New Iron and Ironing Surface

My gravity feed iron is here! It took me a couple days to have it setup because I needed some help from my partner to find a way to mount the water tank at least 3’ from the table top. Lucky for me, he was much more excited about having it setup and playing with it. Or maybe he just wants me to stop bothering him about helping me LOL *shrugs* 

Gravity Feed Iron Setup

I had thought long and hard about where I want to mount the water bottle. I’d like for it to be mobile as I know I would likely want to drag it around to find the best ironing spot as my sewing space evolve. I’ve seen Bernadette Banner set hers up with an IV pole, but I was hoping to spend as little as possible. Then I thought saw Bella Mae Design showed hers attached to an IKEA cart - that’s it! Good thing we have some scrap wood laying around. A long piece of scrap wood is attached to my existing IKEA cart, and a hook is tied to the top for the water bottle. The top of the cart is a good resting spot for the iron. 

My new iron setup!

I noticed in Brooks Ann Camper's pictures of her studio, she had a wood piece underneath her iron rest. After a short inquiry, she told me that it's to help insulate the heat from her ironing table. And I could see why. Despite being made with silicone, the iron rest bottom area is actually metal. Someone didn't pay attention in science class because metal holds and conducts heat very well. In short, I recommend either getting another iron rest or use a piece of wood like Brooks Ann. 

Block of wood under iron rest

Another thing I would say I was disappointed about was that the power cord was very short. However, I realized I could just get an extension cord and the problem will easily be solved. SO! Just because your domestic irons have a "short" power cord, it doesn't mean you can't make it longer. Don't let a shorter power cord length keep you from your best iron choice!

Ironing Surface

With the iron upgrade, I'll obviously need to upgrade my ironing table as well. My ironing board is very unstable, probably a hand-me-down from roommates of the past. My original plan was to cover my cutting table with two layers of cotton quilt batting, then a layer of cotton duck canvas. However, with my work-from-home and home-improvement-in-progress situations, I decided I need the surface to host my sewing machines as well. So I took inspiration from Jihae from @be_spokenbyjihae on IG and  instead of stapling the table top with batting and canvas, I just laid them on top. I folded up the batting into 4 layers, then top it with 2 layers of canvas (fabric fold in half).

Step 1: Collect Materials

My cutting table top is 48" by 6.5', so I bought ~ 3 yards of cotton canvas and a Queen size cotton batting. I noticed 100% cotton batting seems pretty hard to find, but it could be a combination of pandemic production delay and... everything. The plan was two layers of batting and one layer of canvas.

 

100% Cotton Batting and 100% Cotton Canvas

Step 2: Lay down the batting

I folded the cotton batting to cover half the table, resulting in 4 layers.

 

4 Layers of Cotton Batting

Step 3: Cotton Canvas

Similar to the cotton batting, I folded the canvas in half to cover the batting. Because the batting and canvas are long in length (as I intended to cut off excess when I eventually staple them to the table top), I folded the ends so they're not hanging off the edge of the table. 

Folded edge of cotton canvas wrapped around the cotton batting

Step 4: ENJOY! 

The surface is pretty squishy, but I think it may still be okay to use with a rotary cutting mat on top without much issues. 

Cutting mats over ironing surface

This is all an experiment, testing out whether or not I like this iron and its setup. And whether or not this ironing table will work out for me. I'll be sure to post an update in a few months... maybe next year? 

Happy Pressing, everyone!