How To Sew A Beginner Potholder (no quilting stitches)

A potholder is a simple sewing project, but working with layers of batting can be a little difficult, especially for a beginner sewist.

This article shares tips for working with batting, as well as techniques to achieve a beautiful finish.

The tutorial keeps it simple, but has some suggestions if you do want to add quilting stitches.

Materials

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  • Cotton or linen fabric (avoid synthetic materials)
  • Thermal/heat-resistant batting (Insul-Bright or something similar) (this has “heat-reflective” properties)
  • 100% cotton batting (I used Warm & Natural) (this adds extra insulation)
  • Cotton thread

 

Tools

 

Steps to sew a beginner potholder

Step 1

Decide on the finished size you’d like for your potholder and then add 1″ to the height and width to account for the seam allowance.

I wanted my potholder to be 8″ x 8″ so I cut a 9″ x 9″ square in:

  • Top fabric
  • Bottom fabric
  • Thermal batting
  • Cotton batting

If you want to add a hang loop, also cut a piece of fabric that is:

  • 2″ x 5″

Step 2

To create the hang loop, fold the 2″ x 5″ piece of fabric lengthwise, with wrong sides together and press.

Open the fold back up and fold the bottom edge up to meet the center crease and press.

Fold the top edge down to meet the center crease and press.

Fold in half lengthwise and press.

Topstitch down both sides.

Fold in half widthwise and sew the two ends together.

Step 3

Layer your top fabric, thermal batting and cotton batting.

Whether you’re adding quilting stitches or not, temporary spray adhesive is helpful to keep all the layers of fabric and batting together and prevent shifting when sewing.

If you don’t have spray adhesive, use clips or pins to hold all the layers together.

Optional

If you want to add quilting stitches to your oven mitt, complete that step now.

Tips for quilting stitches

I’m not a “quilter” and only started working with batting a short time ago, but I’ve created many projects that require batting and quilting stitches and here are just a few tips I’ve found that make the step easier and leave me with a more polished look.

        • Walking foot – switching out the foot on your sewing machine to a walking foot will be the biggest help. Instead of the presser foot sliding across the top fabric (which can push the fabric forward and cause bunching and wrinkles) the walking foot acts like a second set of feed dogs on top of the material. You can buy a universal one (this is the exact one I’ve purchased for one of my sewing machines).
        • Presser foot pressure – if your sewing machine has a setting or dial that allows you to reduce the presser foot pressure, this can help reduce shifting and wrinkles.
        • Stitch length – if your quilting design has lots of curves, a shorter stitch length (e.g. 2mm) is better. However, if you’re sewing straight lines, a longer stitch length (e.g. 4mm) will help the machine glide through the layers and help you sew straighter lines.
        • Temporary fabric adhesive – this will temporarily bond your fabric and batting together to reduce shifting when sewing. Make sure you’re using one specifically created for sewing, like this one, so it doesn’t gum up your needle or machine.
        • Mark lines – use chalk or a temporary fabric pen and a ruler to draw your lines on the outer fabric. Then follow those lines as you sew, which will help you sew straighter.

Use a basting stitch (longer stitch length) and sew about 1/4″ away from the cut edges to sew the top fabric, thermal batting, and cotton batting together.

If your batting shifted, trim the excess so the batting is the same size as the top fabric.

You can also use your ruler to ensure you have a true square and trim up the edges if needed.

Find the top center of your potholder and baste your hang loop in place. Make sure the cut edges of the loop are in line with the cut edge of the potholder.

Step 4

Place your top piece and bottom piece right sides together and clip around the edges.

Use a temporary fabric pen or chalk to mark two lines about 4″ – 5″ apart.

Typically, this is where you would not sew and leave an opening to turn the potholder right side out.

However, to get a clean edge, we’re going to sew across this opening, but using a basting stitch (longer stitch length e.g. 5mm) so the stitches are easy to take out after pressing.

Temporarily sewing across this opening also ensures your fabric will come together nicely, and there won’t be any bubbles or creasing.

Sew 1/2″ away from the cut edge around the potholder. I set my stitch length to 3.5mm (and then increase to 5mm when sewing across the opening).

Backstitch on either side of that opening, before increasing your stitch length (to ensure the stitches won’t rip open when turning the potholder right side out).

I’m backstitching here at the start of the opening:

Now I’m sewing across the opening using a 5mm stitch length. You can also see I’ve backstitched on the other side of the opening:

Before removing the basting stitches going across the opening, press the seam allowance back on the top and bottom.

Make sure your iron is hot and use a clapper or piece of wood to cool the fabric and get a nice crisp seam. This will help you get a clean edge after turning right side out.

Now you can remove your basting stitches, between the two lines only, using a seam ripper.

Step 5

Now we will trim the seam allowance and grade the batting to remove bulk, as well as clip the corners.

Don’t skip these steps as they’ll help you get a more polished-looking finish and make it easier to topstitch.

Clip corners

To start, I cut all 4 corners at a 45-degree angle.

Then I make 2 more cuts, on either side of each corner, that angle in from the edge, toward the corner.

This is what your corners should look like now:

Trim seam allowance

Cut all 4 layers about 1/4″ away from the inside stitching. Leave the bottom seam allowance, where the opening is, as is.

In this step, it’s important to cut off the first/outer row of stitching (the basting stitch that’s holding the fabric and batting together), so all the layers of fabric and batting can now be separated.

This is how your potholder should now look:

Grading

We’ll reduce the seam allowance of the batting further by grading it (cutting it shorter than the fabric layer). Again, leave the bottom, where the opening is, as is.

To do this with bulky batting, I hold my scissors almost parallel to the potholder and cut the batting only. 

You don’t want to cut the stitching (which is difficult to do if you’re holding the scissors parallel), but you do want to cut the batting as close to the stitching as you can.

Where the opening is, use a seam ripper to remove the basting stitches that are holding the fabric, thermal batting, and cotton batting together.

Now your 3 layers should separate:

Trim the thermal batting and cotton batting only. I trim this so the batting width matches the other 3 sides.

Step 6

Use the opening to turn the potholder right side out.

You can use your fingers to push the seams and corners out from the inside. Then use a point turner (or chopstick or knitting needle) to gently push the corners fully out.

Run your iron over the potholder to remove creases and press the edges. You can also warm up the fabric along the edges so you can roll the seam between your fingers to ensure it is full out and your edges look straight.

Give the edge with the opening another press and clip the opening closed.

Topstitch around the edge of your potholder, about 1/4″ away from the edge.

Backstitch at the start and end. When I backstitch, I do this slowly, so I’m only backstitching one or two stitches, which gives a cleaner look.

When you come to a corner, stop with your needle down, lift the presser foot, pivot the fabric 90 degrees and continue sewing.

Your potholder is complete!

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