Make your own cute potholders with our easy and quick tutorial. First we’ll show you how to sew a simple potholder from leftover and orphan quilt blocks. Then, we’ll show you how to add a back pocket and a loop, if you’d like. Sew a potholder for quick gifts or to bring some cheer to your kitchen.
Pick your favorite fabrics to make new potholders for your kitchen. Pick your friend’s favorite fabrics for great gifts! This simple sewing project can be used as hot pads, too! It doesn’t take much fabric, or time.
There are different ways to make these kitchen essentials. First I’ll show you a super easy construction for a easy potholder, then I’ll show you how to add a pocket or hanging tab, if you’d like.
How to Sew a Potholder Tutorial
Learn how to sew a potholder with our quick and easy step-by-step instructions.
These are the steps for a basic potholder - easy for beginner sewists and quick for experienced sewists!
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A great way to use up leftover quilt blocks from projects. Sew together scraps for a fun gift idea!
Materials
- 8-inch square of fabric for your backing
- 8-inch leftover quilt block or square of fabric for the front of your potholder
- 8-inch square of Insul Bright batting (Note: This is special heat-resistant batting that helps protect your hands from the heat. Do NOT use polyester batting. It can melt and burn your hands)
- Thread for sewing
Tools
- Sewing machine
- Iron
- Pressing surface
- Optional: Corner turner
Instructions
- I started with two quilt blocks that were left over from another project. They were made by foundation paper piecing with freezer paper.
Cut a piece of Insul Bright batting and your backing fabric the same size as your square. Mine are all 8-inches.
- Layer the three with the Insul-Bright batting on the bottom with the shiny side up, the potholder top with the right side up and then your potholder back with the right side down, toward the right side of the front. I like to use Wonder Clips to hold the layers together.
- We'll be stitching around these layers, leaving an opening to turn the potholder right side out. Start stitching about 2-inches from one of the corners.
- Stop stitching on the same side, leaving an opening for turning.
- Next step, trim the corners so they turn easier.
- Begin turning the potholder inside out through the opening. I like to use a corner turner to gently poke out the corners.
- Here is the potholder all turned and the corners looking nice and sharp.
- Now, press the potholder making sure that the fabric from the opening is all tucked inside.
- Topstitch all around the potholder, closing the gap and making a nice finish to the edge.
- Here are two finished potholders!
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How to sew a potholder with binding, pocket and loop
Ready to add some extra features to your potholders? Add a pocket to make it easier to pull pans out of the oven, a loop to hang it closeby, and finish it with binding for a fun look!
You’ll need:
- One printed interfacing panel from Quiltsmart for a patchwork potholder, or an 8-1/2 inch piece of fabric for the front of your potholder
- One 8-1/2 inch piece of fabric for the back of your potholder. This is the finished size. I like to cut it at about 10-inches and trim it after quilting.
- One 8-1/2 inch piece of Insul Bright batting for the inside of your potholder. This is the finished size. I like to cut it at about 10-inch and trim it after quilting.
- One 6-1/2 inch x 8-1/2 inch piece of fabric for the front of your potholder pocket – OPTIONAL
- One 6-1/2 inch x 8-1/2 inch piece of 100% cotton quilt batting for the inside of the pocket for your potholder – OPTIONAL
- One 6-1/2 inch x 8-1/2 inch piece of fabric for the lining for the pocket for your potholder – OPTIONAL
- Minimum of 45-inch length straight-of-gran binding cut at 3-inches wide to bind your potholder, finish the edge of the pocket, and add a loop to your potholder. You can purchase WIDE bias tape, if you’d like.
I started with the printed interfacing potholder pattern from Quiltsmart and holiday prints by Tim Holtz and Free Spirit Fabrics. This makes an 8-inch finished potholder. Cut your fabrics into 2-1/2 inch squares. This is a perfect project for scraps or charm packs.
Start placing your fabric squares on your printed interfacing grid with the wrong side of your fabric to the glue side of the interfacing. TIP: Place a piece of parchment paper or a Teflon sheet on your pressing surface and place your fabrics so you don’t try to move everything to your pressing surface.
Here is my grid filled with fabric squares for my holiday potholder.
Here are the fabrics pressed onto the printed interfacing by Quiltsmart.
