Comments on: to make: cutting table

By: Judy

Judy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:45:23 +0000

you can also use the homasote covered with a layer of felt and then cover it with shower curtain fabric(nylon) bought by the yd. You can iron on it, make lines and pin all you want:-)

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:33:25 +0000

Actually, you CAN iron on it! Or at least that's what we do at our costume shop. Our cutting tables and our ironing tables are both exactly the same - huge sheets of cork. But we cover them with canvas, not paper.

Of course, it's a university costume shop with a dozen employees and two dozen students, so we'd be replacing the paper constantly! As it is, the muslin canvas gets changed out every year or so.

By: Carole

Carole — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:37:59 +0000

Great article, love the brown paper idea. Perhaps first covering the table with foam core (inexpensive, lightweight, comes in large sheets, about 1/4" thick - find it at Staples or Office Max) and then using the brown paper. I use foam core to construct my quilting design walls. I cover the foam core with low loft batting and flannel and use 1" finishing nails to nail the board to the wall. You can stick pins in the foam core with no problem - doesn't hurt the pins. My last design wall lasted 5 years and the only reason I took it down was to make an interstate move. You can't iron on foam core, but I use a shelf from a melamine bookcase covered in flannel as an ironing surface and it lays on my table all the time. If I don't need it, I just lift it off and store under the table. Hope this helps someone out there.

By: megan

megan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:29:51 +0000

tbrew - No, you cannot iron on this table. I don't know if cork could take the heat of an iron but I suspect not, especially not the type of processed cork mat I have used here.

By: tbrew

tbrew — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:13:09 +0000

can this table also be used for ironing? the cork will be okay?

By: Kris

Kris — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:11:43 +0000

What a brilliant idea. Why don't we borrow from the pros more often??? Thanks for all the detail. I learned from this!

By: Nikki

Nikki — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:33:58 +0000

I LOVE it. I had been thinking of something very similar, but the brown paper cover is a new idea for me. That would really help in moving projects along faster. Now I can sketch out and pin down my ideas to the same stable surface. Neat.

By: Foil : Simple + Handmade » Add Height to Your Cutting Table

Foil : Simple + Handmade » Add Height to Your Cutting Table — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:27:01 +0000

[...] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/cuttingtable [...]

By: excited » kelleyroooooo

excited » kelleyroooooo — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:51:57 +0000

[...] I’ve got a really great idea for the empty bedroom in my house. It’s going to be part craft room, part studio! I found an awesome diy craft/cutting table that I’d like to try out for sewing and making my jewelries. Then I’ll use the opposite wall to hang backdrops and setup lights and things. It’s going to be fabulous I tell ya. Just fabulous. [...]

By: Snow Bird

Snow Bird — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:05:57 +0000

Folks in my studio ( aka the utility room but it's got windows, built in shelves and a cement floor that I can't ruin) I have 2 found pieces of hard wood that my dad made into tables. They are supported by the wall with a hinge on one end and 2 lengths of chain hung from the rafters at the other. I can disconnect them drop the tables down when I don't need them. This has not happened yet though....
Since they are up against the wall cutting large fabrics was a challenge- even with O Weights. That is until Dad came up with an idea of attaching a smooth copper rod to the wall just above one of the tables and about a 1/2 inch away from the wall. ( It will spin) Now I put the end of the fabric under the rod and pull it over - and the selvages line up with no problem - and they stay there since the rod holds the fabric in place! The chains by the way make a handy place to hang garment pieces on a hanger while you are working, or with clothes pins .

By: megan

megan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:45:59 +0000

Minemee - I have a large plastic cutting mat, I prefer the Olfa ones, which I pull out to use whenever I have to cut something. Otherwise, I use the table primarily to pin fabric in place while I'm marking it. This works well for slippery or very delicate fabrics that shift around quite a lot.

By: minemee

minemee — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:08:10 +0000

I'm trying to make the same table. Why do you have to wrap the table with the paper or muslin? Wouldn't a rotary cutter just cut right through the paper?

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 05:41:28 +0000

When I was setting up a similar project my Dh suggested using a large piece of 2" thick foam insulation left over from a construction project. We wrapped it in butcher paper, and voila--super cheap, very easily replaceable, and definitely deep enough for draping pins. After 5+ years I replaced it for about $4, and still had enough foam left to make a huge quilt design board (about 6 ft by 4 ft).

By: megan

megan — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:36:38 +0000

Jenn - Part of the appeal of a paper covered table is that you can slide large lengths of delicate fabric over top and arrange it flat so that the fabric isn't pulling one way or the other. That way you know your cut pieces won't be distorted. With a muslin topped table I'm afraid arranging a yard or more of fabric would be tricky.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:29:06 +0000

Great idea for a cutting table! Seems like you could use a peice of cheep cotton or muslin in place of the paper, it might last a bit longer and you wouldn't have to wory about marking it up with pin holes. Of course you can't realy write on it then..