How to Sew Potholders
Sometimes, you feel like creating a unique gift for the person you deem important in your life. Heck, sometimes, you feel like making a handicraft just so you could loosen up a little. And you know what? Creating handicraft is actually a terrific way to de-stress yourself. I for one can attest to the fact that crafting is indeed a highly therapeutic activity and as a bonus, the end product can be used to decorate your surroundings!
I know some folks out there lack confidence when it comes to making a handicraft of their own. Perhaps they believe that they are not creative enough to produce a unique handicraft, but the fact is everyone is creative in their own way. In this advanced age we are living in, there are all sorts of tools and items that we can utilize to our advantage, thus enabling us to make endless variety of unique and exciting handicrafts without too much fuss.
Yes, you can make some decent looking handicrafts, even if you’re an absolute beginner. I would recommend a beginner to get his or her hands dirty in making a potholder which can be presented as a welcoming gift to that special person. Let me tell you, this handicraft is easy to make so it’s perfect for the first-timers!
You don’t need some fancy materials or tools to get going. The tool you’re going to need is a sewing machine, while the materials needed are some double-fold bias tape, some discarded clothing or scrap metal. Alright, now refer below for my tutorial on how to sew potholders.
Step 1
The potholder is going to need some fabric for its front and back. So go ahead and cut a couple squares of fabric. The size should be about 8 inch per square. Now that you have the front and back covered. It’s time to cut even more 8 inch squares and stack them up for the filling.
It’s important to aim for balance when stacking the fabric squares. Balance in a sense that the amount of fabric squares must be sufficiently dense so that you can handle a boiling pot without getting hurt, yet at the same time, thin enough to allow you to sew through them without any problems.
Step 2
The outer layers should be facing outside, while the fillers ones facing the inside so pile them up accordingly! You also want to make sure the layers are well secured with one another. To do this, simply put in two large sized pins through those layers, and then you can proceed with the sewing process which should be done right across the center portion of the stack.
Step 3
The center portion has to be sewn yet again and this time around, you want to make sure it’s done perpendicular to the initial stitching you did earlier. Okay, the result is you have the square separated into 4 smaller squares. Once more, sew across the stack and make sure you do it from corner to corner. Repeat the process with the other corner, from one spot to the other. Once done, you’ll now see that all the layers are well connected and they are pretty strong when joined together.
Step 4
You’ll find some natural edges around the layers and that’s normal. You just have to clip those edges a bit so they look even overall. Grab a pair of scissors and clip them off until all edges are equal. Now get some bias tape, preferably the narrow kind, and unfold a single folded edge.
Begin from one corner, and ensure that the edges of the tape are lined up precisely with edges of the potholder. Now you can begin stitching through all the layers situated along the first fold line. The measurement when taken from the edge should be approximately a quarter of an inch.
Get the exposed tape to cover all around the edge until the initial corner is met. At his point, you might want to initiate the sewing process in a reasonably slow manner. This is to ensure the end result will be all nice and tidy. Now you can clip off the bias tape, but keep at least three inches. The remaining 3 inches will be used for creating a hanging loop.
Step 5
Okay let’s finish it up! Now the bias tape should be folded so that it’ll end up over the raw edge. This is important because you want the lines in the center fold to align with the outer part of the potholder. Don’t worry about the raw edge of the bias tape as it will be concealed by the other fold.
If you want the end product to look extremely awesome, I would strongly recommend that you hand sew the binding down, or you could get someone else to do it if you’re unable to hand sew it yourself. Make sure that when the binding down is hand sewn, it produces a nice loop once you reach the end.
Conclusion
Alright folks, that was the final step. I hope you enjoy my tutorial on how to sew a potholder. It may seem difficult initially, but just give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make one. Good luck!
I know some folks out there lack confidence when it comes to making a handicraft of their own. Perhaps they believe that they are not creative enough to produce a unique handicraft, but the fact is everyone is creative in their own way. In this advanced age we are living in, there are all sorts of tools and items that we can utilize to our advantage, thus enabling us to make endless variety of unique and exciting handicrafts without too much fuss.
Yes, you can make some decent looking handicrafts, even if you’re an absolute beginner. I would recommend a beginner to get his or her hands dirty in making a potholder which can be presented as a welcoming gift to that special person. Let me tell you, this handicraft is easy to make so it’s perfect for the first-timers!
You don’t need some fancy materials or tools to get going. The tool you’re going to need is a sewing machine, while the materials needed are some double-fold bias tape, some discarded clothing or scrap metal. Alright, now refer below for my tutorial on how to sew potholders.
Step 1
The potholder is going to need some fabric for its front and back. So go ahead and cut a couple squares of fabric. The size should be about 8 inch per square. Now that you have the front and back covered. It’s time to cut even more 8 inch squares and stack them up for the filling.
It’s important to aim for balance when stacking the fabric squares. Balance in a sense that the amount of fabric squares must be sufficiently dense so that you can handle a boiling pot without getting hurt, yet at the same time, thin enough to allow you to sew through them without any problems.
Step 2
The outer layers should be facing outside, while the fillers ones facing the inside so pile them up accordingly! You also want to make sure the layers are well secured with one another. To do this, simply put in two large sized pins through those layers, and then you can proceed with the sewing process which should be done right across the center portion of the stack.
Step 3
The center portion has to be sewn yet again and this time around, you want to make sure it’s done perpendicular to the initial stitching you did earlier. Okay, the result is you have the square separated into 4 smaller squares. Once more, sew across the stack and make sure you do it from corner to corner. Repeat the process with the other corner, from one spot to the other. Once done, you’ll now see that all the layers are well connected and they are pretty strong when joined together.
Step 4
You’ll find some natural edges around the layers and that’s normal. You just have to clip those edges a bit so they look even overall. Grab a pair of scissors and clip them off until all edges are equal. Now get some bias tape, preferably the narrow kind, and unfold a single folded edge.
Begin from one corner, and ensure that the edges of the tape are lined up precisely with edges of the potholder. Now you can begin stitching through all the layers situated along the first fold line. The measurement when taken from the edge should be approximately a quarter of an inch.
Get the exposed tape to cover all around the edge until the initial corner is met. At his point, you might want to initiate the sewing process in a reasonably slow manner. This is to ensure the end result will be all nice and tidy. Now you can clip off the bias tape, but keep at least three inches. The remaining 3 inches will be used for creating a hanging loop.
Step 5
Okay let’s finish it up! Now the bias tape should be folded so that it’ll end up over the raw edge. This is important because you want the lines in the center fold to align with the outer part of the potholder. Don’t worry about the raw edge of the bias tape as it will be concealed by the other fold.
If you want the end product to look extremely awesome, I would strongly recommend that you hand sew the binding down, or you could get someone else to do it if you’re unable to hand sew it yourself. Make sure that when the binding down is hand sewn, it produces a nice loop once you reach the end.
Conclusion
Alright folks, that was the final step. I hope you enjoy my tutorial on how to sew a potholder. It may seem difficult initially, but just give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make one. Good luck!