I have a great sewing room but I needed a great cutting table. All the options I had seen were square and my room is long and somewhat narrow. I designed a cutting/craft table made from a single sheet of MDF (medium density fiberboard). It is 3 feet wide and 5 feet long and can open to 3 feet wide by 9 feet long to accommodate a full 3 yards of fabric. It is great for cutting out patterns and I have also found it useful for making quilt sandwiches. With a large cutting mat it is great for cutting quilting fabric. I have used this table for a number of years and am very happy with it.

Please excuse all the clutter, I need to work on more and better storage.

Supplies

One 4 foot by 8 foot by 3/4 or 1 inch sheet of medium density fiberboard. The thicker board will allow longer screws for attaching the top to a base but will make the table a bit heavier.

Two piano hinges long enough to hold the 3 foot sides to the 3 foot edges of the table.

Two drop leaf table supports strong enough to support the weight of the table leaf or two lengths of wood or pvc pipe cut to the right height as supports for the leaves of the table when open.

One base of your choosing.

Step 1: First Cut of the MDF

A 4 foot x 8 foot x .75/1 inch sheet of MDF is cut to to get the 3 pieces needed for the table with a piece of waste that is 1 foot by 5 feet. Most big box hardware stores will make the cuts for you.First cut 3 feet off of one end creating a piece 3 foot by 4 foot. This piece will be cut in half to make 2 pieces 3 foot by 2 foot. These pieces will become the drop leaves on each end of the table.

Step 2: Second and Third Cut of the MDF

The 3 foot by 4 foot piece will be cut in half to make 2 pieces 3 foot by 2 foot. These pieces will become the drop leaves on each end of the table. The remaining piece which is now 4 foot by 5 foot will have 1 foot cut off the long edge creating the center piece that is 3 foot by 5 foot.

Step 3: Attaching the Leaves to the Edges

Using piano hinges attach the two smaller rectangles to the larger one, one at each end, matching the 3 foot sides. I first used drop leaf table supports to hold up the sides but they were not strong enough, (maybe I got the wrong ones) so now I have 2 pieces of 2 inch PVC pipe cut to the right height that I slip under the table leaves to hold them up. It works fine, just be sure to put them in a little from the edge so you don’t accidentally kick them out of place.

Step 4: Using the Table

I bought a work table base that was adjustable so that my table is counter height, a good height for cutting without slouching and getting a back ache. The base is open under the table which allows me to store some rolling storage and a trash can and paper recycling bin. Really any base that is strong enough to hold the weight will work. By raising one side the table becomes 3 feet by 7 feet and when raising both sides it is 3 feet by 9 feet, easily accommodating 3 yards of 45’ or 60” fabric folded with selvedges together.