My son has a really great teacher. She is very talented and she does a great job. When we moved to San Diego this year from San Jose she really was warm and welcoming and showed me groups in my area of interest. I help in her classroom every morning and it is a laid back hard working class, not stress but a sense of diligence. So not only is she a great teacher she is a great person. She had mentioned that she wanted a iron caddy for her quilt retreats and I found a few nice tutorials, but I wanted one that was better, that if she left a iron in it that was on cotton settings it would not set on fire. Oh and did I mention a
Silicone rubber pad? So I went out and bought a ironing pad, an already made one yes, and I repurposed it.
Step one: make a pattern, basically I made a rectangle and marked half way down and 3/4th down and that was my pattern piece for the 3 sides. For the triangle I measured how wide the smallest rectangle was and that was how tall the triangle is. I cut out the pieces from the ironing pad, making sure to keep pins in the ironing pad post cutting so the layers don't shift.
Step 2: after everything has been cut out and pinned you need to cut out the placket pieces from the waste. Sew one side down before pinning it makes handling everything easier.
Step 3: Pin on the placket pieces on both sides, the smaller make sure the turned in side is already sewn.
Step 4: Now cut out the outside pieces, I used stain resistant microfiber,that has a high heat point. So if you spill a coffee or a drink on it the liquid will just roll off.
Step 5: Pin the outside to the ironing board pieces.
Step 6: After tackling one piece to see how it will fit together cut out all the pieces. Cut the outside smaller rectangle pieces slightly smaller then the pattern.
Step 7: Pin the back and the triangle face and back together, not the sides.
Step 8: Pin the triangle to the back and sew while the pins that are keeping front and back fabric together are still in the fabric. Oh Huge tip, use a sz 16 needle.
Step 9: Okay once it is sewn together trim the edges. to make the seem allowance smaller.
Step 10: Pin one side of the rectangles facing and the back together, and fold over the placket over the facing. Start drinking energy drinks at this point because you will be worn out. This is heavy lifting. This is the point you find out if the facing fits. i took it right off but you don't have to.
This is a close up to the placket situation. The green will be the inside of the iron caddy.
Okay; you should be at the point that the plackets are ready to be sewn down, the triangle and the back are sewn together and the facings have been cut out, make sure you cut them slightly smaller, I cut them once inch smaller and I had to cut them out again. So maybe just 1/4 inch smaller.
Step 11: get the triangle ready to have the other rectangles sewn on by pinning the sides.
Step 12: Pin on all sides of the facing and pin down the placket. Make sure you have a sz 16 needle.
Step 13:All sewn up and pretty The placket is sewing into place over the facing like top-stitching.
Step 14: Place the Velcro on the plackets and sew them down.
Step 15: When together it should look like this. Now sew this piece onto the triangle. the placket opening will not be down the middle, it will be on the side of the middle.
Step 16: Now sew the side edges up. This is a sz 16 needles job.
Step 17: putting in your iron to make sure the last few hours work isn't in vain.
Look how nice the placket looks. I think it adds a very nice design element to it that the placket is to the side.
Step 18: I don't have pictures for these because I finished this very late at night and with very little light but here is what I did: Sew up the top in a straight line. Hopefully this will work because the rectangles are so much smaller then the back but if this doesn't work then you will need to pleat the top.
Step 19: Bind the edges. You need to cut off the seem allowances on the sides and then just bind the edges like you would a quilt.
Step 20: Add straps or you could do this during step 15 but I didn't thing that far ahead and because of that the straps are slightly crooked.
This is the finished bags back nice and neat with the binding. I used scraps from the facing.
I love the fronts placket.
The bottom has a lot of support so it will stay standing up. It curves in slightly so its like it has "feet".
Well have fun this took me about 7 hours to do and I got frustrated a lot. I just stopped sewing it a bunch because I got so angry. If I did it again I would have put on the straps sooner, used thinner batting, and always used a size 16 needle. happy sewing.
Blogged at
http://http://workingoninsightcraft.blogspot.com/2010/05/iron-caddy-for-teachers-appreciation.html
