How to Sew Hot Pads to Sell (with mitered hem)

August 28, 2025

This pattern creates a polished look around the edges of your hot pads. They look like they’ve been finished with bias tape, but it’s simply the bottom material folded over, and it is a much easier technique.

Although some people use hot pads as potholders, they are different in that hot pads are designed to sit under a hot dish to protect the surface of a countertop or table. They don’t have pockets/sleeves for your hands to slide into and grab a hot dish.

Sewing hot pads to sell

Hot pads are a great item to sell at craft shows or on Etsy for the following reasons:

Everyday item – hot pads are commonly used and used frequently. Meaning they often need to be replaced or updated to match a season.
Small and affordable – these items are small and light; perfect for shipping or carrying around a craft show.
Profit-friendly – they don’t require a lot of material or time to make, especially if you batch your work.
Bundle-friendly – most people need more than one hot pad for their table or kitchen, making these a great item to sell in sets of two or 3 so you can increase your UPTs (units per transaction).

Materials

Top fabric – use a natural fibre such as cotton or linen
Bottom fabric
Thermal batting
Cotton batting
Thread

Tools

Sewing machine
Walking foot (this is highly recommended when sewing with batting)
Temporary fabric marker
Ruler
Scissors
Fabric clips
Point turner
Iron

How to sew square hot pads with a mitered hem

Step 1 – Press fabric and cut pattern pieces

Iron your cotton fabric first so you can be sure your cuts are accurate.

You can also follow these same instructions, cutting your fabric to any size you like.

To do so, determine the finished size you’d like your hot pad to be. Let’s say my hot pad will be 10″ x 10″ finished.

I need to cut 3 pattern pieces that are 10″ x 10″ in:

cotton or linen fabric
thermal batting
cotton batting

Then I need a bottom piece of fabric that is 2″ bigger than my finished size.

I need to cut 1 pattern piece that is 12″ x 12″ in:

cotton or linen fabric

Step 2 – Sew batting to fabric

Use a quilting stitch to sew together your top fabric, thermal batting, and cotton batting. You can use any design you prefer; I stitched diagonal lines.

It’s important to use a walking foot when sewing thicker layers of fabric together.

Step 3 – Fold and press mitered hem

Take your bottom piece of fabric and, using your ruler and temporary fabric pen, mark a line 1″ away from each edge on the wrong side of the fabric.

Fold the edge to meet that line and press into place.

Repeat this on all four sides.

Step 4 – Mark a 45-degree angle

This step is a bit more challenging to explain, so please watch the video for clarity.

Keep your 1/2″ hems folded in.

Fold each corner in so that it creates a 45-degree crease that runs right through the point where the raw edges of the two folded hems meet.

Using a temporary fabric marker, draw a line across that 45-degree crease.

Step 5 – Sew 45-degree corners

Keep the 1/2″ hem folded in and fold your piece of fabric diagonally, placing right sides together.

Make sure your edges are lined up and you have a perfect point at the top.

Sew along the 45-degree line you drew.

Use a shorter stitch and start with your needle on the fabric, then backstitch to sew to the first edge. This will ensure your thread doesn’t get knotted and your fabric doesn’t bunch.

Sew along the line, then backstitch at the end.

Repeat this on all 4 corners.

Step 6 – Snip corners and turn

Cut off the excess fabric in the corners, leaving about a 1/8″ seam allowance to reduce the bulk inside the corners.

Turn the corners right side out and use a point turner to fully push the corners out.

Fold your hem over 1/2″ for a second time and press the hem and corners into place.

Step 7 – Cut top piece to size

Take your quilted top piece and place it on top of your bottom piece with wrong sides together.

You want to be able to see about 1/8″ of the bottom hem on all four sides.

Mark how much you must cut off the top piece so it is about 1/4″ less wide and tall than your bottom piece, then cut to size.

Step 8 – Set top piece inside mitered hems

Center your top piece on your bottom piece.

Keeping the top piece in place, unfold the bottom hem and tuck the top piece under the hem and into the corners. Use a point turner to ensure the corners are fully tucked in.