Favorite Pot Holders Tutorial

As promised in a previous post, here is the tutorial for my Favorite Pot Holders. 

Hope some of you get a chance to try it out. 

I would love to see what you come up with!

This really would be a perfect project for your larger scraps, or if you're buying the material specifically for this, check out the remnant pile at your fabric store. I've found there to be lots of medium weight home decor fabric in there that is too small for pillows and things, but would be perfect for this. Plus, you can get a great deal on remnants!

So here's what you'll need (for a set of two):

medium weight fabric- at least 1/3 of a yard of a standard bolt

terry cloth- at least 16 inches of a standard bolt

insulated batting (I prefer In Sul Brite. Sometimes in the store, they keep it behind the cutting counter, so you might have to ask)- at least a 9"x29" rectangle

coordinating thread

iron

sewing machine

pins

rotary cutter and mat (I suppose this is not necessary but it HIGHLY recommended)

Step 1:

Cut your pieces. I like to do all of my cutting first so I can breeze through the rest. Here's the cutting list for one pot holder:

decor fabric:

9"x5 1/2" piece- qty. 1

9"x2" strip- qty. 1

2" strip at least 42" long- qty. 1

terry cloth:

9"x9" square- qty. 2

9"x5 1/2" rectangle- qty. 1

insulated batting:

9"x9" square- qty. 1

9"x5 1/2" rectangle- 1

Step 2:

Now to begin the sewing... take your 9"x5 1/2" pieces and sandwich them together with the insulated batting in the middle and right sides facing out. This is going to be the front of the "pocket."

Step 3:

Pin them together along the edges so the "sandwich" doesn't shift while you sew.

Step 4:

Begin quilting the pieces together. I just sewed parallel lines one way and then the other as you see, but you can do whatever design you like (squares, diamonds, squiggles, free hand). 

The pattern on my fabric was simple enough that I could just eyeball it, but you could mark where you want your quilting lines to go with a fabric marker if you wanted.

Step 5:

Piece together your 9"x9" squares in same fashion (terry, batting, terry)...

... and pin together.

Step 6:

Quilt together your 9" square pieces like you did the front of the pocket. I sewed from corner to corner and then from midpoint to midpoint as you can see.

Step 7:

Now for your trim... take your 9x2 piece of decor fabric and iron in the edges longways about 1/4 inch so it looks like this...

Step 8:

Now fold that piece in half and iron, so it looks like this...

Step 9:

Place this trim piece along the top edge of your pocket.

Step 10:

Sew the trim piece on about 1/8 inch from the bottom fold and you'll have a piece that looks like this...

This would be the time to sew on your tag if you have one. Obviously optional. :)

Step 11:

Piece together your back terry piece and your front pocket piece like this...

Step 12:

Round your edges. Grab something round (I used a spool of ribbon) and trace rounded corners on the bottom right, bottom left, and top left corners of your pot holder. You can leave them square if you wish, but rounding them will make adding your trim easier later. Plus, I personally prefer the rounded look. ;)

Step 13:

Use scissors to cut your rounded edges and even out the layers along all four sides of your pot holder. You want to line everything up as well as possible so the trim will fit on properly. You should now have something a little like this....

Step 14:

Take your long piece of trim (2" strip) and iron in the edges and iron that in half just like you did the shorter piece. Sorry, I don't have a picture of this, but you get the idea from the previous picture, right?

Step 15:

Pin one end of the trim on the top right corner of your pot holder going down. Like this...

Step 16:

Your trim is going to be sewn on just like the pocket trim going all the way around your pot holder. I pinned it so you could see...

Note:

I didn't actually have the trim pinned while I sewed mine, though. I found it easier to be able to give and take a little bit with the fabric. This is definitely the most difficult part of the whole project.  You have to sew just along the edge and it can get tricky especially around the corners and because you're going through many layers of fabric. Just remember, slow and steady wins the race here and if you get off track with the edging just back up, undo your seam, and try again. :)

Step 17:

Once you get back around to the top right corner, you're going to keep sewing right off the edge so you can make your loop out of the extra trim.

You should keep sewing a good 6 inches off the corner so you have enough trim to work with to make your loop. You should now have something that looks like this...

Step 18:

Turn your pot holder over to the back and fold the tail of your trim around. Fold the unfinished end under and sew it in place.

That's it, people! Not bad, right? :)

Now, just repeat for your second and you'll have a matching set!

This was my first sewing tutorial, so I hope it was clear enough. Let me know if you have any questions, and I would love to see your results! :)