad, in my opinion. Now everything is about plastic, artificial decoration that must look like a real one, it is all pretending that we have the values our ancestors had. I find this to be so unfortunate - trying to copy the beauty of the life in the past, but never making it real.
Yes, I look back a lot and trying not to pretend to have artificial beautiful things, but to make some real ones. Lets decorate my new ironing board cover. I chose the ancient motifs from DFEA Carnet de broderie No.1. Here you could find a lot of beautiful things.
What to do?
First of all choose the cross stitch pattern that is going to be used for the ironing board cover. Following the instructions, stitch the pattern. Here is the design I chose:
I designed the shape of the finished stitched detail in a way of matching the ancient style. You could do whatever shape works for the chosen style.
I used 14 count Aida for cross stitching and DMC floss. I chose embroidery floss colours that match the fabric for the cover, cut the right shape, secured the edges of the canvas and stitched the design.
How to sew the cover?
Remove the old cover from the ironing board. Use it as a pattern and place over the fabric. Draw around the pattern and cut the new piece. You could use the old lining or buy and cut the new one. Then, just sew the cover the way the old one was done. Attach the cross stitched detail to the sewed board cover, matching the floss colours used in the ancient detail.
That is it. You have a new and beautiful ironing board cover.
The inspiration is everywhere. Just keep your eyes open.
:)
