Potholder Tutorial

As promised after the holidays...waaaay after (sorry!), a Tutorial! I made these potholders as Christmas gifts. I need to make myself some too. Here we go!

Materials needed:
An old potholder for pattern
Insul-Bright
A couple fat quarters of fabric
Fabric for lining
Rotary cutting tool & mat or scissors
pins, thread, needle, etc
fabric chalk or marker


The following is for one single potholder so if you want to make a set, double your quantities. Use your old potholder or your hand if you want to eyeball it and cut two each from the following: Insul-Bright, outer fabric, lining fabric. Since you're either using hands or old potholders as patterns, I can't give dimensions so you'll have to either experiment or contact me if you have questions. Just remember you are using a thicker filling material so make sure you have enough room for your hand after you sew it together and don't forget seam allowances.

Now we'll cut the bottom trim. You can do this two ways, cut it to just be a bottom edge or allow extra fabric to make a loop...some peeps like to hang their potholders. Again, this is something you'll have to guess as far as dimensions and it depends on how thick of a trim you want, so contact me if you have questions about size. You will cut two rectangles of fabric that will be used to make double fold bias tape, so you will be folding it in 1/2 and then folding the ends into the center fold, so allow for folding. I think I did 3 or 4 inches tall and then maybe 10 inches wide (that's a guess) just make sure you allow enough to cover the bottom edge of the potholder and extra if you want to make a loop (3-4 inches for loop). These are the rectangles of fabric you see in the photo above, I used a different fabric than the potholder but you can use the same if you like.

I'm going to show photos of how to use your rectangles to make super-wide double fold bias tape. Now don't make fun of my stained old ironing board cover..I got a new one over the holidays! Yay Ikea! Here's the steps: Fold in half and iron, fold outside edges into center fold and iron, fold in half and iron again. You might want to skip the ironing step but it will make things SO much easier if you do it. Do this for each rectangle.The next step is to sandwich your potholder together and pin the double fold bias tape on the bottom edge so you can stitch it on. To make your sandwich, lay down your fabrics in this order:

Lining
Insul-Bright
Outer fabric
Use double fold bias tape
like a bun and slide your
sandwich parts into the fold.
Repeat for both sides.





If you are going to make a loop, do not center your
fabric as shown, instead, line up at one of the edges
like the next photo where you are to now stitch your
double fold bias tape onto your potholder sandwich.
Repeat for both sides.






Now you will draw your
quilting lines onto your
fabric...I'm not a quilter
yet so this may not be
how most quilters quilt
stuff, but here's how I do
it for the time being. Draw
your quilting lines on the
lining side of your fabric.
Use any design or pattern
you want...Just remember,
the more lines you draw,
the more stitching you
have to do.
Repeat for both sides.






Now you will sandwich both sides together.
Right sides in.







If you are making a loop, this is the time to fold one
of your ends of double fold bias tape inside the
potholder so when you stitch your sandwich
together you catch the end to make a loop.






Start on the bottom of one side and stitch up around the potholder ending at the other bottom edge. Back stitch at each end. Don't sew the opening shut!





Clean up your seam allowance with a pinking shears and zig-zag
stitch around the edge of your seam allowance to tidy up your
seam so it doesn't feel too funky when putting your hand inside.



Turn it right side out and.........




TADAAAAA! You're done.