Now you are ready to start stitching the patchwork for the potholder. Turn to the wrong side of the interfacing and fold along one of the printed lines. Sew from point of X to point of X – the beauty of using printed interfacing for exact stitching!
Here is my potholder sewn along all of the marked lines with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.
Clip along each of the seam joins so that you can press everything flat.
Press flat. Use parchment paper or a Teflon pressing sheet below and on top so that you don’t get the adhesive on your iron or pressing surface.
Trim the excess printed interfacing.
You’ve now finished the front of your holiday potholder! You are ready to put the potholders together.
Layer the top of your potholder, the layer of Insul-Bright batting, and the potholder backing. Then, layer your pocket top, 100% cotton batting, and the pocket back.
Now, quilt each of the layers. I started with the potholder quilting and sewed diagonal lines. I like using my walking foot for most of the sewing on a pot holder since I’m sewing multiple layers together at most steps.
Next, I quilted the pocket. I followed the printed lines on the front of the pocket to make it easy.
Trim both the potholder and the pocket to their finished sizes. Potholder should be 8-1/2 inch square. Pocket should be 8-1/2 wide by 6-1/2 tall.
Next, prepare your binding. Take your piece of fabric that is 3-inches wide by 40 inches long. If you are also making a pocket, you’ll need an additional piece of fabric that is 3-inches wide by 8-1/2 long.
Press both raw edges into the middle of the strip, then press in half again to make your straight of grain binding.
Let’s start by sewing the binding to one of the long sides of the pocket. Line the raw edge of the right side of the binding to the right side of the WRONG side of the pocket. Sew along just to the raw edge side of the fold along the long edge. NOTE: I’ve prepared a separate binding for the fabric so that I have enough of the stripe to go around the potholder and make the loop.
Turn the binding to the right side and the folded edge should cover your stitching line. Since we sewed the first side a little closer to the edge of the pocket, that should give enough ease to cover the stitching on the right side. You can top stitch with a straight stitch, zig zag or play with the fancy stitches on your machine.
Layer the pocket right side up onto the wrong side of your quilted potholder. I like to use Wonder Clips when joining two thick layers like this. Place the raw edge of your long binding along the top edge of your potholder. This will place your loop along that top edge.
Again, you want to stitch just a little bit off the pressed fold line, closer to the raw edge so that when you fold it to the right side your binding will cover your stitching line.
Sew the binding around all four sides. Miter the corners. See our article on how to miter corners.
Don’t trim the excess binding – that will make our loop. Here it is with the binding sewn all around all four sides.
Turn your potholder to the right side. Take the excess length of binding and determine how big you want your potholder loop.
Trim the loop fabric making sure you have enough to tuck inside the folded binding. Begin topstitching along the folded edges of the binding.
Slow your stitching as you get close to the potholder edge. Slip the raw edge of the loop into the folded edge of the binding to make the loop.
Here I’m tucking the end into the fold before sewing to create the loop. Stitch over to attach the loop and close the binding.
Continue stitching around all four sides of the potholder to finish your potholder with a loop and pocket.
Here are two finished holiday potholders. Both have pockets, one also has a loop.
Here is the backs of both potholders showing their pockets.
And more pictures of the finished potholders.
Tips and ideas for making potholders
- Use only 100% cotton or wool fabrics. Synthetic fabrics can melt with the heat from hot pans, causing burns and fires.
- Take the time to purchase Insul-Bright batting for the inside of your new potholders. Insul-Bright is heat resistant. Using only 100% cotton batting, the heat can transfer through and be too hot for your hands. Don’t use old towels or other filling in your potholders.
- Have a potholder that you love but wish it had a loop? You can make a loop piece from bias tape and stitch it to a corner of the potholder.
- Piece together your scrap fabric to make a fun design for the front fabric of your potholder!
- Try out new quilting designs on these little projects!
- If you have a walking presser foot, I like to use it for making and quilting potholders with all of the layers.
- You don’t need to buy a potholder pattern to make your own beautiful potholders! Potholders can be any size or dimension. Have fun with your fabrics and make a new pot holder!
Check out our oven mitt tutorial. And, browse through more great DIY gift ideas on Create Whimsy.
