Let’s start from the bottom:

 

The plywood base:

This creates a nice rigid layer.  Our original table topper was a 4' x 8' sheet that we would set on top of a church table. Nice and big! Bed raisers lifted the board up to a more comfortable working height. We put them between the table and the board, rather than under the legs so that there was a useful space under the surface for long rulers and other items. Rubber feet are necessary for this setup so the table top doesn’t slide around. I think we added one or two in the center just to keep everything stable.  The board was a bit heavy, but we were able to man handle it off the table and behind a large bookcase so it would be out of the way between sewing sessions. You’ll definitely want at least two people for this maneuver. We threw together a big ‘envelope’ made from a tarp that we would slide onto the topper for clean storage. This removable work surface functions well, if you have  to disappear all of your stuff between sewing sessions, with the added benefit of the weight lifting workout.

​

The Foam Insulation:

This is the magic ingredient. Get a sheet of 1" thick Owens Corning  Foamular Insulation board from the construction department of your home improvement center It’s the pink board with the Pink Panther on it. It comes in 4' x 8' sheets just like your plywood base. This allows you to sink a straight pin into the work surface which is useful for all kinds of scenarios where you need to make unruly fabric behave itself, or to get your ducks in a row. More on that below.

​

Ironing Board Fabric:

This is that silver stuff that you’ll often see used for ironing board covers. You can readily find it sold by the yard online. It creates a bit of a heat shield between the hot iron and the foam insulation. Our irons are nearly always cranked up to the linen setting. This set up seems to create enough of  a temperature barrier to protect the foam insulation against melting.

​

Quilt Batting:

Just a little padding to help with the above, and to take off the sharp corners.

​

Cotton Duck Canvas:

This holds the whole lasagna stack together. Cut it larger by at least four inches all the way around, wrap it tightly over the layers to the back and use a staple gun to tack it to the plywood. 

​

Getting it all together:

We found that it’s easiest to lay the canvas duck on the floor, trim the layers of quilt batting to 4'2" x 8'2" or thereabouts and center them on the canvas.  Next add the silver ironing board fabric, silver side down. You can leave this a little longer if you don’t feel like trimming it. Then add the foam insulation sheet, and finally add the plywood. Maybe you’ll have an excess of ironing board fabric. If so, you’ll need to do two rounds of stapling so you secure both layers. Ideally you’ll have two people and two staple guns so you can work opposite each other, tugging the canvas nice and tight. Work on the short 4 foot sides first, tugging the fabric snugly and stapling the centers.  Then center staple the long sides, and work out from the centers toward the corners, stretching the canvas slightly to form a nice taut  covering. Create nice tailored corners by folding in excess fabric. We usually pull the corners around first and then fold in the excess from the sides, creating two tucked folds. Follow up with a hammer to make sure the staples are all deeply inserted so they won’t stick out and potentially scratch things.​​​​

​

That completes the surface, but these tables see a lot of activity. We have an additional layer of fabric on the top that can be easily removed for laundering. Choose a color other than white so there is contrast between any linen projects and your table surface. We use T pins to attach this removable covering, pinning along the sides into the foam insulation.

​

How it works—Pinning things to stay put:

The surface is great for: 

> Pinning down freshly folded mitered corners for basting

 

> Stay-pinning to add some tautness to folded hems like extra hands keeping things in place

 

> Creating straight edge stops for linen hemming—simply measure up to where you want a fold, insert a long quilting pin. Add two more of these, then use them as stops against which to bump your straight edge, rather than trying to find little pencil marks in the shadows cast by the edge of your straight edge. This is especially tasty when setting two inch hems for altar cloths since the straight edge is two inches wide. True up the linen edge, measure and set pins two inches in, align the straight edge, set the crease, lift the straight edge over and pull back against the pins and set the second crease. Lovely!

 

> Pinning fussy facings. We keep needing more mantellettas, which we use for Eucharistic processions on the guys who support the canopy over the monstrance, and for those being baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass. They have arm slits with a facing that gets turned over and stitched to the wrong side of the fabric. Those nasty small straight pins with the small flat heads will sink all the way in so they sit flush with the surface. This allows you to iron over the properly positioned facing without scorching your fingers.

​

> Makeshift pin cushion. When I need to park my needle somewhere I can simply stick it into the table surface. It is really helpful to drop your thimble over the top of the needle so you can locate it easily when you’re ready to get stitching again.

​

> We pin our embroidery patterns through the fabric and into the foam layer when doing the prick and pounce embroidery design transfer method—much less distortion to the fabric that way.

​

> Wrinkly wet lace can be pinned and tamed for ironing with the old flat pins.

​

> You have a huge surface to use as a third hand for creating twisted cords 

​

> We use pins to set the spacing for our scalloped vesperale edging.

​

​