If you do any amount of sewing, one thing you learn is that if you want your finished product to look great, you need to press as you go. If you have a small area for sewing, you will end up doing like I’ve done, and set your ironing board and iron in the other room. That means, sewing, getting up and moving to the other room to press, then return to sew some more, again go press, etc., etc., etc. I find myself skipping the ironing part whenever possible. Then I saw the idea for a mini pressing table on pintrest. Found here: http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2010/01/a-woman-a-plan-an-inexpensive-tv-tray-new-pressing-board.html. She used a wood TV tray. I have a TV tray that I rescued from the in-laws front porch, (everyone else, wanted to toss it, but I knew it had potential). So, here is how I rescued an old TV tray and turned it into a Mini Ironing Table to go beside my sewing machine.

Step 1:

Supplies:
A wood TV tray (rescue one from a yard sale or second hand store or +/- $9 new)
1 yard Warm and Natural 100 % cotton batting (+/- $6 a yard)
½ yard 100% cotton fabric (+/- $10 a yard, your choice of colors)
Medium size piece of cardboard
Tape measure
Yard stick
Pencil
Pinking shears (+/- $20)
Fabric shears (mine are Ginghers, +/-$30)
Box knife
Staple gun with staples (your choice of style and cost)

Step 2:

When I brought the TV tray home it looked like this.

Step 3:

After cleaning, sanding, and staining, it looked like this.

Step 4:

Use the tape measure to measure the width and length of the top of the tray.

Step 5:

Cut the card board so that it will fit the top of the tray without hanging over. I worried about messing up the stain on top of the tray by applying heat through the 3 layers of batting. I decided to add a layer of cardboard to protect the finished surface.

Step 6:

Cut 3 pieces of “Warm and Natural” batting to place on top of the cardboard.

Step 7:

Cut the material so that it is 4 inches wider (my material shrunk so it was an inch short) and 4 inches longer than the top of the tray. Using the pinking shears, cut all the way around the material, this pinked edge will prevent any unraveling around the edges.

Step 8:

Lay the fabric right side down on a flat surface. Center the 3 layers of batting on the material and then put the piece of cardboard on top of the batting.

Step 9:

Now turn the TV tray upside down on place its top, on top of the cardboard/fabric stack.

Step 10:

Pull the edges of the material up tight to the underside of the tray, and use the staple gun to staple it in place. Put one staple in the center of one side, then staple the center of the opposite side and next stretch the fabric and staple the centers of the two ends.

Step 11:

Pull the fabric up tight and put staples on each side of the first center staple. Repeat the process on the opposite side and then on the two ends. I learned how to do this when I would stretch a canvas on to backer boards, for oil painting. Keep repeating; add 2 staples each time, doing first one side and then its opposite side. This method will make the material on top of the tray smooth and taught.