Wednesday, March 25, 2015

DIY Pressing Table

I made myself a pressing table a week or so ago. I saw the idea on Pinterest a long time ago and thought it would be awesome to not have to lug out my ironing board to press quilt blocks. So I've been watching for wooden TV trays at the thrift store ever since. I found one a few weeks ago for $4.99 so I bought it.
The tray had been painted before and was chipping, which didn't really matter to me since I was planning on painting it. It's really easy to make one of your own, you need the following materials:
  1. Wooden fold up TV tray
  2. Batting (I used a craft size package of Warm & Natural, it gave me two layers)
  3. Silver ironing board fabric (found by the yard in the utility fabric section)
  4. 100% cotton home decor weight fabric
  5. Staple gun & scissors
  6. Paint (optional)
After a good sanding, I used the same aqua spray paint from my vintage desk for the legs and bottom. I didn't bother painting the top since it would be covered. Of course, you don't have to paint yours. The original inspiration I found was unpainted. Then just staple everything in the following order: batting directly on wooden tray, then ironing board fabric and home decor fabric on top.
Easy as pie! I've been cutting up fabric so I can't wait to get sewing so I can use my little table. It will be so nice to have it by my machine so I can press my blocks without moving away from my machine.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Before & After: Vintage Sewing Desk

Remember that sewing desk from almost a year ago? Well, it's finally out of the garage! :)

{click to enlarge}
 I used the Rustoleum Furniture Transformations kit in Winter Fog for the desk. My husband was so nice and painted it for me. We only had enough for the exterior, both sides of the doors and their shelves. The interior we just gave a good cleaning and left it unpainted. We did need more paint for touch ups so I brought one of the shelves to get it color matched and then got a sample size in a flat finish. It's a teeny bit lighter but you'd never notice unless I point it out.

I found the prettiest blue glass knobs at Hobby Lobby and waited until they were half off to purchase four of them. All the other hardware is original and unpainted. I purposely did that because the new knobs had some brass on them so they matched the original hardware. My husband had to jimmy rig them a bit because of the free arm movement, but he made it possible. Just don't look inside. :)

 The thread racks were discolored so they got a few coats of aqua spray paint to freshen them up. It turned out to be an almost exact color match to the blue knobs. Makes me smile whenever I open the doors. :)

All that's left is to get my Singer 403A oiled up and then bolt it in.
Whoever owned this desk before definitely made good use of it. When I was cleaning it out prior to painting I found pins, needles, bobbins, thread, buttons, and velcro. I hope I make good use of it as much as its' previous owner. I can't wait to sew on it.